The theory and reality of urban slums: pathways-out-of-poverty or cul-de-sacs?
SOURCE: Urban Studies
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2016
TITLE AUTHOR(S): I.Turok, J.Borel-Saladin
KEYWORDS: INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS, LABOUR MARKET, POVERTY
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 9427
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/10219
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/10219
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2016
TITLE AUTHOR(S): I.Turok, J.Borel-Saladin
KEYWORDS: INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS, LABOUR MARKET, POVERTY
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 9427
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/10219
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/10219
If you would like to obtain a copy of this Research Output, please contact Hanlie Baudin at researchoutputs@hsrc.ac.za.
Abstract
This article explores two contrasting perspectives on the role of informal settlements in urban labour markets. One proposes that they help to lift households out of rural poverty and onto a path to prosperity through affordable access to urban opportunities. The other suggests that the debilitating conditions confine residents to enduring hardship and insecurity. South Africa is an important test case because of the extent of social and spatial inequalities, and the policy ambivalence towards shack settlements. Preliminary evidence indicates that employment rates are much closer to formal urban areas than to rural areas, but conditions of employment are noticeably worse. Other forms of data are required to assess the magnitude and timescale of economic progression for households.-
Related Research Outputs:
- Status of informal settlements targeted for upgrading: implications for policy and impact evaluation
- Chronic poverty and employment
- Youth and well-being: a South African case study
- Demographics and society
- A rapid verification study on the informal settlements and backyard shacks' backlog and trends within the Eastern Cape
- "For us women, working is an unfulfilled dream": womens' wage work and food security
- Linking universities and marginalised communities: South African case studies of innovation focused on livelihoods in informal settings
- Myths and realities of informal settlements: poverty traps or ladders?
- Urban 'slums' and social mobility
- Why the urban poor cannot secure tenure: South African tenure policy under pressure
- Chronic poverty in South Africa: incidence, causes and policies
- The impact of HIV/AIDS on land issues in Kwazulu-Natal province South Africa: case studies from Muden, Dondotha, Kwadumisa and Kwanyuswa
- Book review: Bhorat, H., Leibbrandt, M., Maziya, M., Van der Berg, S. & Woolard, I. (eds) (2001) Fighting poverty: labour markets and inequality in South Africa. Cape Town: UCT Press
- Globalisation and the world of work
- Changes in the South African education system: in search for economic growth
- Understanding the size of the problem: the national skills development strategy and enterprise training in South Africa
- Income mobility and household dynamics in South Africa: the case of KwaZulu-Natal
- An overview of poverty and inequality in South Africa
- The socio-economic characteristics of the North West labour market
- Poverty and inequality reduction strategies for South Africa