What is your city doing to

upgrade informal settlements?

View data index

Finding information on how cities are responding to informal settlements and backyarders is hard to come by, and requires insight into reporting systems of municipalities. Planning for Informality, an initiative of Isandla Institute, presents the strategies adopted by the eight metropolitan municipalities of South Africa.

By better understanding the policies, programmes and projects promoted by cities, better decisions and analysis can be made by government officials, community leaders, NGO programme managers, journalists and concerned citizens. We also provide Insights and welcome your contributions/inputs. For more information, click on ‘Contribute’ at the top of the banner.

weak evidence
moderate evidence
strong evidence

Viewing results for: 2018/2019

2017/2018 2018/2019 2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022 2022/2023
City Progress
BCM None None None None None
cct None None None None None
emm None None None None None
eth None None None None None
jhb None None None None None
mmm None None None None None
nmb None None None None None
tsh None None None None None

Featured Insights

Introducing Planning for Informality - Isandla Institute

Last year global leaders adopted the New Urban Agenda at the Habitat III convention. This convention is held every 20 years where policy directions are discussed and enacted. News websites were abuzz at the news that the New Urban Agenda will set a new global standard and policy direction..

Analysis of 2016/17 municipal documentation

Analysis of the policies, programmes and projects presented in core municipal documentation was the starting point for developing the Data Index. Researchers in Isandla Institute’s Urban Land programme trawled through more than 50 pdf documents ranging from 50 – 300 pages to extract data. ..