IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v52y2015i6p1037-1053.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Informality on the urban periphery: Housing conditions and self-help strategies in Texas informal subdivisions

Author

Listed:
  • Esther Sullivan

    (The University of Texas at Austin, USA)

  • Carlos Olmedo

    (The University of Texas at Austin, USA)

Abstract

Most scholarship on informal housing focuses on developing countries and little research investigates how low-income populations in the US participate in homeownership through self-built and self-provided housing. Meanwhile, informally developed areas are increasingly being uncovered in the US, especially in the urban periphery of growing metropolitan regions. This paper documents and analyses largely unknown housing conditions and needs for the growing number of people that live in such communities. Data for this paper were collected through a survey of 133 households in two unincorporated low-income, self-help settlements in Central Texas. In this survey we address (1) household composition, (2) specific housing conditions, and (3) reported structural and infrastructural problems. Through regression analyses we identify factors that mitigate or aggravate the severity of overall housing problems and identify the most significant concerns for residents. Our results offer future lines of action regarding property titles, financing and dwelling upgrading.

Suggested Citation

  • Esther Sullivan & Carlos Olmedo, 2015. "Informality on the urban periphery: Housing conditions and self-help strategies in Texas informal subdivisions," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(6), pages 1037-1053, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:52:y:2015:i:6:p:1037-1053
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098014533733
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098014533733
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098014533733?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harald Winkler & Randall Spalding-Fecher & Lwazikazi Tyani & Khorommbi Matibe, 2002. "Cost-benefit analysis of energy efficiency in urban low-cost housing," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(5), pages 593-614.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fankhauser, Samuel & Jotzo, Frank, 2017. "Economic growth and development with low-carbon energy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 86850, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Kaicheng Shen & Chen Cheng & Xiaodong Li & Zhihui Zhang, 2019. "Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis of Prefabricated Public Housing in Beijing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Edzisani Ellen Netshiozwi, 2019. "Causes of Failure of the South African Solar Water Heating Programme and the Forgone Social Benefits," Review of Social Sciences, LAR Center Press, vol. 4(1), pages 1-15, January.
    4. Spalding-Fecher, Randall & Clark, Alix & Davis, Mark & Simmonds, Gillian, 2002. "The economics of energy efficiency for the poor—a South African case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 27(12), pages 1099-1117.
    5. Copiello, Sergio, 2015. "Achieving affordable housing through energy efficiency strategy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 288-298.
    6. Randall Spalding-Fecher & Steve Thorne & Njeri Wamukonya, 2002. "Reside0ntial solar water heating as a potential Clean Development Mechanism project: A South African case study," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 135-153, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:52:y:2015:i:6:p:1037-1053. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.