Adaptive resistance amidst planning and administrative failure: The story of an informal settlement in the city of Kitwe, Zambia

Informal settlements often emerge, due to rapid urbanisation or failure of urban systems, with negative resultant effects. Such settlements are viewed as a blight to the beauty and order of modern cities, attracting demolition threats from local authorities. Despite the use of force through demolitions and evictions, a number of these settlements have grown to a point where many have attracted upgrading initiatives rather than demolition. Hence, they have become permanent features of the vast majority of cities in the Global South. This study poses the question: How do these settlements transcend serious threats to their existence and still consolidate and grow? The study found that the answer lies in their adaptive resistance capacity. As settlements resist eviction, they also adapt rules from formal systems, in order to minimise their negative image. As a result, with time, conditions improve within the settlements. The study used Mindolo North informal settlement in the city of Kitwe as a case study to examine mechanisms through which informal settlements emerge, consolidate and grow.


INTRODUCTION
Stories of the emergence, consolidation and growth of informal settlements take many forms in the Global South. Despite each of these settlements having its own unique history, literature ascribes their existence either to rapid urbanisation or to failure of urban systems, particularly planning failure (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe [UNECE], 2009;Sori, 2012;UN Habitat, 2015;Masimba, 2016;Sakala, 2016;Marutlulle, 2017). Viewed mostly as a blight on the beauty and order of modern cities, informal settlements are often regarded as a disease to be eradicated. As a result, a number of studies are titled 'causes of informal settlements' (see, for instance, Ali & Sulaiman, 2006;UNECE, 2009;UN Habitat, 2015;Masimba, 2016;Sakala, 2016;Marutlulle, 2017). The major causes cited in these studies include population growth, rapid urbanisation, poverty, ruralurban migration, lack of access to land and ownership, and weak urban governance (in terms of policy, planning and land/urban management). Growth of informal settlements is then said to cause a number of socio-economic problems such as pollution, deforestation, flooding, and wastage of agricultural land (Ali & Sulaiman, 2006: 1). However, besides failure by local authorities to cope with rapid urbanisation, a number of other studies point to informal settlers' resistance and ability to adapt as reasons for the existence of the vast majority of informal settlements. For instance, Skuse and Cousins (2007: 979) framed 'resistance' as the 'struggle' for urban permanency. The study used the settlement of Nkanini in Cape Town to examine the "bitter struggle between residents and local City of Cape Town authorities over claims to occupy the land" (Skuse & Cousins, 2007: 979). Fitchett (2014: 355) used a similar concept called 'adaptive co-management' to argue for the appreciation of local knowledge systems and social structures when confronting challenges of informal settlements. The study used Diepsloot, an informal settlement in the City of Johannesburg, as a case study. Adaptation can, therefore, be regarded as the ability to change internal organisational structures within informal settlements, in order to conform to what the authorities demand. This ability or characteristic is displayed in an environment of constant threats of demolition from authorities, hence the use of 'adaptive resistance', for this study.
It is, therefore, clear that informal settlements can also be viewed from other perspectives. What can we learn about the internal mechanisms of these settlements in terms of mobilisation and organisation? How do they manage to keep growing amidst serious threats from authorities? This article argues that, although resistance is a key tool in ensuring that settlements grow, residents are aware that the state of any such settlement is often one of its major weaknesses. As a result, residents of informal settlements tend to copy ideas from planned areas, in order to improve layout and development outcomes in some form of 'adaptive resistance'. This article examines the case of an informal settlement north of Mindolo North Municipal Township in the city of Kitwe, Zambia, simply referred to as Mindolo North informal settlement, which has gone through a number of waves of threats of demolition, despite its continued growth. Coupled with resistance, the settlement seems to be improving, by trying to increasingly resemble part of existing areas in its immediate vicinity and be accepted as such. The question then is: Why and how is it that the settlement is still growing amidst intense threats from authorities? What are the internal mechanisms that enable the settlement to adapt? This article is pitched from an institutional economics perspective, which argues that each community has a way of organising itself through both formal and informal rules. 'Rules' from this perspective are defined as "rules of the game" (North, 1990: 3), the role of which is to constrain or enable human action in a particular environment. In the context of this article, informal settlements will emerge and organise around informal rules in an environment of weak formal rules. Thus, a vacuum in formal rules does not necessarily mean chaos and disorder; it also creates a space for informal rules to emerge and consolidate. In this sense, institutions provide the incentive structure within which human beings operate. The case of Mindolo North informal settlement becomes an ideal environment for exploring this theoretical perspective.

