Better Living Challenge

About

Informal settlements in the Western Cape

Census 2011 revealed that there are more than 300 000 households are living in informal dwellings in the Western Cape. Of these households, approximately 35% live in informal backyard dwellings and 65% in informal settlements. Around 74% of the informal dwellings are located in the City of Cape Town and 10% in the Cape Winelands District. More than 95% of these households have an income below R6 400 a month and a head of household aged between 18 and 59.  In terms of affordability, using 2011 income and expenditure data, it is likely that more than 230 000 households spend less than R400 a month on their dwelling(s).

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What is the BLC?

The Better Living Challenge (BLC) is designed to surface local innovative solutions to pressing or persistent socioeconomic challenges, through stimulating innovative products, services and systems that can catalyse change and bring about better living.

The BLC 1 was designed around a competition model. It ran from 2014 to 2016, and focused on creating innovative and sustainable home improvement products. The current BLC 2 uses a cooperative challenge model, and runs from 2016 to 2019. It explores ways of supporting incremental upgrades of homes within informal settlements.

Take me there // BLC 1 | BLC 2