Andreas Scheba
Biographic Data
| ID | 113577 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Andreas Scheba |
| GIVEN NAMES | Andreas |
| FAMILY NAME | Scheba |
| SIGNATURE | SCHEBA A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Human Sciences Research Council |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8078-4997 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 145 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Informal rental housing in the global South
A growing proportion of urban residents live in informal rental housing, especially in the global South. While informally constructed rented accommodation offers multiple public policy benefits, the rapid and unplanned growth of rental units can have significant negative impacts on neighbourhoods and residents. This paper draws on neighbourhood level data from Cape Town, South Africa, to examine how informal rental housing markets drive the soft …
Small-scale rental housing in Southern Africa
Inclusionary Housing Policy in Cities of the South
Inclusionary housing policy (IHP) encourages developers to provide affordable housing in well-located areas. This can add to their costs and risks, so the process of policy adoption is complicated and contested. This paper provides a synthesis of the literature and then analyzes the efforts to implement IHP of two South African cities, Johannesburg and Cape Town. The core proposition is that making residential development more inclusive requires …
Social Housing and Upward Mobility in South Africa
Social housing offers a way of promoting upward mobility and urban integration by improving people’s access to economic and social opportunities. These are prominent goals of South Africa’s social housing programme. In practice, household advancement tends to be taken for granted rather than deliberately pursued or monitored. We review survey data for 1632 households across ten social housing projects and find modest evidence of social mobility a…
Co-producing just geographies
In this commentary, we argue for the continued importance of engaged scholarship to the futures of geographical thought and praxis. In drawing on our own situated research and teaching lives in Cape Town, we suggest three avenues to advance the future possibilities of this mode of work: ‘resourcing prefiguration’, ‘bridging incommensurability’, and ‘critical institutional praxis’. We offer these as our contribution to advancing scholarship commit…
Rethinking urbanization and economic development
Financializing Africa’s urban peripheries
Housing microfinance is transforming Africa’s urban peripheries. While many actors, factors, and processes are driving the financialization of peripheral urban Africa, social enterprises and fintech (financial technology) play a key role in making these spaces the “new real estate frontier”. At the same time, efforts to promote financial inclusion are hampered by longstanding challenges related to informality and state bureaucracy that are becomi…
The role of institutions in social housing provision
This paper examines third sector social housing in early post-apartheid South Africa, hence offering important new insights into how institutions in emerging economies shape the implementation and impacts of this approach. Based on qualitative research methods, the paper finds that under conditions of weak formal governance, nascent industry capacity and disaffected communities, third sector social housing resulted in serious project failures and…
Renting in the informal city
In South Africa, informal rental accommodation constructed in the backyards of formal houses is the fastest growing housing segment. These backyard dwellings (BDs) are makeshift structures made from timber frames, metal sheets or wooden planks. Despite the proliferation of BDs, national and local governments have done little to improve the living standards of backyard dwellers. The research uses focus groups, interviews and building surveys to ex…
Making Demands on Government
Informality is growing with Africa's rapid urbanization. Much like residents of other types of informal housing, backyard dwellers face overall poor living conditions and political marginalization. However, backyard residents are in an ambiguous legal area and have been far less politically active and organized to pursue their rights to adequate housing. Using a qualitative case study of backyard residents in three Cape Town neighborhoods, Harris…
Developing neighbourhood typologies and understanding urban inequality
Neighbourhoods affect people’s livelihoods, and therefore drive and mediate intra-urban inequalities and transformations. While the neighbourhood has long been recognized as an important unit of analysis, there is surprisingly little systematic research on different neighbourhood types, especially in the fast-growing cities of the Global South. In this paper we employ k -means clustering, a common machine-learning algorithm, to develop a neighbou…
Inequality and Urban Density
