Analysis of Informal Urban Settlement Upgrading: The Case of Ng’ombe Slum Upgrading in Zambia

Informal settlements constitute a major part of the urban landscape of most cities in Zambia. There have been myriad of development interventions undertaken to manage the informal settlement challenge in the country, with city administrators reviewing the approach to informal urban settlement upgrading in an attempt to control them. Developing regularisation strategies is complicated by the complex dynamics which are specific to individual informal urban settlements. In order to effectively counter this challenge, it is important to draw lessons from past regularisation interventions. The paper studies the recurring themes and common elements in contemporary settlement regularisation programmes from literature which form the conceptual framework for this study. These themes are studied to ascertain their rele-vance for future development interventions in informal settlements. Ng’ombe slum upgrading project in Lusaka, Zambia, is used as a case study to ascertain how these elements performed and assess their potential for replication in similar settings. The study recommends stakeholders incorporate common effective participatory informal settlement upgrading elements in future interventions to guarantee more equity and sustainability of upgrading initiatives.


Introduction
A principle challenge facing Sub-Saharan African cities is the proliferation of informal settlements. Nearly three-quarters of Africa's urban residents subsist in DOI: 10.4236/cus.2020.84028 510 Current Urban Studies informal settlements obscured from any state or local government support (Cities Alliance, 2006). Slums or informal settlements are quickly becoming the most visible expression of urban poverty in cities of the developing world. Constituting a variety of tenement housing, poor tenure arrangements and limited access to basic services and infrastructure, such settlements are referred to by a wide range of names (UN-Habitat, 2003). Contrary to wide held notions, most dwellers live in informal settlements by choice, as these localities offer the advantage of belonging to a population that is out of sight of legality away from the rules and regulations of mainstream society. To a large section of the urban population, informal settlements present the most accessible and affordable living option for the urban poor. Cronin (2012) also observes that informal settlements are often only affordable living option for poor migrants moving to the cities. As a measure to improve informal settlement conditions many states have adopted varied measures in regularising informal urban communities. Unfortunately these interventions often fail to meet the competing needs of informal urban settlement residents as interventions do not adequately address the realities of urban life.
The conceptual frame work of this research will review selected common characteristics that run through informal urban settlement regularisation initiatives. These characteristics will guide the case study assessment of informal settlement upgrading in Zambia. This article reviews a participatory settlement upgrading project in Lusaka, Zambia as a model and identifies elements of special interest that can be replicated for future upgrading initiatives. The term "upgrading" emphasizes the intent to improve living standards of the urban poor and reveals the challenges that need attention in such projects (Werlin, 1999).
Ng'ombe participatory slum upgrading illustrates experiences and lessons which are vital for future upgrading initiatives with similar settings.

Informal Settlements or Slums
The word "Slum" first appeared in 1812 and was used to describe the overcrowded, squalid inner-city tenements where working class housing was built during the British industrial revolution (Singh, 2014;Gilbert, 2007). In developing countries, the word simply refers to lower-quality or informal housing. UN Habitat defines slums as overcrowded areas lacking safe water, sanitation, quality housing and tenure security (UN-Habitat, 2003). Huchzermeyer (2011) notes that identifying all poor settlement types in the category of slums ignores the individual settlement traits and possibilities for improvement and depicts them as falling beyond set standards.
Globally close to 860 million urban dwellers lived in slum conditions by 2012.
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has one of the highest proportions of urban population living in slums at 72% which constitutes 25% of slum population in the de-  (UN-Habitat, 2014). Rapid urban growth without needed urban infrastructure development has resulted in a high proportion of informal settlements (UN-Habitat, 2008). The terms slum and informal settlement are often used interchangeably in literature and are similarly employed in this paper. Informal settlement in this instance is used to refer to poor quality housing in low-income communities, as well as the absence of infrastructure in such communities. Its use in no way refers to the character and actions of people living in these communities (Singh, 2014). Informal settlements are known by a variety of names across the globe and are commonly referred to as "komboni" in Zambia.

