Unsustainable urban development in informal settlements (case example of Jafarabad neighborhood)

Dissertation for Master's Degree

Geography and Urban Planning (M.A)

Abstract

The way to achieve urban sustainability is through local development. As the smallest and most important urban unit, the neighborhood is one of the first priorities and a sustainable neighborhood can provide a suitable infrastructure for sustainable urban development. The instability of urban development is the most important challenge of the third millennium. Slums and informal settlements in cities are in contradiction with sustainable urban development. The purpose of this research is to investigate sustainable urban and neighborhood development in Jafarabad neighborhood of Kermanshah city. The research method is descriptive, analytical, and applied, and it was conducted as a survey using a questionnaire tool. The statistical population includes all residents of Jafar Abad neighborhood, which is equal to 37,423 people based on the 1390 census, and the sample size is 268 people based on Cochran's formula. Also, the sampling method is a simple random method. Sustainable development of Jafar Abad neighborhood in vitality index (1.96), accessibility (2.74), attractiveness and distinction (2.12), comfort, comfort and relaxation (2.11), noise and visual pollution (3.04), diversity and legibility (2.32), safety and security (2.17), sense of belonging (2.56), dynamism and compatibility (2.14), identity and legibility (2.89), density and tolerable criteria neighborhood (2.01) and participation (3.28), which was lower than average and standard in most indicators. The results of the analysis of sustainable urban development in Jafarabad neighborhood show that all physical sustainability indicators with the mean of one-sample t-test (2.79), social sustainability (2.53), economic sustainability (1.93) and environmental sustainability (2.35) in Jafarabad neighborhood are below the average and standard. The main independent variables influencing the sustainable development of the neighborhood are physical, social, environmental and economic sustainability in order of priority. Therefore, according to the examination of these indicators and their value being lower than the standard limit, Jafarabad neighborhood is unstable.

Key words: sustainable urban development - informal settlement - sustainable neighborhood - Jafarabad neighborhood

Chapter 1

Generalities of the research

1- Introduction

Urban development in the sense In general, it has become unstable due to the spatial reflection of informal settlement, an issue that will be presented and discussed, today is one of the major destabilizing urban challenges and a type of urbanization with acute problems known as informal settlement or marginalization. Informal settlements have always been one of the main problems of cities in developing countries, including Iran. In recent decades, the discussion of urban poverty and informal settlements has been more closely linked with the general concept of sustainable urban development. Today, the understanding of sustainability at the international level and its role in social and urban sustainability has been formed in such a way that in many international agreements, eradicating poverty in general and urban poverty in particular is defined as one of the main goals of the world community. In this context, the most significant global agreement on the Millennium Development Goals by world leaders (2000) is that eliminating poverty and hunger and ensuring environmental sustainability (improving access to suitable housing and improving informal housing) are among its main goals (Irandoost, 2008: 27).

Slums and informal housing in cities are in contradiction with sustainable urban development. Today, the phenomenon of informal settlements around cities is an inevitable thing that should be taken into consideration by urban planners and city officials and trustees, especially in third world countries. In the macro dimension, informal settlement is the formation of an unstable urbanism that is manifested in the settlements inside or adjacent to the cities with an unpleasant appearance and outside the official and planned spaces (Study Group for Urban Planning and Sustainable Development, 2013: 2). Marginalization is considered as one of the Achilles heel of sustainable urban development. Based on the approvals of the United Nations Millennium Development Program, at least 100 million slum dwellers should have access to health facilities, housing and modern education opportunities by 2015 (Naghdi and Sadeghi, 2015: 219).

During recent decades, informal settlements and informal settlements, mainly on the outskirts of the country's big cities, It has been formed and expanded from the official urban development plan. This phenomenon is considered as one of urban damage in urban studies. The accumulation of low-income classes and informal jobs in informal settlements has created a way of unsustainable urbanization.The accumulation of low-income strata and informal jobs in informal slums has created a way of unsustainable urbanization and has become the basis for many harms and social anomalies (Jamshidi et al., 2013: 221-242). One of the major urban destabilizing phenomena, especially in developing countries, is a type of urbanization with acute problems known as informal settlement[1], which is expanding increasingly according to global observations. Although such settlements are a manifestation of poverty, they are also a reflection of the shortcomings and inadequacies of government policies and the official market. Due to the reproduction of poverty and its spread, the informal settlement poses a serious threat to the stability and cohesion of the urban society and requires special measures to organize the current situation and prevent their spread in the future. Since informal settlement originates from a context beyond its possibility and affects an environment beyond its location, the solution to this issue requires policy and measures not only at the local level, but also at the national level. Urban development in its general sense has become unstable due to the spatial reflection of informal settlement. Uncertain and new livelihood, where the necessary and appropriate arrangements for urbanization - in economic, social, cultural and physical dimensions are not available, have led them to unstable settlements, which were chosen in order to establish a foothold in the city and hopefully during the transition period. In addition, the undecided issue of many of these settlements in terms of the law - which keeps the residents in constant danger of destruction, eviction and official assault - causes a feeling of hopelessness and insecurity in the households and hinders their efforts, social participation and solidarity with the urban society, which has adverse cultural consequences (even for their future generations and the surrounding environments). Therefore, in the current situation, the issue is: the deprivation of the residents of these vast settlements who are prone to social, economic, physical and environmental disturbances and are in dire need of improving the environmental conditions.

According to the current trends and the lack of signs of policy change, there is a worrying prospect of the growth of informal settlements and the destabilization of cities, which requires a national will and specific measures, different from the norm.

Informal housing, which is mainly due to the occupation and construction of land and housing, non-compliance with official and conventional urban and construction rules and regulations, severe lack of infrastructure services and informal use of urban facilities and equipment, rapid physical and population growth, dominant informal employment, instability of facilities and infrastructure, low service per capita, income instability and finally a suitable physical platform for the growth of social harms and the formation of small Deviant cultures and the creation of safe havens and shelters for criminals and social offenders are identified and recognized, over the past two decades, it has become a big challenge, predominantly in the periphery, especially in big cities. Informal settlement is caused by macro-structural factors at the national and regional levels. The increasing growth of the urban population has surpassed the ability of governmental and non-governmental organizations to develop and provide urban services and facilities for this growing population, and the failure to meet the housing and shelter needs of the low-income strata in the official and planned space of the city has expanded marginalization and informal settlement in an unprecedented way (Shieh et al., 2013, 40). Yes, it can be investigated in terms of how to deal with this phenomenon. The origin and formation process of informal settlements in Iran can be the same as in undeveloped and developing countries, but comparatively, it does not have the same intensity and unity. Beshiohi informal settlements in Iran began in the 1320s until the end of the 50s with relatively high intensity, and after the revolution, in terms of intensity of formation, it is considered as one of the basic problems of Iranian cities. During this period, due to the growth of capitalist relations and relationships, tremendous political, economic and social changes and transformations took place.