Global policies promote urban compaction to achieve sustainable development. This article highlights the limits of analysing densification at the city scale and advocates for a more granular approach. The case study of Cape Town shows how overall consolidation has been mainly driven by poor households crowding into already dense neighbourhoods on the urban periphery. This has aggravated historic segregation and intensified urban management challe…
Can social housing help to integrate divided cities
Social housing has the potential to contribute to economic inclusion and urban integration if it is well-located. However, this is complicated by economic forces that shape land and property markets and constrain the ability of social housing organisations to afford suitable sites for development on the open market. The paper shows how South Africa’s transformative vision for social housing has been diluted by the gradual spatial drift of project…
Strengthening Township Economies in South Africa
Informal rental housing in the South
Informal rental housing is growing rapidly in cities of the global South. Changing needs and circumstances of diverse urban populations produce new forms of rental accommodation and landlord–tenant relations. Focusing on the case of backyard renting in South Africa, this paper illustrates how informal rental is undergoing a dynamic process of expansion and upgrading that both reflects and contributes to improved socioeconomic conditions. Commerci…
Grassroots democracy and development
The Philippines have developed a system of neighbourhood government that other countries could usefully learn from. The barangays give ordinary citizens a voice in decision-making and assist in devolving power from the centre. They also improve the responsiveness of basic public services to local needs. Above all, the institution recognises and legitimises the contribution that communities can make to a robust civil society. The process of partic…
The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer
"The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer: The Impact of Foreign Aid Experts on Policy-Making in South Africa and Tanzania." The Journal of Development Studies, 54(8), pp. 1471–1472
Right to the city’ and the New Urban Agenda
The ‘right to the city’ has influenced the New Urban Agenda and other global and national urban policies. In the process, the meaning has narrowed towards realizing human rights in cities. Pursuing the right to housing in South Africa has established an important duty on the state to ensure universal access to decent accommodation. This has enabled millions of the poorest households to obtain improved habitation, and others to gain protection aga…
Redd+ as 'inclusive' neoliberal conservation
In recent years, market-based conservation has emerged as the 'panacea' to the environmental crises we face today. A prominent example of this trend is REDD+, which turns terrestrial carbon in the global South into fictitious commodities that can be sold for profit. In this paper, we conceptualise REDD+ as a form of 'inclusive' neoliberal conservation, highlighting how neoliberalism has embraced notions of good governance, local ownership, social…
Promising Change, Delivering Continuity
Territorialising Redd
The Politics of Conservation in Southern Africa
These two books will be of great interest to everyone passionate about the conservation of nature, particularly in the southern African region. Both works are highly critical of the dominant ways i
Rethinking ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania
Promising Change, Delivering Continuity
Rethinking ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania
Informal rental housing in the South
Informal rental housing is growing rapidly in cities of the global South. Changing needs and circumstances of diverse urban populations produce new forms of rental accommodation and landlord–tenant relations. Focusing on the case of backyard renting in South Africa, this paper illustrates how informal rental is undergoing a dynamic process of expansion and upgrading that both reflects and contributes to improved socioeconomic conditions. Commerci…
Redd+ as 'inclusive' neoliberal conservation
In recent years, market-based conservation has emerged as the 'panacea' to the environmental crises we face today. A prominent example of this trend is REDD+, which turns terrestrial carbon in the global South into fictitious commodities that can be sold for profit. In this paper, we conceptualise REDD+ as a form of 'inclusive' neoliberal conservation, highlighting how neoliberalism has embraced notions of good governance, local ownership, social…
Territorialising Redd
Right to the city’ and the New Urban Agenda
The ‘right to the city’ has influenced the New Urban Agenda and other global and national urban policies. In the process, the meaning has narrowed towards realizing human rights in cities. Pursuing the right to housing in South Africa has established an important duty on the state to ensure universal access to decent accommodation. This has enabled millions of the poorest households to obtain improved habitation, and others to gain protection aga…
Financializing Africa’s urban peripheries