RESISTANCE AND ADAPTATION AS A TOOL FOR GROWTH
A number of studies (Akhmat & Khan, 2011;Msimang, 2017) have focused on the negative side of informal settlements and the need for their upgrading. However, this article argues that these settlements have grown through a process of resisting evictions and adapting to new information, in order to better organise internal activities and achieve better outcomes. It is noteworthy that similar terms have been used to refer to growth of informal settlements, such as "adaptive processes" (Jones, 2017: 6), "selfperpetuating" or "self-planned" (Akhmat & Khan, 2011: 56), and "selforganisation" (Eizenberg, 2018: 40) Resistance to eviction by the State can also be understood within an older concept of 'right to the city' by Henri Lefebvre (1996: 7) in 1968. This concept is both an idea and a slogan and is defined as "a demand ... for a transformed and renewed access to urban life". It thus falls within urban theory that describes the phenomenon of city formation. The reality, especially in the Global South, is that not all land within the jurisdiction of a municipality is clearly assigned a use and user, such that portions of land remain as public land or simply 'free'. In the advent of rapid population increase and urbanisation, coupled with weak planning and administrative structures, this land becomes the battle ground for the less privileged and neglected of society who also lay claim to the city (Lefebvre, 1996;Attoh, 2011;Fieuw, 2011;Purcell, 2014).
Local authorities are often cited in many cases of planning failure (Mabogunje, 1990;Massey, 2013;UN Habitat, 2013). A key reason for this accusation is that planning authorities have the mandate to prepare the development plan of a city or region and coordinate its implementation. One of the main activities in the implementation is monitoring development to ensure that the plan is executed as desired. However, by their nature, informal settlements are unplanned, meaning that they emerge and grow outside planning regulations. Literature often attributes the causes of informal settlements in most of the cities in the Global South to failure of planning rules. It should, however, be noted that planning rules are themselves institutions -formal institutions (Lai, Lorne, Chau & Ching, 2016: 230). Their role is to "enable or constrain" human action in the growth of cities. Because of failure of planning theory based on assumptions in a western environment, some scholars have started advocating for a different perspective in planning, one that takes into consideration specific characteristics of the Global South (Watson, 2014: 23). A case in point was the upgrading of Makhaza and New Rest informal settlements in Cape Town, which Massey (2013: 609) argued did not meet the needs of settlers with regard to their livelihood strategies. Similar thoughts were expressed earlier by Huchzermeyer (2004: 334) who argued for an approach that first looked at protecting residents' constitutional rights before acting on the contravention of property and land-use laws.
Despite the absence of planning rules that accommodate them, marginalised communities will often find a way to 'mobilise' and organise, using a mixture of social norms and borrowed planning rules. Notwithstanding their seemingly chaotic appearance, the internal arrangements of these informal settlements are often organised and orderly through some form of "social ordering" (Nkurunziza, 2007: 509) defined as a "distinct pattern of organising society" (North, Wallis, Webb & Weingast, 2009: 2). Informal acquisition of land has thus been listed among various ways of land delivery in the vast majority of cities; others being allocation of public land, purchase through the land market, delivery of customary land through state-sanctioned means, delivery of customary land to members of a group, allocation by officials (usually political official), and purchase of customary land (Rakodi & Leduka, 2004: 1).
A number of studies show that selforganising systems rely on structural principles, which help coordinate activities in the absence of the State (Giddens, 1984;Fuch, 2003).
These are similar to principles used for the initial organisation of development activities in informal settlements. For instance, Munshifwa and Mooya (2016a: 480) argued for 'facilitative interaction', defined as the constant engagement between formal and informal structure, as an important element in the consolidation of growth in informal settlements. The constant adaptation of these structural principles contributes to improved coordination and outcomes in these settlements.
To understand the various developmental stages through which informal settlements grow, studies have identified at least three main stages, namely infancy, consolidation, and maturity (Sliuzas, Mboup & de Sherbinin, 2008;Sori, 2012). These stages are then linked, at a point in time, to specific outcomes such as building construction (size, materials, shape), nature of other objects (roads, health and other social facilities, open space), site conditions (location in the urban areas, slope, vegetation, natural hazards), and the slum development process. 'Infancy' is defined as the initial occupancy stage, during which public amenities and services are non-existent (Sori, 2012: 5). The consolidation stage is the intermediate stage, which sees fast expansion of the settlement, while intensifying on construction (Sori, 2012: 5). 'Maturity' or 'saturation' is the point at which the land expansion stops, while intensification on the settlement increases (Sori, 2012: 6). Although Sliuzas et al. (2008) and Sori (2012) concentrated the definitions on land coverage and intensity, these stages can equally be linked to changes over time in other development outcomes.
This article hypothesises that the key ingredient in moving from one stage to the next is the settlers' amount of resistance and adaptive ability. This is then reflected in changes over time in development outcomes such as building construction, accessibility, and provision of health and other social facilities. The informal development process is then underpinned by a local institutional structure of rules and organisations ( Figure 1), similar to the one perceived by Fitchett (2014).

