Para além das questões de moradia, diversos indivíduos e grupos sociais brasileiros reivindicam o seu direito à cidade. A Comunidade Autônoma Utopia e Luta tornou-se um dos símbolos de resistência urbana brasileira, denunciando a urgência para uma revisão nas formas com que a habitação popular vem sendo tratada. Esta Comunidade, em 2005, ocupou de forma radical e estratégica uma edificação pública abandonada no Centro Histórico de Porto Alegre, convertendo-a em um equipamento urbano de práticas inclusivas a partir de projetos autônomos, ou seja, à parte do assistencialismo genérico e generalizado praticado pelos governos. Ademais, esta Comunidade entrou para a história brasileira quando influenciou uma alteração de Lei, tornando-se em seguida o primeiro caso a receber o repasse de imóveis da União para projetos de inclusão social. O presente estudo avalia o caso desta ocupação sob a ótica das autonomias comunitárias como vias alternativas e saudáveis para o desenvolvimento das cidades. Também avalia-se o discurso das requalificações de edificações, e das áreas urbanas abandonadas, para os usos sociais e comunitários. Apresentam-se referências históricas de outras autonomias “utópicas”, em casos peculiares de resistências urbanas propositivas sobre edificações e áreas abandonadas, entre as décadas de 1960 e 1980. Destacam-se, na Europa, o surgimento do Movimento Squatter e o caso da ocupação do bairro Kreuzberg, em Berlim. Em Nova York apresenta-se o caso do bairro SoHo, quando ocupado por artistas autônomos determinados a impactar profundamente no pensamento e na produção da arte, arquitetura e planejamento urbano contemporâneos. / Beyond the housing issues, several individuals and social groups claim their rights to the city in Brazil. The Comunidade Autônoma Utopia e Luta has become one of the country’s urban symbols of resistance, denouncing the urgency to review the ways in which social housing has been treated. This community, in 2005, has occupied - on an radical and strategical way - an abandoned public building, in the historic district of a big city called Porto Alegre. This action soon converted the idle building into an urban equipment of inclusive practices catalyzed by autonomous projects, that is, apart from the generic and widespread “welfare” practised by governments. Moreover, this Community made history when influenced a change of Law, becoming the first case to receive the appropriation of a public building from the Brazilian state, to be used on social projects. This study evaluates the case of this occupation, from the perspective of communitary autonomies as an alternative and healthy way for the development of cities. Also evaluates the discourse of requalification of abandoned buildings, and desolate urban areas, for social and community uses. This study presents historical references of other “utopian” autonomies, in peculiar cases of propositional urban resistances over abandoned buildings, between the 1960’s and 1980’s. Are emphasized, in Europe, the emergence of the Squatter Movement and the case of an occupation over the Kreuzberg district, in Berlin. In New York, it is presented the case of SoHo’s district, when occupied by independent artists determined to profoundly impact in the thought and production of contemporary art, architecture and urban planning.

