The study identifies the gap between actual thermal sensation and theoretical comfort calculated through simulated microclimate data in different urban configurations in a tropical, high-density, megacity: Dhaka. The methodology stated here could be applied for evaluating outdoor comfort conditions for future urban areas at an early design stage. To apply the concept of theoretical comfort it i...

The continued growth of informal settlements constitutes one of the greatest urban development problems affecting African cities. Projects intended to upgrade these settlements have not been highly successful. In Kenya, project beneficiaries receiving land under individual titles sell or lose their land rights. This transfer of property is seen as stimulating informal settlement construction an...

The paper reviews the relationship between spatial and transportation planning in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region of Sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that most urbanisation in the region has largely occurred subsequent to the 1950s and, accordingly, urban development has been profoundly and negatively affected by the (misguided) spatial and institutional tenets of modernis...

growing population and increasing urbanization has led to the expansion of informal settlements. informal settlements in developing countries, more than other urban tissues are exposed to various risks and natural disasters. this type of settlements, often develop and spread without regard to natural hazards, with no specific plan and no attention to regulations. expansion of informal settlemen...

Higher density reduces distances, private car dependency and thus reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). As a result, increased density has been given a central role among urban development targets. However, it is not just travel behavior that changes along with density. Rather, the consumption patterns, or overall lifestyles, change along with changing urban structure, particularly with chan...

Rapid growth of informal settlements in developing countries constitutes one of the most intriguing forms of urbanization. However, factors and theories underpinning this rapid and prevalent dynamic of informal settlements are often restricted to the descriptive phase. Limited studies have been undertaken to effectively demonstrate how these factors and theories can be incorporated into a frame...

Shallow hand-dug wells are commonly used to supplement partial or intermittent piped water coverage in many urban informal settlements in sub-Saharan Africa. Such wells are often microbially contaminated. This study aimed to quantify the amount of such groundwater consumed, identify the socioeconomic profile of well owners and consumers, and patterns of domestic water usage in informal settleme...

I – Introduction From the more structured urban areas in Europe and USA to the more chaotic Chinese, Asia’s and South America’s ones, from megalopolis to small and sparse settlements, the role of human settlements is becoming more and more important in land management, regional policy definition, and global modeling of environmental phenomena. The need for increased and more and more specific d...

Urban land-use change, the conversion of agricultural and natural ecosystems to human settlements, has become an important component of global change. Virtually all of the projected increase in the world’s population is expected to occur in cities so that by the year 2007 more than half of the global population is expected to live in urban areas (United Nations 2004). Yet, urban settlements and...

Urban food insecurity has become a growing humanitarian problem in most developing countries due to population increase, rural-urban migration, widespread poverty and increasing cost of food. In Kenya, an estimated 12 million people live in urban areas of which 5.7 million (about 48%) reside in slums or informal settlements. The slums are particularly at high risk of vulnerability to food insec...