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Urban Talk by Prof. Sarah Charlton

Prof. Sarah Charlton (Wits University) will hold a public lecture within Habitat Unit's Urban Talk series on Tuesday June 13, 6pm, in the context of her stay at TUB. In her talk "Making Viable Lives in a Southern Context. Low-Income Housing Dilemmas from South Africa" Sarah will provide an insight into her ongoing research. You can join us in person at the TUB's Institute of Architecture or online via [zoom](https://tu-berlin.zoom.us/j/62239085674?pwd=nZaZkV1TWR6K3lCOVJBU1VaQT09).

Abstract: 
In South Africa, an extensive and relatively generous state-funded home ownership scheme for very poor households faces a conundrum: many households cannot afford to sustain themselves in the homes they are given. Improvised adaptions and modifications follow, making people’s lives in
the housing more viable but disrupting planned visions. At the same time, despite the extent of formal housing delivery, there are multiple alternative ways in which people are finding urban shelter, mostly unplanned, unsanctioned and little engaged with by the state. Across this diverse landscape of both statefunded and non-state accommodation, some households are clearly driven by a particular concern: to live as cheaply as possible, at times taking extreme measures to do so. Peoples’ practices and the priorities underlying them complicate the privileging of ‘decent housing’ evident in policy approaches. What does all this mean for crafting future housing interventions? I discuss this overall housing terrain as well as the particular strand of ultra low-cost living, and I set this against the ‘postemployment’ context of severe and structural unemployment, the reach
and limits of welfare assistance, and everyday strategies of hustling for a viable life.

Bio:
Sarah Charlton teaches in the School of Architecture and Planning at Wits University, Johannesburg, and has led its research centre CUBES (Centre for Urbanism and Built Environment Studies). She has worked extensively in low-income housing including in local government and the non-profit sector. Her research includes the interface between urban infrastructure and people’s
practices, state development initiatives and matters of governance. Research collaborations have included work on housing, youth and mobility with partner organisations in Mozambique and Ethiopia, and with the University of Sheffield. She is a Research Associate of the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies and serves on the boards of African Studies, International Development
Planning Review, and the International Journal on Homelessness.



"Making Viable Lives in a Southern Context - Low-Income Housing Dilemmas from South Africa"

Description

You can find the full abstract for the session here.

**Basirat Oyalowo** and **Nadine Appelhans** are organising a session on **Africa’s Urban Futures and Positionalities Towards Global Urban Policies** at this year's ECAS conference in Cologne starting May 31. The session aims to bring together scholars that formulate critical perspectives on global urban policy frameworks, reflecting on imaginations of African urban futures informed by collectives, transnational experience, or heterodox views, grounded in the everyday.

SESSION AT ECAS 2023 IN COLOGNE

AFRICA’S URBAN FUTURES AND POSITIONALITIES TOWARDS GLOBAL URBAN POLICIES

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Urban Talk, Dr. Haruna Jimoh

Water remains an essential utility for the survival of any community. Despite this, the World Bank reported in 2022 that approximately 70 million Nigerians were living without access to basic drinking water. The increasing population and poor governance have further weakened the government's capacity in catering for the entire populace. The majority of the residents, especially those living in the urban fringe, obtain their water supply from boreholes whose quality depends on depth, location, and other factors. This act has led to the proliferation of boreholes with its attendance challenges which include residents’ exposure to different waterborne diseases and effects on water aquifers.  While most individuals can resolve the water accessibility challenge through boreholes, the residents of Isheri, on the fringe of Lagos State, are exception. Water from boreholes in the area contains high contents of iron which decolourise water within minutes of harvest. This development jeopardised nature’s ability to deliver clean water supply to the community and exposed them to different risks. Hence, the scout for different methodologies to confront the menace of water supply in the community. This lecture presents the resilience and coping strategies of the community over time and the recently employed community-based governance system in water provision. 

Dr. Haruna Jimoh is a Lecturer in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Lagos, Nigeria. He is a current Fellow of the Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort of the Association of Commonwealth Universities. His research interest spans urbanisation and governance, spatial analysis and resource management, environmental planning and management. He is a cluster member of Urbanization and Population Dynamics, and Spatial Data Infrastructure at the University of Lagos’ Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development. He has published articles in local and international outlets and consulted widely for private, corporate organisations, and government at various levels.


Reimagining Water Infrastructure for a Resilient Lagos, Nigeria – a Co-production Approach

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