Para além das questões de moradia, diversos indivíduos e grupos sociais brasileiros reivindicam o seu direito à cidade. A Comunidade Autônoma Utopia e Luta tornou-se um dos símbolos de resistência urbana brasileira, denunciando a urgência para uma revisão nas formas com que a habitação popular vem sendo tratada. Esta Comunidade, em 2005, ocupou de forma radical e estratégica uma edificação pública abandonada no Centro Histórico de Porto Alegre, convertendo-a em um equipamento urbano de práticas inclusivas a partir de projetos autônomos, ou seja, à parte do assistencialismo genérico e generalizado praticado pelos governos. Ademais, esta Comunidade entrou para a história brasileira quando influenciou uma alteração de Lei, tornando-se em seguida o primeiro caso a receber o repasse de imóveis da União para projetos de inclusão social. O presente estudo avalia o caso desta ocupação sob a ótica das autonomias comunitárias como vias alternativas e saudáveis para o desenvolvimento das cidades. Também avalia-se o discurso das requalificações de edificações, e das áreas urbanas abandonadas, para os usos sociais e comunitários. Apresentam-se referências históricas de outras autonomias “utópicas”, em casos peculiares de resistências urbanas propositivas sobre edificações e áreas abandonadas, entre as décadas de 1960 e 1980. Destacam-se, na Europa, o surgimento do Movimento Squatter e o caso da ocupação do bairro Kreuzberg, em Berlim. Em Nova York apresenta-se o caso do bairro SoHo, quando ocupado por artistas autônomos determinados a impactar profundamente no pensamento e na produção da arte, arquitetura e planejamento urbano contemporâneos. / Beyond the housing issues, several individuals and social groups claim their rights to the city in Brazil. The Comunidade Autônoma Utopia e Luta has become one of the country’s urban symbols of resistance, denouncing the urgency to review the ways in which social housing has been treated. This community, in 2005, has occupied - on an radical and strategical way - an abandoned public building, in the historic district of a big city called Porto Alegre. This action soon converted the idle building into an urban equipment of inclusive practices catalyzed by autonomous projects, that is, apart from the generic and widespread “welfare” practised by governments. Moreover, this Community made history when influenced a change of Law, becoming the first case to receive the appropriation of a public building from the Brazilian state, to be used on social projects. This study evaluates the case of this occupation, from the perspective of communitary autonomies as an alternative and healthy way for the development of cities. Also evaluates the discourse of requalification of abandoned buildings, and desolate urban areas, for social and community uses. This study presents historical references of other “utopian” autonomies, in peculiar cases of propositional urban resistances over abandoned buildings, between the 1960’s and 1980’s. Are emphasized, in Europe, the emergence of the Squatter Movement and the case of an occupation over the Kreuzberg district, in Berlin. In New York, it is presented the case of SoHo’s district, when occupied by independent artists determined to profoundly impact in the thought and production of contemporary art, architecture and urban planning.

Thesis (MTech (Architectural Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / Informal settlements are increasing in the cities of the global South in line with the rapid rate of urbanisation that is taking place in countries of this region. The growth of informal settlements in these countries has been exacerbated by factors that are unique to this region, factors such as scarcity of resources, colonial legacies and rapid urbanisation. Cape Town, a city that relates to the global South both in terms of geographical location and socio-economic context, has also seen a rapid growth of informal settlements, particularly in the last two decades. Like other cities in this region, Cape Town has ambitions of being regarded as a global city. Global cities are modelled on cities of the global North such as London, New York and Tokyo. Beyond the economic prestige that is generally associated with the cities of the global North, the imagery that they conjure up is also seen as an inspiration to be emulated by cities across the world, and it does not include informal settlements. As such, informal settlements generate a host of attitudes. Attitudes towards informal settlements don’t just emanate from political authorities, but emanate from across the spectrum that constitutes inhabitants and interest groups in these cities, including the creators of informal settlements themselves. These individuals and interests, according to their social standing and thus influence, have varying degrees of agency in the matters related to informal settlements. The aim in this study is to probe the effect of these attitudes on housing delivery to the poor. Attitudes not only influence the choice of what is regarded as the norm, but also how any entity that is regarded as the ‘other’ is evaluated. Almost without exception, cities that have been characterised by large numbers of informal settlements have attempted, without success, to eradicate informal settlements from their urban fabrics. An overarching assumption in this study is that the resilience of informal settlements says something about their necessity, and the failure by some, to recognise this necessity or the utilitarian value of informal settlements is influenced by attitudes. This research is done by first using a literature review to elucidate on: • the social condition, that is, the phenomenon of informal settlements, • the relevant theories applicable to the academic field the thesis is anchored in (architecture) and other social orders impacting architecture such as modernism, • the construct of attitudes and its impacts on beliefs, evaluations and perceptions on the affect of objects. The Joe Slovo informal settlement is then used as an analytic case study to investigate the effects of attitudes on the dynamics that have seen the site being transformed into what had been conceived as a prototype for transforming informal settlements to formal housing. The study shows that such transformations, although often carried out in the name of changing the lives of the inhabitants of informal settlements, do not necessarily entail them remaining at the site post its transformation. In the case of Joe Slovo, it actually resulted in a sizeable number of the original inhabitants being relocated to a new, less favourable site.

