A fresh Recognition of the Concept of Dwelling in Informal Settlements based on Global Experiences

To dwell means belonging to a real place, with dwelling and its qualitative concepts being among prerequisites of humanity. One of the impasses of contemporary cities, however, is the influx of people incapable of acquiring proper, quality dwellings, and thereby altering existing spaces to suit their needs with their own dwelling styles prevailing. Because of the importance of the concept of dwelling and the increasing growth of self-grown dwellings, and in order to establish clear scientific bases for the realistic planning of such dwellings, it is necessary to study how dwellings are realised. The present text, therefore, is after identifying the characteristics and aspects of dwelling concepts and methods in self-grown dwellings based on research experiences in this field.
The paper is based on a fresh qualitative recognition of the aspects and styles of the lived experience of people living in these dwellings, using a descriptive-analytical method based on logico-scientific reasoning. It starts with a study of the concept of dwelling, its relation with culture, self-growing dwelling and its characteristics. It then continues with a thorough study of relevant researches in Costaricca, Indonesia, the Occupied Palestine, Spain, Egypt, Brazil, Mexico, and Pakistan, through which the concept of self-grown dwelling is introduced. The results show a consistency in dwelling-related behaviours and public spaces of these cases, which is based on their unique characteristics and limits, yielding social assets and collective identities, holding dwellers together like a big family with strong social solidarity, stimulating a sense of support, and helping individuals achieving their goals against the burdens imposed by the greater society.  The analyses of the research finds the following as implicating the concept of dwelling: the spatially oriented collective identity, spatial identification, collective wisdom based on consensus, domestic security, spatial isolationism, the collective social asset, the security of occupation, cultural fusion, higher dwelling satisfaction, social power, introvert collective space, the transparency of inter-group relations, social trust, cultural dynamism, and spatial association.