Informal Settlement Upgrading
According to Cities Alliance (2006), informal settlement upgrading is a process which involves the improving, formalising and incorporating of informal settlements by providing residents with the lacking land rights, public infrastructure and services legally and constitutionally entitled to them (Du Plessis, 2017). Over the past 6 decades various interventions have been undertaken globally. (Mukhija, 2002) notes that some previous urban upgrading projects have failed because of centralized state planning and top-down execution. State interventions tended to tended to often be counter-productive and not in the best interest of the poor beneficiaries. The state actually made it difficult to replicate successful pilot projects. Werlin (1999) observes that early John F.C. Turner was the first to acknowledge government's shortcomings in slum upgrading. He argued for governments to cease building and managing housing. He advocated for the users (local communities) to be the principal actors in the upgrading process. Critics argue that his policies assumed that the absence of State intervention would lead to more autonomy for low-income groups and that his ideas offered no clarity on how to implement and institutionally support upgrading. Many in formal settlement upgrading proponents encourage states to institute programmes that address the root cause and not just the outcome of the slum problem. This advocates for in situ upgrading of slum conditions as opposed to slum relocation.
As earlier suggested Turner, when provided with the right incentives such as secure tenure and access to credit, slum dwellers have the potential to gradually improve their homes and living environments (Werlin, 1999). Slum upgrading was touted as a development strategy that can be executed without active state involvement but requiring a people centred strategy where individuals and communities efficiently control the upgrading outcomes. Gilbert (2007) however observes that the dynamism and variety in informal settlements complicates the formulation of an absolute solution to the diverse slum challenges. Likewise, the interplay between different actors in regularisation is another cause for concern, since stakeholders have their own motivations and objectives. This can often lead to delicate partnerships upon which the success of intervention lies (Danso-Wiredu & Midheme, 2017). Du Plessis (2017) notes that partnerships between stakeholders are essential for achieving the de-

Elements That Characterise Informal Settlement Upgrading
1) Land Tenure Relations Makasa (2010) defines land tenure as the right of a tenant to hold on to land and enjoying all privileges that come with it. It relates to the terms and conditions on which land is held, used and transacted. Secure tenure thus is at the crux of informal settlement upgrading. In most Third World countries, the single major obstacle to the development of housing for the urban poor is land ownership. The lack of tenure security for the urban poor and their neighbourhoods leads to uncertain livelihood opportunities. Slum dwellers seldom own the houses or the land on which they live but often rent houses or rooms from landowners without the approval of local authorities (Werlin, 1999). People at risk of eviction do not invest in housing unless they have a sense of permanence and the security that any investment in housing can be recouped. Furthermore illegality and informality in informal settlements make them susceptible to exploitation, corruption and extortion. Uncertainties in the ownership of land in informal settlements are often a recipe for conflict and a barrier to state sanctioned tenure security (Werlin, 1999).
The UN-Habitat (2012) explains that the strategic value of the state authorities providing occupancy rights to slum residents lies in the facts that it offers them more awareness on their "rights to the city" and effective protection against forced evictions. Occupancy rights are a tool for social mobility, enabling residents to establish organisations that transcend ethnic, religious, gender and geographical boundaries. Secure tenure can stimulate investment of own resources for the purpose of improving shelter and services and can be used as a tool for making claims or negotiating for community resources and basic services from state authorities. Furthermore, it serves as an avenue for legitimizing land or structures on that land as forms of guarantee for credit and investment (Krajisnik, 2011 This third entity, such as a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), is tasked with more socially oriented goals, such as creating procedures to integrate the slum settlement into its larger community (Chang, 2009). It is highly recommended to create partnerships involving the State, Non-Governmental Organisations, the private organisations, community agencies and slum dwellers in slum upgrading. Partnerships are essential in the successful and sustainable implementation of slum upgrading (Gulyani & Debomy, 2002). Early slum upgrading projects mainly involved infrastructure provision without involvement, coordination or interaction with the target community. In as much as such projects improved the slums, the livelihoods of dwellers remained unaffected.
It is argued that physical infrastructure improvements need to be coupled with improved opportunities for residents to become integrated citizens of society (Chang, 2009) 3) Replicability of Strategies Cohen (1983) was one of the first to advocate the need to create a framework which enables the multiplication of housing delivery systems and assists in the mobilization of resources for housing the urban poor without dominating or controlling the process.
Generally informal settlements are not homogeneous in character, as they vary even when located in close proximity. Slum upgrading strategies should therefore be uniquely suited to respond to the local specificities. Locally focused slum upgrading strategies have taken root and gained popularity in recent years.
Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are one of the main stakeholders championing upgrading initiatives in the global south. They have been involved in developing place-specific slum upgrading interventions, which have triggered major urban transformation since each slum locality has its own challenges.
Development of specific interventions for a problem within each community appears to be the answer to the slum menace as opposed to generic solutions It is possible to rescale and replicate successful slum upgrading interventions.
Where applicable the augmenting and replication of interventions should have due regard for existing built environment and focus of the specific needs of the target settlements. Project cost, construction materials, means of financing and tenure security are some of the successful strategies which can be replicated in other slums with similar settings. The literature shows that comprehensive strategies such as participatory approach to slum upgrading have been replicated (Muller & Mitlin, 2007). Informal settlements do not have similar levels of deprivation therefore upgrading interventions should uniquely reflect the needs of the local communities. Similarly conditions for replication should be assessed against the local conditions where strategies are to be applied.

