A method-based planning framework for informal settlement upgrading

Informal settlements house a significant percentage of the population of developing cities, yet there is no common planning framework for upgrading these settlements. Conventional method-based approaches applicable to new areas or sites and services schemes are inappropriate and so the dominant approaches currently available tend to focus on principles and best practices. Yet neither of these has yet provided a convenient basis for replicability on a significant scale. This paper argues for a return to a method-based approach for upgrading and sets out a planning framework that could form the basis for such an approach. It is based upon the ability of external interventions to address the key issue of vulnerability and argues for the need to plan for the long-term sustainability of informal settlements. It uses the experience of a pilot project in Cape Town to demonstrate the practicality of the planning framework.