Housing microfinance is transforming Africa’s urban peripheries. While many actors, factors, and processes are driving the financialization of peripheral urban Africa, social enterprises and fintech (financial technology) play a key role in making these spaces the “new real estate frontier”. At the same time, efforts to promote financial inclusion are hampered by longstanding challenges related to informality and state bureaucracy that are becomi…
Developing neighbourhood typologies and understanding urban inequality
Neighbourhoods affect people’s livelihoods, and therefore drive and mediate intra-urban inequalities and transformations. While the neighbourhood has long been recognized as an important unit of analysis, there is surprisingly little systematic research on different neighbourhood types, especially in the fast-growing cities of the Global South. In this paper we employ k -means clustering, a common machine-learning algorithm, to develop a neighbou…
Making Demands on Government
Informality is growing with Africa's rapid urbanization. Much like residents of other types of informal housing, backyard dwellers face overall poor living conditions and political marginalization. However, backyard residents are in an ambiguous legal area and have been far less politically active and organized to pursue their rights to adequate housing. Using a qualitative case study of backyard residents in three Cape Town neighborhoods, Harris…
Small-scale rental housing in Southern Africa
Rethinking urbanization and economic development
Renting in the informal city
In South Africa, informal rental accommodation constructed in the backyards of formal houses is the fastest growing housing segment. These backyard dwellings (BDs) are makeshift structures made from timber frames, metal sheets or wooden planks. Despite the proliferation of BDs, national and local governments have done little to improve the living standards of backyard dwellers. The research uses focus groups, interviews and building surveys to ex…
Rethinking ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania
Promising Change, Delivering Continuity
Territorialising Redd
The Politics of Conservation in Southern Africa
These two books will be of great interest to everyone passionate about the conservation of nature, particularly in the southern African region. Both works are highly critical of the dominant ways i
Redd+ as 'inclusive' neoliberal conservation
In recent years, market-based conservation has emerged as the 'panacea' to the environmental crises we face today. A prominent example of this trend is REDD+, which turns terrestrial carbon in the global South into fictitious commodities that can be sold for profit. In this paper, we conceptualise REDD+ as a form of 'inclusive' neoliberal conservation, highlighting how neoliberalism has embraced notions of good governance, local ownership, social…
The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer
"The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer: The Impact of Foreign Aid Experts on Policy-Making in South Africa and Tanzania." The Journal of Development Studies, 54(8), pp. 1471–1472
Right to the city’ and the New Urban Agenda
The ‘right to the city’ has influenced the New Urban Agenda and other global and national urban policies. In the process, the meaning has narrowed towards realizing human rights in cities. Pursuing the right to housing in South Africa has established an important duty on the state to ensure universal access to decent accommodation. This has enabled millions of the poorest households to obtain improved habitation, and others to gain protection aga…
Strengthening Township Economies in South Africa
Informal rental housing in the South
Informal rental housing is growing rapidly in cities of the global South. Changing needs and circumstances of diverse urban populations produce new forms of rental accommodation and landlord–tenant relations. Focusing on the case of backyard renting in South Africa, this paper illustrates how informal rental is undergoing a dynamic process of expansion and upgrading that both reflects and contributes to improved socioeconomic conditions. Commerci…
Grassroots democracy and development
The Philippines have developed a system of neighbourhood government that other countries could usefully learn from. The barangays give ordinary citizens a voice in decision-making and assist in devolving power from the centre. They also improve the responsiveness of basic public services to local needs. Above all, the institution recognises and legitimises the contribution that communities can make to a robust civil society. The process of partic…
Inequality and Urban Density
Global policies promote urban compaction to achieve sustainable development. This article highlights the limits of analysing densification at the city scale and advocates for a more granular approach. The case study of Cape Town shows how overall consolidation has been mainly driven by poor households crowding into already dense neighbourhoods on the urban periphery. This has aggravated historic segregation and intensified urban management challe…
Can social housing help to integrate divided cities
