Informal Housing in Cape Town

The City of Cape Town is estimated to host approximately three million people. Of those three million, it is also estimated that 22 percent are living in what could be considered informal dwellings. In 2000, one of the United Nations Millennium Development Declaration goals for 2020 was 'to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers as proposed in the Cities without slums initiative.' The South African government took this initiative on board and has set a goal of eradicating all informal settlements in South Africa by 2014. There is thus a process of formalization currently taking place in South Africa. In Cape Town however, there is currently a backlog of between 300 000 to 400 000 households and this number is growing