Causes for the Growth of Unplanned Land Settlement in Zambia

Abstract

The problem of unplanned or squatter settlement is not new to Zambia. It has its origin in the country's political and socio-economic history. Unauthorized occupation of urban land is primarily a function of the discrepancy between supply and demand in the market for legal low-cost housing: squatting expresses unsatisfied demand, both qualitative and quantitative. The nature of demand for low-cost housing is analysed in terms of several aspects of 'migrancy' and poverty: Economic explanations of squatter settlement are supplemented by considerable emphasis upon political factors, which affect the control over urban land, the supply of public housing and the rate of rural urban migration.