4) State and the Non Governmental Organisation Involvement
Governments have been key agents in settlement regularisation. This is despite years of previously adopting a laissez-faire attitude to the growth of informal settlements. Gulyani & Connors, (2002) (Syagga, 2011).
The State and civil society actors offer distinct strengths to settlement upgrading.
Developing the alliances between these two main agencies is crucial in avoiding duplicity of efforts and waste of scarce resources. Government and stakeholder collaboration fosters effective execution of tasks, accelerates the process and allows for strategic use of partners strengths for better results. While governments are better placed to guide policy formulation and coordination, civil society has more experience in developing grassroots technical capacities, as well as building linkages between external actors and the local communities (Midheme, 2010). novative approaches to slum upgrading should be the focus for future collaboration between the state, NGOs and slum dwellers.

Informal Settlement Upgrading in Zambia
Zambia Informal urban settlements or kombonis are areas occupied without right or legal title (Makasa, 2010). According to local statutes, these settlements are catego- which empowered local councils to give squatters tenure security and provide basic social facilities in informal settlements. It gave councils the opportunity to declare these settlements as Improvement Areas. The Improvement Area declaration meant, residents could now be issued with 30-year Occupancy Licenses, while the area goes through the process of upgrading. The licences carried the same effect as the landowner obtaining a direct lease of the land from the state and could later be replaced by certificates of title. Owners were only allowed one property in an Improvement Area and no commercial activities on residential lots were permitted.

Methodology
The methodology of this empirical study rests on a case study strategy with a DOI: 10.4236/cus.2020.84028 518 Current Urban Studies qualitative approach. This method allowed for the incorporation of a variety of data sources and tools for analysis and interpretation and is an appropriate empirical inquiry for investigating a contemporary phenomenon within its existing context (Creswell & Clark, 2017: p. 4). Qualitative methodology is used to gain a deeper understanding of the respondents' views and their experiences about the community being studied. Empirical data were collected from households in Ng'ombe informal settlement of Lusaka. Ng'ombe informal urban settlement offers a data rich setting based on its location in the city of Lusaka, upgrading interventions conducted in the settlement, observable and measurable outcomes of development interventions in the settlement and its general relevancy to the objective of this study (Neuman, 2011). The article findings are based on study re-   In the second stage, a survey was conducted with the aim of establishing the dweller's perceptions of conditions in the settlements after the regularisation.

Data Collection
Deliberate sampling was adopted in order to have purposive and unbiased selection of study samples ensuring only pertinent information was collected for the study rather than statistical generalization (Kothari, 2004: p. 178 (Stake, 1995). The areas for in-depth study (clusters) were selected by way of preliminary survey of the area and review of aerial photographs. The dwellings in Ng'ombe are single storey and each cluster has approximately 50 dwellings. 5 clusters of almost 50 households each were selected as a sample of the 6044 households of the settlement population. Representative clusters within Ng'ombe were selected as a representation of the whole settlement population.
The criteria used in identifying the clusters included areas where upgrading interventions were in close proximity, the physical characteristics of the buildings, network of roads and footpaths and localities with activities such as commercial, recreation, and sanitation and existing public facilities. The reason for opting to carry out the study in clusters was because the cluster offered a manageable sample to carry out qualitative study of the environment and the dwellers within a defined neighbourhood space, observing the ordering of space and related activities (Kothari, 2004: p. 178).
The case study data were collected from the sampled households using structured questionnaires. The questionnaire was designed to enable collection of primary data on respondent households. In the questionnaire, the respondent households provided information regarding property ownership status, household composition, duration and reasons for staying in the settlement, their views on aspects of quality of communal and neighbourhood public spaces, infrastructure and services, community participation and current intervention strategies. The questionnaires helped establish the historical development of Ng'ombe.
They highlighted changes in land use in the settlement and housing development. They provided narratives on the physical and social development of the areas. The interviews were conducted in English, Chibemba or Chinyanja (local languages) depending on the language the respondent was comfortable using.
Each interview lasted for about 15 to 30 minutes depending on the respondent's ability to understand the questions. Some respondents were engaged in livelihood activities during the interviews. This information helped provide an indication to which research findings could be generalized beyond the realm of the case study under examination. Respondents in the selected households had to be residents of Ng'ombe and had to give consent to the interview.
The research instruments used include desk top research from primary and secondary written sources were used to develop a deeper understanding of the study subject (Yin, 2003

