Academic literature on the topic 'Illegal squatters'

AbstractIn Kyrgyzstan, scholars disagree about the outcomes of the Tulip Revolution of 2005: while some argue that the revolution has not resulted in noteworthy changes in the country, others see it as the beginning of major political change. To trace the materiality of such change it is necessary to look at the micro-level of a society, as this chapter does by focusing on the house as the unit of analysis for a close study of change. It examines the gradual transformation of dwellings in Ak Jar, an illegal squatter settlement on the northern edge of Kyrgyztan’s capital city Bishkek. The immediate aftermath of the Tulip Revolution saw the emergence of numerous illegal squatter settlements on the outer fringes of the city. Ak Jar, the largest of these, has some 15,000 inhabitants who arrived in Bishkek as internal migrants in search of employment. The dwellings in Ak Jar have changed over the course of time: most began as small mud shacks, and changed when a family generated enough money to improve and expand them. The development of these houses was central for the gradual official recognition of the illegal settlements that emerged in post-revolutionary Kyrgyzstan. House biographies are therefore intrinsically tied to wider developments in Kyrgyz society and throw new light on the ruptures, power struggles, and consolidation of power relations after the Tulip Revolution.

This chapter explores the earliest artist-led pirate TV project, PKP-TV, as an example of how squatter tactics were applied to the media. The illegal channel, which was created by the artists Maarten Ploeg (né van der Ploeg), Peter Klashorst, and Rogier van der Ploeg, made it its mission to crack open the closed medium of television. PKP and pirate cable TV in the Netherlands are situated within a longer history of both alternative TV projects internationally—such as the Videofreex and TVTV—as well as video and film-based artworks shown on television both in the Netherlands and abroad. Artist-led pirate television in the Netherlands, like squatters in urban space, cracked open the media space of television and created temporary autonomous platforms.

This chapter looks specifically at the pressures imposed by urbanization on the physical environment in Southeast Asia, leading to its degradation and a decline in the quality of life. This is followed by a discussion on the management responses highlighting some common concerns that need to be addressed in order to plan and manage urban systems better. Like many of their counterparts in the developing world, levels of urbanization in Southeast Asia are low by world standards. However, the growth rates of the urban population are high: 3–5 per cent per annum (Jones 1993). The relatively low levels of urbanization, nevertheless, are by no means a reflection of the failure of cities in the region to reach substantial sizes. Indeed, three of the very large cities of Southeast Asia, Jakarta, Bangkok, and Manila, carry 10 million people. The current trends and direction of urban growth are expected to continue, although the rates are likely to be somewhat retarded within these few years owing to the economic downturn recently experienced by the Southeast Asian countries. Such continued growth and rapid urbanization can only result in greater burdens to the already very strained urban systems, in terms of both the provision of an urban infrastructure and social services and the biophysical environment. One notable consequence of urban growth and population concentration in Southeast Asian cities is the pressure they generate on the provision of an infrastructure and essential services that eventually affects the environment, health, and quality of life. Here, the problems of providing an adequate infrastructure are immense, especially given the budgetary constraints. Policy response is often highly inadequate compared to the scale of the problems. Singapore’s special position as a city-state has enabled it to overcome problems that other Southeast Asian cities have not been able to cope with, particularly as it is not affected by the perennial problem of rural–urban migration. One major problem which is shared by many Southeast Asian cities is overcrowding and lack of proper shelter. Virtually all major cities have squatters. Squatters are basically illegal occupants of urban land that belongs to the government or private individuals.

Chapter 6 looks at the response from the Jordan administration on Food Not Bombs’ sister organization, Homes Not Jails, which illegally housed the homeless in abandoned buildings. In interviews with people involved in both Food Not Bombs and Homes Not Jails, I was often told stories of police leniency with the squatters, something that was unheard of for Food Not Bombs’ actions. This differential treatment concerns the political nature of space and the city’s desire to hide the homeless from public view. Because the city wanted to push the homeless into private space, Homes Not Jails, by illegally housing the homeless in abandoned houses, ended up unintentionally working to help the Jordan administration achieve part of his public space goal. This chapter argues that city agencies react to autonomous political projects differently depending on whether they erupt in what the state defines as public or private space.