M. I. HABITAT CHALLENGE Integrated Improvement of the habitat

Unplanned informal growth is leading to a decline in the fitness of the environment in our area for human habitation. Integrated improvement to the habitat is defined as a series of actions intended to achieve the physical, social, economic, organisational and environmental improvement of precarious housing areas in a co-operative manner and at a local scale thanks to the combined efforts of citizens, community groups, the private sector and local authorities. The initiative improves quality of life in human settlements where development is as yet incomplete and which are receptive to being consolidated or reclaimed. It is a balanced and agreed strategy that is intersectoral, multifactorial and multidimensional. Integrated improvement is included in target 7.D of the Millennium Development Goals, which is to achieve a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers around the world.

The project is aimed at settlements that meet some of the following criteria:

1. Not connected to the formal urban structure, mains services and transport systems.
2. Insufficient public space on highways and in parks, open spaces, leisure areas, etc.
3. Critical shortfall in the provision of some basic public domestic services.
4. Housing built to inadequate standards.
5. A lack of basic health, education, leisure, sporting and other amenities.
6. Uncertain and hazardous physical conditions.
7. Size of home: overcrowding, unsatisfactory sanitary conditions, poor construction.
8. Irregular occupancy of the land and lack of title to the property.

The methodology formulated by academics enables knowledge to be transferred to sectors of the public authorities and social goals to be agreed with communities.It consists of four stages:

• Documentation: descriptive phase (information on components and variables).
• Diagnosis: analytical phase (the cross-tabulation of variables to identify problems and opportunities).
• Formulation: proposal phase (overall intervention strategy and specific plans).
• Application: development phase (the drawing-up of urban, architectural, technical and socio-economic pans, as well as management and implementation models).