Para além das questões de moradia, diversos indivíduos e grupos sociais brasileiros reivindicam o seu direito à cidade. A Comunidade Autônoma Utopia e Luta tornou-se um dos símbolos de resistência urbana brasileira, denunciando a urgência para uma revisão nas formas com que a habitação popular vem sendo tratada. Esta Comunidade, em 2005, ocupou de forma radical e estratégica uma edificação pública abandonada no Centro Histórico de Porto Alegre, convertendo-a em um equipamento urbano de práticas inclusivas a partir de projetos autônomos, ou seja, à parte do assistencialismo genérico e generalizado praticado pelos governos. Ademais, esta Comunidade entrou para a história brasileira quando influenciou uma alteração de Lei, tornando-se em seguida o primeiro caso a receber o repasse de imóveis da União para projetos de inclusão social. O presente estudo avalia o caso desta ocupação sob a ótica das autonomias comunitárias como vias alternativas e saudáveis para o desenvolvimento das cidades. Também avalia-se o discurso das requalificações de edificações, e das áreas urbanas abandonadas, para os usos sociais e comunitários. Apresentam-se referências históricas de outras autonomias “utópicas”, em casos peculiares de resistências urbanas propositivas sobre edificações e áreas abandonadas, entre as décadas de 1960 e 1980. Destacam-se, na Europa, o surgimento do Movimento Squatter e o caso da ocupação do bairro Kreuzberg, em Berlim. Em Nova York apresenta-se o caso do bairro SoHo, quando ocupado por artistas autônomos determinados a impactar profundamente no pensamento e na produção da arte, arquitetura e planejamento urbano contemporâneos. / Beyond the housing issues, several individuals and social groups claim their rights to the city in Brazil. The Comunidade Autônoma Utopia e Luta has become one of the country’s urban symbols of resistance, denouncing the urgency to review the ways in which social housing has been treated. This community, in 2005, has occupied - on an radical and strategical way - an abandoned public building, in the historic district of a big city called Porto Alegre. This action soon converted the idle building into an urban equipment of inclusive practices catalyzed by autonomous projects, that is, apart from the generic and widespread “welfare” practised by governments. Moreover, this Community made history when influenced a change of Law, becoming the first case to receive the appropriation of a public building from the Brazilian state, to be used on social projects. This study evaluates the case of this occupation, from the perspective of communitary autonomies as an alternative and healthy way for the development of cities. Also evaluates the discourse of requalification of abandoned buildings, and desolate urban areas, for social and community uses. This study presents historical references of other “utopian” autonomies, in peculiar cases of propositional urban resistances over abandoned buildings, between the 1960’s and 1980’s. Are emphasized, in Europe, the emergence of the Squatter Movement and the case of an occupation over the Kreuzberg district, in Berlin. In New York, it is presented the case of SoHo’s district, when occupied by independent artists determined to profoundly impact in the thought and production of contemporary art, architecture and urban planning.

The South African democratic government has, since 1994, implemented various programs that aim to alleviate poverty through policy interventions. The Provincial Growth and Development Plan (Eastern Cape 2004-2014) commit its self to halving poverty by 2014. The research seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of poverty alleviation initiatives in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM), East London; focussing in Nompumelelo informal settlement. The study applied quantitative and qualitative approaches for biographical and socio economic information; and for in-depth understanding and verification respectively. Data collection was through structured interviews and survey questionnaires. The findings reveal that there are random, short-term poverty alleviation initiatives taking place in Nompumelelo informal settlement area. Projects that could have been self-sustaining collapsed due to lack of skills and training. The study indicates that the level of unemployment is high at 68 percent.

Waste management is a global challenge due to high waste generation resulting from high industrialization, urbanization and challenges relating to the efficient implementation of waste management policies acts and standards. Although South Africa has established a number of good waste management policies and related acts and standards, most municipalities still find it challenging to efficiently implement waste management strategies. Ekurhuleni Municipality is facing challenges with the implementation of effective waste management strategies and compliance to the National Environmental Management Waste Act (2008), (NEMWA) (Act No 59 of 2008). An evaluation of the gaps that exist between NEMWA and the local implementation in the formal and informal parts of the Ekurhuleni Municipality was undertaken in this study. Data on the waste management scenario as collected through questionnaires, interviews and observations revealed that differences relating to the poor establishment of an integrated approach to waste management exist between NEMWA and the local implementation of the act. This was realized through the fact that there is limited community education on waste management, no waste recycling facilities in some residences, irregular and insufficient collection of waste and non compliance with tariff payments for most informal residents and some formal residents. Differences also exist in the waste management strategies between the formal and informal areas of the municipality primarily due to the fact that the informal settlements are mostly unplanned and considered illegal. According to this study, informal residents are not billed for waste management services and as such most of them do not pay for waste management services. To that end, waste is not efficiently managed due to municipal financial constraints. Waste management challenges in Ekurhuleni Municipality are also attributed to lack of or insufficient knowledge regarding sustainable waste management practices and its benefits amongst the waste generators and some waste management employees. / Environmental Sciences / M.A. (Environmental Management)

