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A key development in South Africa's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been the recognition that there are a number of external factors in the socio-economic and physical environment in which people live that are central to the spread of the epidemic. A growing body of evidence suggests that poverty, inequality, inadequate shelter, overcrowding and other symptoms of underdevelopment are fundamental drivers in undermining people's ability to practice and negotiate safe sex, thereby enhancing vulnerability to HIV infection. Similarly, these factors affect the ability of individuals, households and communities to cope with the subsequent health and socio-economic effects of infection. In a context where large numbers of South Africans live in poverty, without adequate shelter and access to basic resources and services, HIV/AIDS will thus have far reaching and serious impacts, not only on citizens and communities but also for and on the state.

The South African government has shifted its approach to housing development from the provision of housing to a sustainable human settlements approach, as encapsulated in its 2004 development plan ‘Breaking New Ground’. This paper explores the conceptual and theoretical links between this sustainable human settlements agenda and HIV/AIDS. It argues that the creation of sustainable and integrated human settlements is potentially a crucial component in the response to HIV/AIDS. However, this can only be achieved if HIV/AIDS becomes an explicit component of sustainable human settlements planning, development and management. In light of this, the paper discusses key characteristics of integrated, sustainable human settlements and reviews the current instruments for the implementation of a sustainable settlement agenda in South Africa in relation to the dynamics and implications of HIV/AIDS both for the South African state and its people. The paper concludes with a set of policy recommendations to make HIV/AIDS an integral component of the sustainable human settlements agenda.

Despite global efforts for environmental protection, there is a gap in the literature about the contributions of a sustainable humanitarian supply chain (SHSC) to the promotion of human rights in refugee settlements. In this context, this study investigates how the generation of sustainability in the humanitarian supply chain (HSC) acts as an instrument for guaranteeing the human rights for refugees.

A literature review was conducted to identify the state of the art and research challenges as well as an analysis of international law documents related to refugees, international human rights law and environmental protection, and a critical study of sustainable initiatives already taken by international organizations and humanitarian agencies in refugee camps.

As a result, ensuring human rights in refugee camps is directly related to the development of a SHSC that contributes without deviation to the enjoyment and exercise of human rights by preserving the local environment.

This study offers a literature review and discusses the generation of sustainability in refugee camps and its relationship with human rights protected by rules of international law. Aspects such as the circular humanitarian supply chain are for the first time discussed, introducing the circular economy to refugee settlements.

The purpose of this study is to inform policy and contribute to the existing literature on low-income housing.

In this study, a case study approach was adopted, and data were collected through secondary data collection that is literature survey and through empirical data collection by conducting face to face interviews and survey of key stakeholders, citizens, and government authorities, and in some cases supplemented by on site photography. The data collected from the field was analysed using quantitative and qualitative techniques. The questionnaires were coded for scientific analysis of data. The information was presented in a structured way that permits for in-depth analysis of the data.

In this study, many paradoxes were noted defying common sense, but nonetheless, they require a solution. It has been concluded that, while efforts to improve settlements and anticipate future ones are becoming more common, the desire for eradication persists in many towns in Botswana.

The major limitation of this study is that it was done during the period of COVID-19 induced movement restrictions. As a result, the preferred face to face interviews with key informants were not possible.

This research informed policy on low-income housing in Botswana. The Government of Botswana can use the findings of this study to formulate policies which help in alleviating challenges currently faced in practice when implementing low-income housing projects. The concept of low-income housing has been adopted by many developing countries including in Africa. As such, results of this study can also be applicable in other developing countries where they can be used as a starting point for evaluating the success of policies and the practice of low-income housing.

This work made original contribution to knowledge by putting the plight of housing the urban poor in Botswana will in perspective.

Sustainable development is an attempt to achieve three competing aims: economic development, social justice and environmental conservation. Localising sustainable development in the Arabian city might require a framework that originates from its reality manifested in the region’s history, culture and religion. Ibn Khaldun’s model seems suitable for planning a sustainable city in the Arab world. The purpose of this paper is to discuss suitability of Ibn Khaldun’s writing to localising sustainable development in the Arabian cities.

The paper used a qualitative research methodology. The researcher investigated the writings of Ibn Khaldun and other scholars who studied his work to derive lessons for planning the sustainable Arab city.

