Analysing Low-Income Incremental Housing through Spatial Design and Governance

Abstract

As cities across the globe grapple with rising urbanisation and housing shortages, over one billion
people now reside in informal settlements. In South Africa, the legacy of apartheid planning,
combined with systemic inefficiencies and rapid urban growth, has compounded the challenges
of providing inclusive, sustainable low-income housing. While extensive research exists across
disciplines such as architecture, political science, and economics, much of it remains siloed—
offering fragmented perspectives on an inherently complex issue.

This dissertation takes a different approach. It examines low-income housing through a
double lens: spatial design—how built form is created and how its context is developed—and
governance—the aims, actors, and instruments involved in decision making. Using the K206
housing project in Alexandra, Johannesburg, as a case study, the research explores what happens
when government plans meet residents’ lived experiences. It engages three key literature
themes of low-income housing: informal settlement upgrading, state-subsidised housing, and
incremental housing. Through interviews, surveys, and expert consultations, the research reveals
how governmental aims—such as resident-responsive design, security of tenure, and income
generation—were translated into built form, and how residents responded to and reshaped these
interventions—sometimes in unexpected ways.

The findings show that residents are not just recipients of housing policy—they actively reshape
their environments and create their own systems of living, especially when dissatisfied with the
systems they are dealt. The research highlights governance and spatial design complexities in
South Africa and makes the case for interdisciplinary approaches that centre the voices of those
most affected by housing policy.