Rapid Assessment of Squatting Report (NOTE: LARGE FILE)

INTRODUCTION
Background
The proliferation of informal settlements and its associated challenges is one of the most chronic
social problems confronting the country at this time. This is widely seen as a response to the
low-income and unemployed inability to access affordable land and other housing services. The
unplanned nature of squatter settlements gives rise to:
environmental degradation
public health issues
increased exposure to natural and man-made hazards, as well as
a haven for criminal activities.
Definition
A basic definition of squatting is the illegal or unauthorized occupation of land or housing. A
squatter settlement therefore, can be defined as a residential area which has developed without
legal claims to the land and/ or permission from the concerned authorities to build; as a result of
their illegal or semi-legal status, infrastructure and services are usually inadequate. 1 There are
three characteristics of the squatter settlements which help in an understanding of the
phenomenon: physical, social and legal.
The physical characteristics of squatter settlements usually include services and infrastructure
below the ‘adequate’ or minimum levels. These include water, electricity, roads, and sanitation
among others. Social characteristics of squatter settlements include a population mostly from the
lower income group who are largely employed in the informal sector. Squatter settlements are
(legally) characterised by illegal occupation of land as the settlers have no ownership of the land
which they occupy or build their houses on. Squatting exists in a residential form as well as
agricultural and commercial.
Squatting in Jamaica pre-dates slavery, however it became more pronounced in the immediate
post-slavery era, when the landless ex-slaves were forced to occupy marginal lands in almost all
1 Global Development Research Centre
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