An analysis of informal settlement upgrading and critique of existing methodological approaches

This paper provides a review of different approaches to informal settlement upgrading. It begins by showing how linking informal settlement upgrading and sites and service provision as twin approaches to development led firstly to a situation where the former was situated within a particular development paradigm and then to an ideological divide between externally driven and community-supported upgrading initiatives. After a review of existing literature on the subject, the paper argues that the origin of the intervention is less important than substantiation of the results of the intervention. It then identifies three “thematic approaches” that can be shown to have a substantive track record in upgrading. These are the progressive improvement model of physical infrastructure provision, community microplanning and physical transformation through an holistic plan (“plano global” in Portuguese). These three thematic approaches are reviewed comparatively, and their strengths and weaknesses analysed.