RESEARCH
Literature (Rakodi & Leduka, 2004;Nkurunziza, 2007;Nassar & Elsayed, 2017) points to a shift not only in accepting informal settlements as part of the reality in most of the developing countries, but also that their way of organising may be useful. It is, therefore, important that, in the process of helping these settlements improve, authorities do not 'throw out the baby with the bath water'. This study focused on understanding the operations of internal mechanisms within these settlements with regard to the initial set-up of the settlement, rules of plot arrangements, sizes and allocation, and the implementation and control structure used. The case study of Mindolo North informal settlement was selected for investigating these mechanisms, including specific measurable parameters of land coverage, house completion, and promises of property rights and documentation. It combines quantitative data (survey questionnaires) and life story experiences of settlers (interviews) to examine tangible development outcomes.

Data collection
Data for this article was collected as part of a bigger research project.
The project was a comparative study of three settlements in Kitwe (Figure 2), namely Mindolo North informal settlement (illegal settlement), Chipata First, household surveys were undertaken over a period of seven months (from January 2014 to August 2014). Households were selected based on random sampling whereby the interviewers skipped two houses in between; that is, every third house was selected. The surveys were targeted at heads of households, although in the absence of husbands in maleheaded households, wives were interviewed instead. The collection of data involved the administration of 704 questionnaires, comprising 152 for Mindolo North, 271 for Chipata, and 281 for Ipusukilo. The survey questionnaire consisted of five sections. Section one obtained biographical data; sections three to five set pre-set tickbox questions on physical and infrastructure developments; property rights and acquisition; property market information, as well as property contracts and enforcement.
In order to understand the deepseated beliefs, norms and customs, with specific focus on property rights, mechanisms and processes, as well as the interaction between formal and informal systems, in-depth semistructured interviews were held in the three settlements in November 2014 (Bryman, 2004). These interviews were conducted with 10 officers from KCC and 24 residents in the three settlements (8 per settlement who had lived in the settlement for at least 5 years). Thus, a total of 34 individuals were interviewed. In-depth interviews targeted senior residents and local officials such as chairmen, RDC officials and Block secretaries, who were able to recount the genesis and growth of these settlements. The interview schedule consisted of 15 open-ended questions with the aim to understand the KCC's role in the physical development of these low-income settlements and to obtain the life histories of residents from the point of settling in the settlement to the present day.
Secondary data was also collected from published and unpublished documents.

Sample size
In Mindolo North informal settlement, with an estimated population of 3 000 people, a sample size of 704 people completed questionnaires. The Krejcie and Morgan (1970: 608)

Data analysis and interpretation of findings
The SPSS computer program was used for analysis of the 2014 socioeconomic characteristics of Mindolo North informal settlement, where the percentages of responses were reported. The Somers' d test was used to measure the existence of (P-value) and how strong (R-value) the relationships were between the socio-economic characteristics and development outcomes (Newson, 2002: 46). Somers' d uses a scale from -1 to 1, where 1 signifies a perfect positive relationship, -1 signifies a perfect negative relationship, and 0 signifies no overall ordinal relationship.
Content analysis (selective coding) was used to analyse and group components that support development outcomes mentioned in the in-depth interviews (