Social housing has the potential to contribute to economic inclusion and urban integration if it is well-located. However, this is complicated by economic forces that shape land and property markets and constrain the ability of social housing organisations to afford suitable sites for development on the open market. The paper shows how South Africa’s transformative vision for social housing has been diluted by the gradual spatial drift of project…
Developing neighbourhood typologies and understanding urban inequality
Neighbourhoods affect people’s livelihoods, and therefore drive and mediate intra-urban inequalities and transformations. While the neighbourhood has long been recognized as an important unit of analysis, there is surprisingly little systematic research on different neighbourhood types, especially in the fast-growing cities of the Global South. In this paper we employ k -means clustering, a common machine-learning algorithm, to develop a neighbou…
Co-producing just geographies
In this commentary, we argue for the continued importance of engaged scholarship to the futures of geographical thought and praxis. In drawing on our own situated research and teaching lives in Cape Town, we suggest three avenues to advance the future possibilities of this mode of work: ‘resourcing prefiguration’, ‘bridging incommensurability’, and ‘critical institutional praxis’. We offer these as our contribution to advancing scholarship commit…
Rethinking urbanization and economic development
Financializing Africa’s urban peripheries
Housing microfinance is transforming Africa’s urban peripheries. While many actors, factors, and processes are driving the financialization of peripheral urban Africa, social enterprises and fintech (financial technology) play a key role in making these spaces the “new real estate frontier”. At the same time, efforts to promote financial inclusion are hampered by longstanding challenges related to informality and state bureaucracy that are becomi…
The role of institutions in social housing provision
This paper examines third sector social housing in early post-apartheid South Africa, hence offering important new insights into how institutions in emerging economies shape the implementation and impacts of this approach. Based on qualitative research methods, the paper finds that under conditions of weak formal governance, nascent industry capacity and disaffected communities, third sector social housing resulted in serious project failures and…
Renting in the informal city
In South Africa, informal rental accommodation constructed in the backyards of formal houses is the fastest growing housing segment. These backyard dwellings (BDs) are makeshift structures made from timber frames, metal sheets or wooden planks. Despite the proliferation of BDs, national and local governments have done little to improve the living standards of backyard dwellers. The research uses focus groups, interviews and building surveys to ex…
Making Demands on Government
Informality is growing with Africa's rapid urbanization. Much like residents of other types of informal housing, backyard dwellers face overall poor living conditions and political marginalization. However, backyard residents are in an ambiguous legal area and have been far less politically active and organized to pursue their rights to adequate housing. Using a qualitative case study of backyard residents in three Cape Town neighborhoods, Harris…
Inclusionary Housing Policy in Cities of the South
Inclusionary housing policy (IHP) encourages developers to provide affordable housing in well-located areas. This can add to their costs and risks, so the process of policy adoption is complicated and contested. This paper provides a synthesis of the literature and then analyzes the efforts to implement IHP of two South African cities, Johannesburg and Cape Town. The core proposition is that making residential development more inclusive requires …
Social Housing and Upward Mobility in South Africa
Social housing offers a way of promoting upward mobility and urban integration by improving people’s access to economic and social opportunities. These are prominent goals of South Africa’s social housing programme. In practice, household advancement tends to be taken for granted rather than deliberately pursued or monitored. We review survey data for 1632 households across ten social housing projects and find modest evidence of social mobility a…
Informal rental housing in the global South
A growing proportion of urban residents live in informal rental housing, especially in the global South. While informally constructed rented accommodation offers multiple public policy benefits, the rapid and unplanned growth of rental units can have significant negative impacts on neighbourhoods and residents. This paper draws on neighbourhood level data from Cape Town, South Africa, to examine how informal rental housing markets drive the soft …
Small-scale rental housing in Southern Africa
Economics (21 works) · Economic growth (17 works) · Political science (17 works) · Urban and Rural Development Challenges (14 works) · Business (12 works) · Politics (12 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Geography (10 works) · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism (8 works) · Law (6 works)