Finally, both of these approaches seek to operate (in South Africa) within a policy framework
that is constructed around a housing subsidy supplied to the individual, which places the focus
primarily upon the provision of physical infrastructure. Hence, South Africa finds itself with three
approaches that tend to operate in isolation from each other and compete for the same resources.
This is the environment that the current project operates within. None of the above solutions has
shown the ability to deal effectively with informal settlements and operate at a scale that can
address the magnitude of the problem. It is within this context that the current project seeks to
step back from this local debate and build a new methodology from first principles. This paper
represents the findings of the initial desk study.