The DOI matches its Crossref record.
From Informal Settlements to Formality: A Resettlement Group's Adaptation to a Newly Planned Community in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Abstract
This article discusses the dilemmas that individuals faced after relocating from periurban informal settlements to a new housing development community. In 1999, the Coega Development Corporation collaborated with city officials in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to create a housing community called Wells Estate for people who were living in informal settlements, displaced by the construction of a new economic development project. Several years after their forced resettlement, Wells Estate residents still faced many challenges adjusting to their new location. Some residents stated that the sense of community, openness, and social trust that they had experienced in their previous residence was lost when they moved to their new homes. Also, some residents mentioned how reciprocity and the sharing of resources, which were common practices in their informal settlements, had been dramatically altered in the new community. By using the community of Wells Estate and its creation as a case study, this article explores how the forced displacement and relocation of individuals may affect social cohesion, trust, and community involvement among people relocated from informal settlements. This research aims to address whether a transition from informality to formal housing can have detrimental consequences on community sentiment and social cohesion.
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“Beyond the urban informality of organised and sporadic informal settlements, townships are also the hub of informal housing that is used as back-room accommodation for rental and extension of living space in serviced township plots (DeMoss-Norman 2015).”
From Flood vulnerability in township informal settlements (2026) · cites this paper as DeMoss-Norman 2015
In the citing paper
“According to DeMoss-Norman (2015), structures are constructed using building materials such as corrugated iron, wood, mud and plastics that are not strong enough to withstand the impact of excessive overland water.”
From Flood vulnerability in township informal settlements (2026) · cites this paper as DeMoss-Norman 2015
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No references could be resolved yet.
Research works printed but not linked: 22
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- 10.1016/S0305-750X(97)00054-5 · DOI
- Desmond C., 1971, The Discarded People: An Account of African Resettlement in South Africa
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- Kehrer P. Kuhn B. Lemay J. &Wells C.(2008). Developing energy solutions for a South African informal settlement. B.S. thesis Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
- Koenig D., 2009, Development and Dispossession: The Crisis of Forced Displacement and Resettlement, 119
- Leimgruber W., 2004, Between Global and Local: Marginality and Marginal Regions in the Context of Globalization and Deregulation
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- Morris P., 1971, A History of Black Housing in South Africa
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- Platzky L., 1985, The Surplus People: Forced Removals in South Africa
- Robinson J., 1996, The Power of Apartheid: State, Power and Space in South African Cities
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- Saheed Z., 2012, Externalities of urban redevelopment: Eviction, relocation and compensation in Nigeria, International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3, 272
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- South African Department of Housing, 1997, Urban Development Framework Report
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Flood vulnerability in township informal settlements
Gcabashe, S. W., & Pillay, S. (2026) · Jàmbá Journal of Disaster Risk Studies · doi:10.4102/jamba.v18i1.1833 · Cited by 3
“This practice was also established by UN Habitat (2015 in Sinharoy et al. 2019), which described informal settlements as residential settlements that have been constructed on land that is occupied illegally.”
Metadata
- Authors
- DeMoss‐Norman, T.
- Affiliations
- Independent Researcher Washington DC 20002 USA
- Corresponding author
- DeMoss‐Norman, Tiwanna
- Venue
- Economic Anthropology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2015-01
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 224-240
- ISSN
- 2330-4847 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2070596701
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 2.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Economic Anthropology (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Urban and Rural Development Challenges
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Hydropower, Displacement, Environmental Impact
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › South African History and Culture
- Keywords
- informal settlements, resettlement, forced displacement, social cohesion, social trust, community participation, reciprocity, resource sharing, Port Elizabeth
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Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: From Informal Settlements to Formality: A Resettlement Group's Adaptation to a Newly Planned Community in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1002/sea2.12026
- The paper
- DeMoss‐Norman, T. (2015). From Informal Settlements to Formality: A Resettlement Group's Adaptation to a Newly Planned Community in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Economic Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.1002/sea2.12026
