Building Resilience: Analyzing Beira’s Drainage Network and Flood Management: The impact of failure mechanisms on flooding in informal settlements

This research analyses and evaluates the performance of the drainage system in Beira, Mozambique. It considers its formation, maintenance, failure modes and connections, to recommend improvements on its performance. The research identifies six primary failure modes - vegetation overgrowth, human interference, waste accumulation, sedimentation,...

Beyond informality: Exploring strategies for redevelopment in informal settlements in Guangzhou (China)

In China, the phenomenon of informal settlements is a consequence of rapid urbanization. Since the 1980s, the construction of labor-intensive industries has accelerated the expansion of urban areas. Numerous traditional villages in suburban areas were surrounded by newly built urban areas and became the so-called “urban village”. People in the...

An alternative urban paradigm?: Local knowledge and the power of community as a base for sustainable development in Mathare Valley, Nairobi

Nairobi’s urban processes today are largely impacted by global and postcolonial forces. Its inherited planning frameworks keep contributing to the self-sustaining systems of socio-economic inequality and exclusion of the urban poor in a capitalist society. At the same time, its urban planning reflects postcolonial processes, characterised by the...

An Informal Frame: Incorporating social & economic production of space in redevelopment of informal settlements

The objective of this research is to investigate to what extent the existing production of space in informal settlements is related to its social ties and economic needs, and how it can be incorporated into a strategic framework for future redevelopment schemes. This stems from the meteoric rise of informal settlements in the global south,...

Tra-digital Hybrids: Using digital fabrication to create a hybrid design for developing countries

Can improved technology make a difference in under-served communities to improve the existing build environment in a cultural sustainable way and make possible endogenous solutions? The technical research paper highlights the technical research done to answer this particular question. The research, that focuses on technical solutions to serve...