Data Analysis
The questionnaires had both open-ended and closed ended questions. Open-ended questions have been included to provide an opportunity for residents to elaborate their views on specific issues, which also provided an opportunity for the interviewer to probe specific responses that were not as detailed as required.
Open-ended interviews embodied interesting reflections on policies affecting informal settlements, urban policies, and the role of local authority in supporting social and built environment processes in the informal settlements and to further explore the research themes. Interviews with housing experts and were conducted to establish the current, past and envisaged policies on upgrading interventions.

Reliability and Validity
A case study protocol was prepared to address threats to the reliability of case study research. It was intended to guide in carrying out the case study. The protocol content included; a case study project overview; procedures for the field; case study questions and; a guide for the case study report (Yin, 2003). Besides the case study protocol, only graduate research assistants from the University on Zambia in Lusaka were engaged to guarantee reliability and quality of data collected. The research assistants were trained in order to develop a common understanding of research issues, objectives and methods before commencement of fieldwork assignments. Likewise all questions for interviews were scrutinized in order to have a common understanding and interpretation of responses. Trustworthiness and validation was achieved by continuous field engagement, triangulation by using multiple data sources and rich thick description adopted in the article (Creswell & Clark, 2017).

The Ng'ombe Community Participatory Upgrading Project
Ng'ombe has over the course of its growth undergone a number of upgrading interventions (See Table 1 NBBL also contributed financially as well as professionally (Mulenga, Anyamba, & Nordahl, 2004).
To facilitate the upgrading and poverty alleviation project, the HUZA employed the concept of "Community Participation" in settlement improvement.
Community participation entails stimulating the sense of pragmatism and self-help  Bank, 2002;LCC;Amuah, 1999. in the targeted communities. The primary aim being to ensure that the targeted communities begin to organise and mobilise themselves for improved and sustained living conditions (Mulenga, Anyamba, & Nordahl, 2004). HUZA first began advocacy work in Ng'ombe in 1989, when it begun to support mobilisation of the residents to "agitate" for the recognition of their settlement as an improvement area. As a result of these activities, the residents of Ng'ombe established a Resident Development Committee (RDC) in 1996. A participatory needs assessment later coordinated by the RDC showed that the priorities of the residents of Ng'ombe were: access to clean water supply; health centre; better solid waste management; better roads and access to skills training and funding to enhance livelihood activities of the poor residents in particular.
In response to these, HUZA undertook to support construction of a health centre, skills training centre and provision of a micro-credit scheme to support the income generating activities of the poor. Other initiated poverty reduction programmes included the improved security lighting at the community market.
In addition, HUZA started the only pre-school in the settlement to help prepare children for primary education. The latter was crucial, as there was no Government school in the settlement at the time and children had to compete for places in the nearby Olympia Basic School. HUZA also provided skills training programmes to residents, which skills were later used during the upgrading exercises. Construction of a health centre and skills training centre were also started at the same time. A number of boreholes were also sunk with the financial support from NORAD, NBBL and NORCOOP. The training offered to the RDC members enabled them to attract other agencies interested in supporting improved living conditions in Ng'ombe. In particular, the Rotary Club contributed in uplifting living conditions by sinking three boreholes in the settlement. The Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company also sunk some boreholes to help alleviate the water problem. Figure 3 shows typical water infrastructure constructed in the settlement during upgrading. The Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia also entered the area and began offering family planning services to the residents (Mulenga, Anyamba, & Nordahl, 2004).

