In-Situ Slum Rehabilitation

In-situ rehabilitation means improving or rebuilding an informal settlement on the land where its residents already live, instead of relocating them elsewhere. It combines on-site housing with basic services and, where policy permits, greater tenure security. Temporary transit accommodation during construction remains in-situ rehabilitation if households return to the original site.

How rehabilitation is undertaken

The approach may involve incremental upgrading of existing dwellings or complete redevelopment of the settlement.

• Authorities first enumerate residents, determine eligibility and assess land ownership, density and physical conditions.
• Redevelopment generally provides structurally safe houses along with water supply, sanitation, drainage, electricity and access roads.
• Some projects use land as a resource, permitting higher density or a sale component to help finance rehabilitation housing.
• The resulting tenure may be ownership, leasehold or another legally recognized occupancy right; rehabilitation does not automatically confer freehold title.

Why it is preferred to distant relocation

In-situ rehabilitation can improve living conditions while preserving access to livelihoods, schools and social networks. Distant resettlement may impose higher travel costs and disrupt community support systems.

• It integrates residents into the serviced city rather than shifting urban poverty to peripheral locations.
• The PMAY-U framework recognized in-situ slum redevelopment as a distinct approach involving rehabilitation on the existing land.

Conditions for equitable implementation

Successful rehabilitation requires more than constructing dwelling units; it must address inclusion, habitability and long-term maintenance.

• Transparent household surveys and eligibility rules are necessary to reduce exclusion of tenants and other vulnerable residents.
• Participatory planning should account for household size, livelihoods and community facilities.
• Transit accommodation must remain accessible to workplaces and essential services during construction.
• Where land is exposed to hazards that cannot be safely mitigated, in-situ development may be physically unsuitable.