Geography Chapter 8

• There are two types of housing- formal and informal housing
• Formal housing are built by the government or private developers
• Formal housing have the legal right to occupy the land
• Formal housing have access to basic services
• Formal housing is built using high quality building materials
• Informal housing lack access to basic services such as water, electricity, sewage disposal, garbage collection, etc.
• Informal housing do not have legal rights to occupancy
• Informal housing are built without permission from local authorities
• Informal housing are self-built squatter settlements
• Informal housing are built from scavenged materials, e.g. repurposed zinc sheets and recycled lumber
• Informal housing can lead to overcrowding due to limited space available
• Private developers --> Individuals/companies that develop a property for profit, tend to pick sites that are most commercially viable
• The location of any type of housing is primarly affected by land use planning, choices made by developers, land prices & the availability of housing financial support
• Zoning restrics the type of activties and land-use permitted on specifc sites. This is done to shape the layout of cities and enable various types of developments
• Informal housing tends to occupy locations near large housing or industrial developments to benefit from existing infastructure such as piped water, electricity or roads
• If land prices are high, houses will have to be sold at higher prices, and the people who wish to buy them will no longer be able to afford them
• In places without the provision of housing finance support schemes and a lack of formal housing will have more informal housing settlements, as affordability of housing in such areas would be low
• Housing financial support for developers can lower the cost of building houses, which may encourage developers to consider building more houses and prevent housing shortages