General Characteristics of Ng'ombe from Household Sample
The sampling frame is improperly balanced in terms of gender with more male respondents (79.9%) than their female counterparts (see Table 2). This was mostly due to the tendency for most female respondents claiming to have a male head for fear of losing their properties. The sample indicated that about 62% of the respondents were property owners in the settlement and 40.6% of respondents having spent over 21 years in the settlement. The settlement appears to show low resident turnover which indicates a stable population. Most respondents attributed this to the low rentals charged (75%) and the proximity to livelihood opportunities (21%). This is despite the current lack of state regulation on rental charges and a lack of state rental housing for the urban poor. The information also shows that most (72.5%) of respondents have had a minimum of primary level education (see Table 2). The survey has been employed to provide a demographic make-up of the settlement.
Most respondents were satisfied with the spatial conditions in the settlement (88.9%). Respondents noted that there was adequate space for domestic and public activities such as crop cultivation, trading and food preparation. The respondent unsatisfied with the spatial environment tended to be located in the Old Ng'ombe part of the settlement which is plagued by environmental challenges due to the limited upgrading in this part of the settlement from inception. Figure 3. A borehole hand pump and disused water stand managed by the water trust in New Ng'ombe constructed during the upgrading process. Source: Author.

1) Land Tenure Security in Ng'ombe
Originally land in Ng'ombe was privately owned by a single landlord with all occupants on the farm being considered illegal occupiers. Through the community advocacy pioneered by HUZA, Ng'ombe has been recognised as an improvement area. It was legalized on 16th February, 1999 by the Ministry of Local

Government and Housing (MLGH) under Statutory and Improvement Areas
Act (Yasini, 2007). The residents of Ng'ombe are now entitled to apply and be issued with occupation licences. The occupancy licence serves as the legal documentation for the ownership of both their land and property in the declared informal settlements. The Lusaka City Council as a partner in the upgrading process undertook to ensure that the settlement was declared an improvement area in order to ensure security of tenure for the residents. Recognition was, however, not only important for provision of essential infrastructure and services, but for ensuring social stability as well. During the survey it was observed that tenure security has led to the mushrooming of an informal market in structures in the community which the local authority appears to tolerate albeit encourages. Tenure provision has also improved the local authority capacity to collect more public revenue. Tenants on the other hand expressed misgivings on regularisation of the settlement as it has led to increase rental charges in the community leading to displacement of some of the original tenants. Landlords and property owners acknowledged during the survey that they are now better placed to make extensions and improvements to their buildings without fear of future demolition or eviction. Figure 4 shows a residential building being extended after the owner had obtained legal tenure documents from the local council. These sought to improve the livelihoods of the residents in order to guarantee the sustainability of the improvements, as well as to reduce vulnerability and human suffering that goes with extreme deprivation. Direct participation of all the residents in the upgrading activities was also necessary to guarantee ownership and sustenance of the intervention. It was also regarded as an insurance were addressed by a participative-collaborative management structure between the local government and Ng'ombe residents, and rather than focusing only on infrastructure like roads and housing, social issues were also addressed. Though limited in scope and application this case offers an interesting model for achieving social cohesion, community appropriation and sustainability in slum upgrading.

3) Replicable Strategies in Ng'ombe
Attempts at replicating successful upgrading projects from one context to another must first recognise the variability in social relations, opportunities and constraints. For instance a major aspect of the community participation based upgrading, which has had a long term impact on the development of Ng'ombe and individuals targeted is capacity building. Individuals who had received training in different skills were empowered in terms of acquiring practical skills needed on the labour market. The number of beneficiaries in the HUZA's community development strategy was also high in the sense of improved living condition, but not in the sense of housing allocation. It has been argued that though the approach might encourage and partly facilitate the process for a great bulk of residents' effort of improving their living conditions, there however is no evidence that this approach actually leads to any substantial production of new houses (Burgess, 1997).
The occupancy certificate tenure model adopted in Ng'ombe was an innovative system of land administration that carries a lot of promise in the provision of low-income housing in urban areas. The security of tenure it provides for home owners offers a sense of surety that permanent improvements they undertake on their properties will not be easily lost by demolitions or evictions as was This includes responsibility for the technical, financial, and customer relations.
Lacking, however, is a mechanism to ensure that sufficient funds are generated for adequate maintenance including replacement.
The formation of the RDC in Ng'ombe was a result of a "trial and error" mechanism of finding out which organisational structure proves to be the most sustainable way of organising the residents. The history of party organisation in Zambia played an important role in the first model of organisation. Since independence the political parties had been important in the administration of slum and other residential areas (Mitullah et al., 1994). Building on the experiences of drawing a fixed interface between the local party organisation and the area based residential organisation, Lusaka City Council developed a guiding constitution for the RDC, stating their mandate. The constitution underlined that the concept of community participation had been endorsed by both Central government and the Local authority as an essential strategic element in a project designed to improve living conditions for most low-income groups, and particularly in upgrading projects of informal settlements (Mulenga, Anyamba, & Nordahl, 2004).
From a project financing perspective, the slum upgrading tends to follow a government "subsidy" approach. In this project and as with previous projects, no attempt was made to recover any of the capital costs of infrastructure provision, down to the secondary and tertiary or local infrastructure. The ability to replicate the financing model of Ng'ombe upgrading is thus questionable and can only work where government has funds (often supplied by donors) to finance a subsidy. Given the extreme poverty that exists, this approach which is also prevalent in many other places may be unavoidable. It is therefore critical that the standards and service levels provided do not exceed what is necessary to serve particular communities.

