Social Sustainability
Squatter Settlement
Definition
A squatter settlement is a residential area whose inhabitants occupy land without legal ownership or formal permission, typically self-built on public or private land at urban margins. The defining feature is tenure insecurity: residents face eviction risk and are often denied connections to water, power and sanitation because they cannot prove address or title. Squatter settlements overlap with slums (defined by deprivation conditions) but the concepts are distinct — some squatter areas consolidate into middle-income neighbourhoods over time.
References
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This reference provides supporting context for how “Squatter Settlement” is defined and used.
Overview
How it is used
The concept structures land tenure policy, slum upgrading programmes, eviction-resistance advocacy and UN-Habitat's secure tenure agenda (SDG 1. 4 and 11. 1).
Why it matters
A household's address determines its access to everything else; resolving squatting fairly is urban inclusion's foundation stone.