The Uses and Problems Of Squatter Houses

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due to may income earners and part-time jobs. Squatters are predominantly migrants, either rural-urban or urban-urban. But many are also second or third generation squatters.

c. Legal Characteristics:
The key characteristic that delineates a squatter settlement is its lack of ownership of the land parcel on which they have built their house. These could be vacant government or public land, or marginal land parcels like railway setbacks or "undesirable" marshy land. Thus when the land is not under "productive" use by the owner, it is appropriated by a squatter for building a house. It has to be noted here that in many parts of Asia, a land owner may "rent" out his land for a nominal fee to a family or families, with an informal or quasi-legal arrangement, which is not however valid under law.
In general, there are several attributes that act as generative forces and determine the quality and size of a settlement. Such attributes could be either internal to the settlement or external:

INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES

Religion/Ethnicity
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