4) Collaboration between Government and Civic Organisations
The recent research has questioned Turner's theory of minimalist state engagement in informal settlement upgrading, arguing on the contrary for a strong state in order to ensure clear property rights, land acquisition and secure tenure. Gulyani & Connors, (2002)

Conclusion
The living conditions found in informal settlements limit the residents' ability to improve their lives. NGOs such as HUZA believe that improvement of living conditions is the key to the reduction of poverty and human suffering. Improv- is the main agent for bringing development to slum settlements and is the implementing agency in upgrading initiatives. The state has the advantage of being the only stakeholder able to significantly improve the livelihoods of the urban poor by putting in place policy and legislation such as providing tenure security, to support settlement upgrading. What remains critical is the need for the state to pivot from a top-down to a bottom-up approach in planning development interventions in informal urban settlements.
The Ng'ombe upgrading initiative brought together multiple stakeholders drawn from the state, international and local private sector and civil society in a joint effort to improve social and economic situation of the urban poor. Individual projects in upgrading can be successfully delivered, but much more important is what happens when the various stakeholders have disengaged from the project. The community micro credit scheme and skills development initiatives ensured that not only were the local community provided with public infrastructure, they were also equipped with the skills and finances needed to ensure management and maintenance of the provided physical infrastructure could be sustained. To ensure the long-term sustainability of community infrastructure, it is necessary to develop income-generation activities to support their operation and maintenance as was the case in the Ng'ombe upgrading. Similarly the project also emphasised the need for operation and maintenance costs of infrastructure provided in upgrading programmes to be by shared responsibility between the NGOs, the CBOs, the municipal authorities, and the community. As was the case in this study, funds for adequate operation and maintenance including replacement must be generated either through community structures or in conjunction with local authority and commercial utility structures. Stakeholders managing upgrading interventions need to consider the merits of incorporating these elements before planning and implementation commences.
Each of the identified elements is critical in the upgrading process. International and local NGOs initiatives towards improving the housing situation on the urban poor can appreciably contribute towards reducing the housing problem and can generally improve their livelihood conditions. This combined with state collaboration can allow for the replication and up-scaling of community interventions. The Ng'ombe upgrading provides evidence that the urban poor when provided with the necessary support can make significant investments to improve their housing situation.

Deficiencies and Future Direction
The case study and analysis did not provide an in-depth study of dynamics and conditions at dwelling level as this was beyond the scope of the research. However after completion of the research it was observed that the study of the settlement dynamics at dwelling level would be necessary for future research as it would guide the formulation of intervention and planning regulations of dwellings and other infrastructure in informal settlements. A few of the respondents exaggerated some of the responses, during the data collection, on the misconceived premise that this survey was a veiled government exercise to identify members of the community who required assistance with individual shelter upgrading. It was also not possible to capture the real picture of urban poverty levels in the settlements as some residents did not want to be portrayed as being poor, which might affect the resulting data collected. Despite providing carefully structured interview questions, it was sometimes difficult to convey the intended meaning when translating questions to the respondents in the informal settlements due to the numerous local languages spoken.
Other elements beyond the scope of this research were observed during the course of the study but are important for further understanding of informal urban settlement conditions. It would be ideal to conduct further research on the impact of upgrading at the dwelling level in order to develop effective solutions to the accommodation needs of the individual households in informal settlements. The impact of poverty on informal settlement built environment was also not fully explored and would be an ideal area requiring further research. Further research in the general area of physical regularization of informal settlements in Lusaka is needed to establish which of the existing settlements should be maintained and upgraded and which settlements to relocate. Another issue requiring further investigation is the assessment of the effects that gentrification is having on the development of informal settlements of Lusaka. It is important that a study of the effect middle income residents to informal areas are having on the physical, economic and social settings of the settlements is investigated.