Developing Amenities to Create More Sustainable and Inclusive Human Settlements

Sustainable human settlements are the totality of any organised human community whether a city, town or village. This includes amenities such as parks, sports facilities, libraries, schools and clinics. Rapid urbanisation and a lack of resources in many developing countries, such as South Africa, mean that some human settlements may not have these amenities. A lack of amenities in human settlements affects the quality of life and hampers the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including those for health (SDG3), education (SDG4), inequality (SDG10), and sustainable cities (SDG11). In South Africa, a lack of amenities in human settlements also affects the fulfilment of education, health and environmental rights outlined in the South African Constitution. Addressing amenity gaps must therefore be an urgent priority. This study aims to provide insight into how this can be done. In particular, it intends to contribute to the development of policy on amenities in human settlements. To achieve this objective, draft policy statements are prepared that make proposals on the type of amenities required and how these can be developed and managed. A survey of key human settlement stakeholders is used to evaluate these statements and gauge levels of support for proposals. Findings from the survey indicate that support is mixed but that there is strong overall support for the proposed amenity policy statements. These findings are drawn in making recommendations for the development of policy on amenities in human settlements. The positive findings indicate there is a strong basis for the South African government to use policy statements piloted in the study as inputs in their policy development process for amenities in human settlements.