![]() ![]() The proportion of informal settlements in general continued to increase. By 2011, Windhoek’s population had increased to 325 858. In 2004, informal settlers constituted about 29% of Windhoek’s population of over 250 000. Windhoek’s informal settlements have grown exponentially over the past few decades. But that if the Namibian government wants to improve the living conditions of the urban poor, it needs to introduce policies that recognise the complex nature and relations of informal settlements. We conclude from our findings that there is an urgent need to formalise land policy in Windhoek’s informal settlements. This makes sense given that formal land tenure is a requirement for communities to access public municipal services. The people I interviewed said their need to own land was more pressing than their need to access services. Our study shows that formalised land tenure is a condition for households to access municipal services privately. These two issues are closely interlinked. I also found that most had limited access to public municipal services. I found that almost 85% of the informal settlers in Windhoek do not own the land they occupy. The main aim was to establish the relationship that people had with the land, as well as their access to basic services. I conducted a study into informal settlements in the capital. ![]() Namibia’s capital city, Windhoek, is no exception when it comes to unplanned urbanisation. These settlements have limited or no access to basic services like water and sanitation lack proper infrastructure like roads and formal housing structures. Today an estimated 25% of the world’s urban population live in informal settlements. Informal settlements are increasingly emerging in cities in developing countries across the world, including Africa.
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