Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-8 (section)

=== 8.3.2 Informal Urban Settlements ===

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About 880 million people currently live in informal settlements – defined as unplanned areas operating outside of legal and regulatory systems, where residents have no legal claim over their property and have inadequate basic services and infrastructure ( [[#United%20Nations--2018|United Nations 2018]] ). Furthermore, upgrading informal settlements and inadequate housing is essential for improving resilience to climate change and well-being. Given the ubiquity of informal settlements in developing countries and LDCs, there is potential to harness informality to accelerate transitions to low-carbon urban development. There are several key reasons for their potential to mitigate GHG emissions. First, informal urban areas may not require large investments in retrofitting as they have developed with minimal investment in large-scale infrastructure. Second, these areas exhibit flexibility of development and can potentially be transformed into an urban form that supports low- or carbon-neutral infrastructure for transportation, energy use in residential buildings, and other sectors ( [[#Baurzhan--2016|Baurzhan and Jenkins 2016]] ; [[#Henneman--2016|Henneman et al. 2016]] ; [[#Byrne--2017|Byrne et al. 2017]] ; [[#Oyewo--2019|Oyewo et al. 2019]] ).

Informal urban areas can avoid the conventional trajectory of urban development by utilising large-scale strategies, such as micro-scale technologies, modal shifts towards compact, walkable urban form, as well as decentralised or meso-scale utilities of water, sanitation, and service centres – thereby mitigating emissions associated with transport and treating wastes ( [[#Tongwane--2015|Tongwane et al. 2015]] ; [[#Yang--2018|Yang et al. 2018]] ). Some specific mitigation options include spatial adjustments for walkability of neighbourhoods, low-energy-intensive mobility, low-energy-intensive residential areas, low-carbon energy sources at city scale, off-grid utilities, and electrification and enhancement of the urban ecology – all of which have multiple potential benefits ( [[#Colenbrander--2017|Colenbrander et al. 2017]] ; [[#Fang--2017|Fang et al. 2017]] ; [[#Laramee--2018|Laramee et al. 2018]] ; [[#van%20der%20Zwaan--2018|van der Zwaan et al. 2018]] ; [[#Wu--2018|Wu et al. 2018]] ; [[#Silveti--2019|Silveti and Andersson 2019]] ). Some of the co-benefits of the various mitigation options include more job opportunities and business start-ups, increased incomes, air quality improvement, and enhanced health and well-being ( [[#Gebreegziabher--2014|Gebreegziabher et al. 2014]] ; [[#Dagnachew--2018|Dagnachew et al. 2018]] ; [[#Keramidas--2018|Keramidas et al. 2018]] ; [[#Adams--2019|Adams et al. 2019]] ; [[#Ambole--2019|Ambole et al. 2019]] ; [[#Boltz--2019|Boltz et al. 2019]] ; [[#Moncada--2019|Moncada et al. 2019]] ; [[#Weimann--2019|Weimann and Oni 2019]] ; [[#Manga--2020|Manga et al. 2020]] ) ( [[#8.2|Section 8.2]] ).

Non-networked and non-centralised urban services and infrastructure in informal settlements, including sanitation, waste, water, and electricity, serve over 60% of the urban population in developing country cities ( [[#Lawhon--2018|Lawhon et al. 2018]] ). The alternatives of disruptive, hybrid, largely non-networked multiplicity of technologies applicable at micro to meso scales have potential for low-emissions development in urban areas of developing countries ( [[#Narayana--2009|Narayana 2009]] ; [[#Dávila--2012|Dávila and Daste 2012]] ; [[#Radomes%20Jr--2015|Radomes Jr and Arango 2015]] ; [[#Potdar--2016|Potdar et al. 2016]] ; [[#Grové--2018|Grové et al. 2018]] ). These technologies can be applied in the short term as responses with long-term influence on emissions reduction. The cumulative impact of the disruptive technologies can reduce emissions by 15 '''–''' 25% through enhanced emissions sinks in small and medium-sized cities ( [[#Tongwane--2015|Tongwane et al. 2015]] ; [[#du%20Toit--2018|du Toit et al. 2018]] ; [[#Nero--2018|Nero et al. 2018]] , 2019; [[#Frantzeskaki--2019|Frantzeskaki et al. 2019]] ; [[#Mantey--2019|Mantey and Sakyi 2019]] ; Singh and G. 2019).

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