Fieldwork primary research in three informal settlements in Durban, South Africa 2016-2017

This collection includes files related to fieldwork activities under Phase 2 ‘Community Participation through Action Research’. The collection involves data in the form of photos, transcripts of focus group discussion and interviews with community members and external stakeholders from eThekwini municipality, spreadsheets to map anonymised responses from community events. Previous studies on in-situ upgrade of informal settlements in Durban had explored the impact of community participation on local inhabitants using case study research and ethnographic data. Phase 2, however, sought to lay the foundation for an evidence base of integrated environmental and construction management strategies (technical know-how) through engaging with community stakeholders (participatory design). Phase 2 (data in this collection) adopted a novel action research based methodology to enable participatory activities using mixed methods. This strategy ensured that the research maps the key role of community stakeholders in driving urban transformation taking into account the diversity inherent in all communities and the differences arising from age, gender, association and power differentials within them. Action research participants were community stakeholders, which include: local inhabitants; community leaders; community organisations; support NGOs; and local authorities. These actors participated in individual and group activities to discuss their experience of bottom-up upgrading strategies. Another unique aspect of the adopted methodology compared to previous studies was that it sought to empower community actors to become direct beneficiaries of the developed upgrading mechanisms, once the research is completed. Local inhabitants were not be just objects of study but acted as grassroots co-researchers, co-investigators and key agents for self-reliance co-producing knowledge and involved throughout the research process, which ultimately led to their technical, management and communication skills being enhanced.