Poverty is a condition where people's basic needs for food, clothing and shelter are not being met. Poverty is generally of two types: absolute and relative poverty. Some of the causes of poverty include changing trends in a country’s economy, lack of education, high divorce rate which causes feminisation of poverty, having a culture of poverty, overpopulation, epidemic diseases such as AIDS and malaria, and environmental problems such as lack of rainfall (business dictionary.com). / Dissertation (PhD (Applied Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Centre for Contextual Ministry / PhD (Applied Theology) / Unrestricted

After South Africa’s democratisation in 1994, the areas which had been deemed “only for whites” within the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (CoJ) were opened to all citizens. These changes attracted a high in-migration of people seeking better living in the CoJ. This influx not only challenged the provision of employment but also impacted negatively on the availability of land and housing and on the maintenance of safety and security by the police. Lack of accommodation forced immigrants to squat in the open spaces (including in the greenbelts) within the CoJ. A literature review provided an understanding of this problem locally and internationally. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with the affected stakeholders. The findings showed that the measures needed to combat the causes of illegal squatting are beyond police control. The involvement of departments such as Human Development, Labour, Home Affairs and Environmental Management is needed for a successful solution to the problem. / Police Practice / M. Tech.(Policing)

After South Africa’s democratisation in 1994, the areas which had been deemed “only for whites” within the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (CoJ) were opened to all citizens. These changes attracted a high in-migration of people seeking better living in the CoJ. This influx not only challenged the provision of employment but also impacted negatively on the availability of land and housing and on the maintenance of safety and security by the police. Lack of accommodation forced immigrants to squat in the open spaces (including in the greenbelts) within the CoJ. A literature review provided an understanding of this problem locally and internationally. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with the affected stakeholders. The findings showed that the measures needed to combat the causes of illegal squatting are beyond police control. The involvement of departments such as Human Development, Labour, Home Affairs and Environmental Management is needed for a successful solution to the problem. / Police Practice / M. Tech.(Policing)

The persistence and enormity of the housing backlog facing the poorest of the poor is an indication of the gravity of the housing crisis in Gauteng. The challenge exists despite government efforts to provide low-cost housing and formalize informal settlements. Against the background of this persistent need, this study investigates the City of Tshwane Municipality’s response to informal settlements in Mamelodi Phase 3, Gauteng. Participants from Mamelodi Phase 3 and officials from the City of Tshwane Municipality were purposively sampled. Research findings indicated that informal settlements in Mamelodi are caused by various factors, which include movement from rural to urban areas, movement from other provinces to Gauteng and natural population growth. Furthermore, the persistence of the informal settlements is caused by poverty. Most people continue to live in informal settlements since they cannot access financial assistance from the banks as per the National Credit Regulation (NCR). Corruption is also a formidable problem as some informal settlement dwellers alleged that officials of the City of Tshwane Municipality allocated houses in contravention of set procedures. This research shows that the City of Tshwane’s informal upgrading policies have failed in terms of providing adequate housing. Further, the housing policy has not succeeded in creating long-term sustainability in the delivery of low-cost housing to deal with the problems of the informal settlements. Although the City of Tshwane has implemented the Re aga Tshwane, which involves a wide range of policies, programmes and strategies to address the developmental challenges facing dwellers in informal settlements, more is required. On this basis, it is recommended that proper consultation with the community should be held to improve the lives of people in informal settlements in line with Section 26 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996), regarding every person’s right to have access to adequate housing. / Public Administration and Management / M.B.A. (Public Administration)