Practical proposals for legislative policy to end the phenomenon of slums
Written by the teacher / Jumana Jassim Al-Asadi
The term “indiscriminate housing” appeared increasingly not long ago in the field of urban planning, expressing areas of illegal and unauthorized housing by the state, where the standards and conditions required for housing do not match as they are irregular and urban poor and are not covered by the services of the Directorate of Municipalities in general. Indiscriminate dwellings are defined as: “population communities that arose in the absence of general planning, in violation of building laws and legislation, and encroaching on state property and lands.” These dwellings are unorganized and lack the most basic necessities of life, such as a minimum of all types of basic utilities such as: (water, sanitation, and electricity). , and was deprived of security, educational, or health services, and even public transportation, and one of the most important reasons for the emergence of slums is the high population growth rate as a result of natural increase with the stability of the area of agricultural lands and vacant lands, noting the concentration of population density in specific areas.
We can give a clear concept of slums, as they are population centers constructed with simple personal efforts and managed by personal management, and are characterized by often poor infrastructure and housing conditions, meaning that slums are built by individuals without any prior planning of construction areas, as well as they are not subject to laws. And the rules that regulate urban growth and thus suffer from high population density and low level of necessary services.
After the growing phenomenon of slum housing, which could worsen in the future in the absence of legislative solutions, which is considered one of the most important urban problems facing many cities in the country, where housing is one of the most important means of living that suffers from many problems due to the multiplicity of functions of civilization and the growing number of its population, and the development The size of cities is related to population density, so city planning is an important factor in organizing the uses of its land within its spatial space, because it is the cultural interface of the country that reflects the extent of its development and progress, which resulted in the spread of the phenomenon of random cities (illegal housing), and the resulting wide effects on The field of providing services and infrastructure and the negative repercussions in the economic, social and environmental aspects, the absence of an organized housing policy that enables individuals with limited income to obtain housing in accordance with their social needs and economic potential, so it requires efforts by the responsible and competent authorities to develop solutions and radical legislative proposals to address the problem Random housing.
In order to preserve the beauty of the urban identity of the urban fabric of cities and their prestige, culture and history that distinguishes them from the rest of the cities, as well as achieving a balance for social life that is the product of inherited human values, we are heading towards calling for the development of strict legislation that respects the circumstances of these cities, their history and their current and future needs with the agreement of population numbers and the maintenance of maintenance. Cities and the provision of services in them in a deliberate and organized manner, and each city differs from one place to another in all cities of the world with its needs due to its geographical, economic, religious, cultural or other characteristics of cities, but this matter requires a long time in addition to serious and firm intervention by the authorities In addition, there must be quick steps in order to contribute to the solution of part of it, so that it is the starting point towards curtailing it before the great escalation, and finding radical solutions to it after an in-depth realistic study.
One of the legislative treatments that we offer is the possibility of the state offering lands designated for construction with certain specifications commensurate with the needs of families living in random housing and at reasonable prices commensurate with their economic situation. The state and the criminalization of building on it without permits and title deeds.
Among the proposed solutions is also the construction of low-cost or low-value housing complexes, and the owners of slums own them for a price, which is studied by the relevant committees and a decision is appropriate for them, so that the price can be collected simultaneously or in monthly installments, but this matter requires parliamentary legislation before To send to the relevant ministries and departments for the purpose of implementation, or to seek the help of large companies to build housing units at a low cost in order to eliminate this phenomenon of uncivilized buildings, especially since it has become an unhealthy environment for the citizens who live in it themselves, due to the absence of health awareness and the consequent unhealthy appearance It is desirable, so that some areas are almost described as hotbeds of poverty, ignorance, behavioral deviation, drug and arms trade, and shelters for those wanted by the law, which offends some chaste citizens who live in these areas before others.
There must be effective measures that help reduce these random housing and not expand it by finding suitable alternatives for the individual. For example, there is cooperation between the competent authorities and homeowners in reorganizing and building these dwellings, if not in areas that cannot be owned by them.
There can also be an effective partnership between the public and private sectors in this organization and construction, giving the subject the utmost importance in the laws of the state and allocating a paragraph in the annual budget, within a strategic plan by a presidential or ministerial decision commensurate with the size of the problem by the Ministry of Finance to finance housing complex projects until reducing Or ending the problem completely, and this is also one of the solutions to this phenomenon.
Conducting periodic exploratory surveys on homeless families is obligatory, in order to investigate the numbers and conditions of the poor, immigrants and the displaced, and to determine their identity and the sources of their migration in all governorates, and not to allow the exploited or those who do not meet the conditions to be included in these surveys except Statistical, under the supervision of the Ministry of Planning and in cooperation with the local authorities, and depends on that by checking these surveys on the real estate registration records to prove that he does not own any property of his own or a family member with him, and there can also be cooperation with the holy shrines as in Karbala and Najaf With the provincial councils and service departments, whose role will be clear in controlling slums and resolving the housing crisis by providing housing at a level that meets the needs of the middle and low-income classes and renting it to them or selling it in installments.
This is in addition to the necessity of activating the role of the Housing Fund after making amendments to its instructions, especially in terms of granting loans, repayment period, interest rate and implementation mechanism. Governmental, private and investment banks can also be obligated to specify part of the bank’s activities by lending to citizens in the field of housing sector and according to the controls that are prepared for this purpose and in installments. Comfortable, and let there be competitive offers between banks, as every legitimate competition to serve the citizen has commendable consequences.
