informal settlement
Unplanned housing area
An informal settlement is a residential area where inhabitants lack legal title to the land they occupy.
Such settlements typically arise when housing demand outpaces formal development—people build dwellings from whatever materials are available, often without access to basic services like water, sanitation, or electricity.
Also called shantytown, squatter settlement, or slum, though each term carries different connotations.
Millions live in informal settlements on the outskirts of major cities.
- slumImpoverished urban district
- favelaBrazilian informal settlement
- povertySevere lack of resources
- land rightsLegal claims to territory
- urban sprawlUncontrolled peripheral development
makeshift · unemployment · housing policy · public health crisis · zoning · shantytown · tin roof · corrugated iron · dirt floor · squatter · township · grassroots organizing · income disparity · disaster risk reduction · homeless · overcrowded · waste management · sewage
- slumsslum, slums, shanty, shanties, shack
- urban areascity, town, metropolis, district, districts
- New South AfricaNelson Mandela, Mandela, rainbow nation, African National Congress, new constitution
- relief sitesrefugee camp, relief camp, evacuation center, emergency shelter, transit camp
informal settlementplanned development
Predesigned residential or commercial area
planned community · housing estate · subdivision · master-planned community · housing project
informal settlementgated community
Restricted-access residential area
informal settlementaffluent neighborhood
Prosperous residential area