Browsing by Author "Abbott, John"

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    The Development of a bi-level geographic information systems (GIS) database model for informal settlement upgrading
    (1999) Martinez, Iuma A; Abbott, John
    Existing Urban GIS models are faced with several limitations. Firstly, these models tend to be single-scale in nature. They are usually designed to operate at either metropolitan- or at the local-level. Secondly, they are generally designed to cater only for the needs of the formal and environmental sectors of the city system. These models do not cater for the "gaps" of data that exist in digital cadastres throughout the world. In the developed countries, these gaps correspond to areas of physical decay or economic decline. In the developing countries, they correspond to informal settlement areas. In this thesis, a new two-scale urban GIS database model, termed the "Bi-Ievel model" is proposed. This model has been specifically designed to address these gaps in the digital cadastre. Furthermore, the model addresses the short-comings facing current informal settlement upgrading models by providing mechanisms for community participation, project management, creating linkages to formal and environmental sectoral models, and for co-ordinating initiatives at a global-level. The Bi-Ievel model is comprised of a metropolitan-level and a series of local-level database components. These components are inter-linked through bi-directional database warehouse connections. While the model requires Internet-connectivity to achieve its full potential across a metropolitan region, it recognises the need for community participation-based methods at a local-level. Members of the community are actually involved in capturing and entering informal settlement data into the local-level database.
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    Public private partnerships for sustainable municipal infrastructure, a system approach
    (2001) Heigers, J J D; Abbott, John
    Bibliography: leaves 90-93.
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    A review of infrastructure services for the upgrading of South African informal settlements
    (2003) Graham, Nicholas; Abbott, John
    Informal settlements are rapidly growing around South Africa's urban centres. With the current housing policy unable to cope with the housing backlog, let alone the growth in demand, new solutions need to be found to improve the unpleasant, unhealthy and unsafe conditions in these settlements. Often, the only engineering interventions are 'emergency' services provided as a temporary solution until formal housing can be provided. While in-situ upgrading of informal settlements is becoming more widely practiced, there is still a lack of knowledge and expertise regarding the provision of infrastructure services in these settlements. Those services which are provided are simply a transfer of the same high levels of service used in greenfield low-cost housing projects. This approach ignores that fact that informal settlements are here to stay and that they are, by their nature, entirely different to other settlements and require innovative technical infrastructure solutions . The aim of this thesis is to provide a review of the various options available for upgrading infrastructure in informal settlements and to assess the applicability of each of these in the context of South African informal settlements. A broader objective is to challenge the conventional development paradigm which centres on the provision of a 'package' of linked services according to a Level of Service Matrix. It is argued that this rigid categorisation of services and settlements oversimplifies the complexity of the technical and social choices that have to be made in the context of informal settlements. The hypothesis that is presented is that it is beneficial to treat each of the services independently in order to identify the criteria for selecting particular technologies, to provide sufficient options and flexibility to create real demand for infrastructure, and to challenge the traditional associations between certain services. An analysis of each of the four main infrastructure services - Sanitation, Water Supply, Drainage and Access - has therefore been undertaken in four separate chapters.