Informal Settlements

Over 1 billion people live in slums and informal settlements across the Global South, without formal access to potable water, sewage or electricity, amongst other deficits. Despite the severe social and environmental effects of urban informality, it remains invisible to the wider community as an issue area.

In this document, the authors make the case for prioritising urban informality as a core area for impact and development, and emphasise the contribution this would make to achieving the UN SDGs. They call on all stakeholders to no longer view slums and their inhabitants as a problem only, by acknowledging the potential to transform urban liabilities into assets.

The report estimates that there is a total investment need of about $6 trillion for slum upgrading globally, which is a sizeable gap from the limited amount of capital that currently goes into related programmes. The report authors explain why this is a particular area in which supply of capital does not guarantee its own demand. Finally, they propose a basic framework for the design of focused investment vehicles that can help break the deadlock and reach scale.

Abstract based on source.