Socio-economic characteristics of the respondents
The study was perceived with the understanding that socio-economic factors partly impact on the ability of residents to compete in the formal market, thus resorting to settling in informal settlements. The survey revealed (Figures 3 to 6) that 35% of the respondents were male and 65% were female. Out of these, 89% were "owners" and 11% tenants. In terms of age, the study revealed that 47% of the respondents were aged between 31 and 40 years. Cumulatively, 77% were aged 40 years or below. This implies that most of the residents are young, and possibly also unemployed. Further investigations confirmed that 52% were unemployed and 33% were self-employed; a cumulative total of 85%. The study found that only 6% were formally employed.
The Somers' d measure was used for ordinal-level data to further explore this relationship. The results showed a weak positive relationship with a value of 0.042, using age as a dependent variable. For Mindolo North informal settlement, this result implies that the vast majority of the unemployed people in the settlement are young; most of them are aged below 40 years and unemployed/ self-employed (Figures 3 and 4). This further means that providing gainful employment for young people will empower them in such a way that they would be able to pay for plots through a legitimate process of land acquisition.
The analysis of income and expenditure strengthens the above findings. Statistics showed that 47% of the respondents earned K500 2 or less per month, thus confirming the low-income status of residents in the informal settlement (Figures 5 and 6). Similarly, 46% of the respondents earned K500 or less. The level of income is also reflected in expenditure statistics, showing that the majority of the respondents spent K500 or less.
2 Approximately USD38.00 per month at the current exchange rate of K13.00 to USD1. As argued by Nkurunziza (2007), Munshifwa and Mooya (2016a), informal mechanisms developed within informal settlements to provide the structural principles upon which they emerge and grow. This article focuses on developments as outcomes of these structural principles (Giddens, 1984;Fuch, 2003). Despite their origin, informal settlements are argued to provide services, including selfplanning or organisation, in the absence of the State. Other tangible outcomes are also noticeable in these settlements which have a relationship with strengthening possession/ rights on land. For instance, this is noted in the change of building materials from temporary to more permanent, as one moves from the newly settled (infancy stage) to the old (maturity stage); emergence of a land and property market and some form of order in plot sizes and layout. With this in mind, the remainder of this article compares findings of the 2018 survey by KCC, against development outcome noted during the 2014 survey. Three main parameters, namely land coverage, house completions, and promises of property rights or documentation, are isolated for this comparison. Besides these three main parameters, findings from in-depth interviews of 2014 highlighted the local institutional and organisational structures as the underpinning support for current development outcomes.

Land coverage
Occupation and development of land in Mindolo North informal settlement can be categorised into three main parts (see Figures 7 and 8), namely Block A (allocated by the RDC and can rightly be called "matured"); B (allocated by ruling party officials and in the consolidation stage), and C (self-allocated and still in its infancy

House completions
The 2014

Property rights and documentation
The rapid rate of occupation in Mindolo North can also be attributed to promises of official offer letters by the Council to the vast majority of settlers in the area. In September 2018, government, through the Provincial Minister's office, assured settlers that 2 000 letters would be issued to legalise their occupation. 5 By contrast, in 2014, only 44 residents claimed to have had some document issued by RDC as proof of occupation, while 506 had no single document. Such pronouncements signal to settlers that their occupation is slowly being recognised as legitimate, with potential to spur physical development.

Interaction between institutions and organisations
Content analysis (selective coding) from the in-depth interview results shows the components that support 4 After Ipusukilo (now legalised) and Mulenga, the two largest informal settlements in the city of Kitwe.

