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[ development & relief ]

• Neuwirth, R. (2006) - Shadow Cities, Routledge

In almost every country of the developing world, the most active builders are squatters, creating complex local economies with high rises, shopping strips, banks, and self-government. As they invent new social structures, Neuwirth argues, squatters are at the forefront of the worldwide movement to develop new visions of what constitutes property and community.

• Davis, M. (2007) - Planet of Slums, Verso 

According to the United Nations, more than one billion people now live in the slums of the cities of the south. In this brilliant and ambitious book, Mike Davis explores the future of a radically unequal and explosively unstable urban world. He traces the global trajectory of informal settlement from the 1960s slums of hope , through urban poverty s big bang during the debt decades of the 1970s and 1980s, down to today s unprecedented megaslums like Cono Sur, Sadr City and the Cape Flats. From the sprawling barricadas of Lima to the garbage hills of Manila, urbanization has been disconnected from industrialization, even economic growth.

• McDonald, R. (2003) - Introduction to Natural and Man-made Disasters and their Effects on Buildings: Recovery and Prevention, Architectural Press

This is a comprehensive guide to all types of natural and man made disasters and their effect on buildings. It gives overall guidance and a basic technical understanding of prevention, mitigation and management of disaster, and outlines a checklist of preventive design elements for each situation. Every category is illustrated with a case study which pin points the essential information that is crucial to architects and engineers in designing buildings with disaster prevention in mind.

• Middleton, N., O'Keefe, P. & Moyo, S. (1998) - Disaster and Development, Pluto Press, London

As "natural" disasters increase in frequency and scale, the cost of humanitarian assistance elbows development budgets aside. Catastrophes force aid agencies to look for immediate relief for the victims of apparently no-fault natural disasters. But how far is it possible to view such disasters as natural? This text argues that we allow ourselves to ignore the political dimensions of humanitarian aid and disaster relief, which operate as part of a far wider global battle for resources and markets.

• Hamdi, N. (2004) - Urban Futures, IT Publications, Rugby

What kinds of research into poverty are most helpful to those trying to deal with key issues in an urban setting: topics like shelter, land tenure, partnership and migration. Through case studies the contributors explore what works, and discuss the issues and principles of different aspects of urban development. The book offers a framework for understanding poverty, and a methodology for research.