Many of Ibn Khaldun’s concepts lost their accuracy, meanings and intentions in the course of translating his work. Ibn Khaldun’s writings can be the source from which scholars, planners and city administrators derive lessons to assure the sustainable development of human settlements, particularly in the Arab region. The writings of Ibn Khaldun are relevant to the Arab countries. His writings are sensitive to the realities of the Arab world, including geography, environment, history, religion and culture. His writings can support efforts for localising sustinable development in the Arabian cities.

Interrogating Ibn Khaldun’s writings can enable scholars, planners, architects and city administrators to elaborate and implement plans for the sustainable Arabian city. The findings of the paper assure that Ibn Khaldun’s analysis is suitable for addressing the urban ills of the contemporary Arabian metropolis as they were in his time.

Research was undertaken within the Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental RTDI Programme during the six‐month period from March to August 2001 by a partnership formed by the Centre for Environmental Research (CER), University of Limerick, and the Centre for Urban and Regional Ecology (CURE), University of Manchester. This project aimed to inform the development of spatial policies emerging from the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) aimed at finding optimal ways in which to accommodate Ireland’s growing population in a manner consistent with balanced regional development and environmental sustainability. To obtain data and information on settlements, three modes of analysis were adopted. First, for a single city and two villages, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to provide a comprehensive analysis of the local social, economic and physical environments, track record in enhancing sustainability, current policies in place, and the likelihood of these policies proving successful. Second, for 11 Irish settlements selected to include a range of functions and locations, 29 quantified sustainability indicators were developed and used to compare the level of sustainability achieved by settlements of differing sizes. Third, a review of international literature was undertaken to search for comparable data, models and case studies, so as to provide a context for analysis of Irish data. The framework of significant environmental themes adopted here is taken from recent Irish EPA publications. Results based on all three research methods suggest that on balance larger settlements in the recent past, at present and in the foreseeable future are more likely to create conditions in which sustainability is enhanced. This work provides the basis for a large‐scale three‐year study which commenced in March 2002, which examines the sustainability and future development patterns of settlements in Ireland.

Construction practices used in the development of self-help housing and upgrade of informal settlements are believed to have negative effects on the natural environment. The purpose of this paper is to examine this idea by conducting a study on purposely selected informal settlements located in Mbabane, Kingdom of Eswatini, to determine the environmental sustainability of construction practices used in these areas and to offer an approach that can mitigate the environmental degradation witnessed in informal settlements.

The study comprised of three major components – literature review, situational analysis and research output. A literature review informed the extent of the problem and served to identify categories of assessment. A situational analysis of construction practices in informal settlements was done through the use of a structured checklist tool. Pattern matching was used as an analysis to evaluate the environmental sustainability of the identified construction practices.

Empirical results indicate a lack of environmental sustainability in the identified construction practices used. The challenges identified included the wrong choice of building material, inefficiency in energy use, a threat to biodiversity, poor planning and a lack of construction control measures. The research output was a framework encouraging affordable, sustainable and regenerative construction practices believed to be a viable solution to the environmental challenges within informal settlements. It was concluded that current construction practices used within informal settlements lead to negative environmental effects.

The framework offered in this study is believed to mitigate the negative effects on the natural environment in informal settlements.

Cities have long been of interest to international development as well as to criminology. Historically, criminology as a social science emerged as a response to urbanisation and the new opportunities created by cities for criminal activity and victimisation. Thus, Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11), which ‘aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’, is ripe for criminological input and analysis. SDG 11 tackles housing and basic services, transport systems, urban planning, cultural and natural heritage, disaster prevention, environmental impact, and safe, inclusive, and accessible green and public spaces. There has been ample criminological research on crime and victimisation in various types of human settlements, on transport systems, on the looting and trafficking of cultural heritage, on crimes associated with natural disasters and on the importance of public leisure areas for crime prevention. Yet many of the above goals, as well as the recommendations emerging from these bodies of research, conflict with each other, and must be problematised in their aim to be inclusive of all. Women and children, the elderly and persons with disabilities are usually the reference groups for inclusion, but globally, there are many other groups, including racial and ethnic minorities, indigenous communities, and LGBTQI individuals that are commonly excluded. The chapter will analyse SDG 11 against the evidence base of urban criminology as well as the challenges for inclusion, given diversity both within-country as well as globally.