A recent check at KCC revealed that no offer
letters have yet been issued. development outcomes through the interaction between institutions and organisations. Table 2 provides further information on modes of acquisition, expenditure towards improvements, building materials, spatial arrangements, leadership, and interaction with local authorities.
A number of conclusions can be drawn from these narratives, which, in turn, support survey findings. First, there is a difference in the length of stay between the three blocks, with residents in Block A (RDC allocated) having been in the area longer than the other two. This has implications for the confidence of settlers, the materials used, and the perceptions on land rights. The 2014 survey revealed that 90% of the settlers had been in the settlement for 5 years or less (mostly from Blocks B and C), while the other 10% had been there for longer than 5 years. A further scrutiny of these results revealed that there was a relationship between construction materials and the length of stay in the settlement, with the Somers' d scale showing 0.118 (a weak positive relationship). The implication is that the older area will have more durable houses than the newly settled parts. Furthermore, the level of threats of the local authority also influences the materials used by residents. For instance, because RDC allotees felt less threatened by the local authorities, they were able to invest more in their buildings. Hence, the predominant use of mud bricks and corrugated iron roofing is also a result of threats from the local authority and age of the settlement.
Secondly, uncoordinated land use is one of the key characteristics of informal settlements. While not using the formal system of planning, settlers are able to agree on the apportionment of the land, even in the absence of State machinery. From the narratives, it was clear that they had an idea of "planning", as they apportioned plots. As argued by Hayek (1945: 521), any form of planning is based on knowledge, regardless of who is doing the planning. Thus, despite their low educational status, residents had an idea of measurement of plots and layouts. Statistics revealed that plot sizes averaged 395 square metres (with the category of 300m 2 being considered as falling into the low-cost category of plots in local planning jargon).
Thirdly, it was clear that secondary transfers of plots were also occurring as evidence of an emerging land market. For instance, although 48% of the respondents agreed to have recently invaded the land, 41% claimed that they had bought from someone. In addition, the local social network of friends and relatives was found to be important for both communication and acquisition of land. It can thus be concluded that market forces are always omnipresent in these settlements, and that any indication of stability will result in secondary transfers, whether rights on land are confirmed or not.
Fourthly, occupation of land is organised via a form of institutional structure comprising a committee headed by a chairman, based on agreed local rules on assigning land uses (plots and passages) and apportionment of land parcels. The indication is that settlers are working from some knowledge base that enables them to "plan" uses and allocations around some measurement.  In order to avoid a huge risk when demolition takes place, settlers in infancy stage build with more temporary material such as mud blocks and iron sheets. As they feel more entitled to the land in the consolidation stage, more permanent materials such as concrete blocks are then used.
The design of houses also starts changing in the consolidation stage from two-roomed houses to more conventional urban designs.
Spatial arrangements FS revealed that a gravel road marked the demarcation between the legal (Block A) and the illegal part. Further reported that all the houses across that road were either allocated by MMD officials, or residents just took the land for themselves. ZO revealed the fact that when they first arrived in Mindolo North, they agreed among themselves that each one would get a plot of 15 x 20 metres and then leave roads of 6 metres. They formed a committee and nominated a chairperson whose role was to assist in the demarcation of land and resolving disputes, especially on boundaries. JP noted that, although they consider themselves legal occupants, the planning authority did not control what they built. But JP was quick to state that most of the houses in that area (Block A) were already complete with settlers only doing improvements or making extensions. He further stated that most of the people in that area could afford to build with concrete blocks; that is why the standard of houses was better than on the other side (Blocks B and C).
Despite the seemingly haphazard layout of the vast majority of informal settlements, interviews with settlers often revealed some form of spatial arrangements, in a way mimicking the formal part of the city. As revealed during these interviews, settlers had ideas on specific amounts of land to allocate to each settler including the need to reserve land for access. Despite claimed legal status through RDC allocations, residents in Block A were still not subjected to urban planning controls, and yet their houses were better built than in the other two areas.
Leadership PK on the RDC land was not aware of the Chairman. He pointed out that the Chairman was only on the "other side", meaning on land allocated by party officials and self-allocated. JN pointed out that leadership was provided by the Chairperson; however, the local authorities did not recognise this person. His role also included resolving disputes especially among settlers. ZO -Leadership during allocation was provided by the Chairperson of a committee formed by settlers. The Chairperson showed settlers the corners of their plots, but it was the responsibility of each settler to ensure that boundaries were marked to avoid disputes with the neighbours.
It was clear that there was a difference in perception between those allocated by the RDC (Block A) and those on the other two blocks. Because of the nature of their occupation, settlers in Blocks B and C had to nominate their own leadership, independent of government structures. These local structures are key to maintaining order and stability in informal settlements in the absence of State authority.
Interaction with local authorities PK narrated that the only time they heard the local authority speak to them directly was when they drove through to warn residents about the planned demolition exercise. ZO also confirmed the fact that no meetings were held between the local authority and the residents. However, ZO further pointed out that the Chairman did attempt to have meetings with the local authorities. These were turned down most of the time.
Although formally the local authority did not recognise the leadership in the settlement, the study found that, informally, chairpersons provided a bridge between the formal and informal structures for communication purposes.
(Footnotes)  (2018), is another indication of growth. The process in-between has been one of contestation and struggles between settlers and local authorities, culminating in the recent promises of normalising the occupation. This shows the settlers' clear will and purpose to be part of the city.

CONCLUSION
The entry point for this study was that, due to rapid urbanisation, planning systems in most of the developing countries are failing, resulting in the rapid growth of informal settlements. In addition, even in cases where local authorities make efforts to prevent this growth, the shear resistance of settlers in these areas makes it difficult.
The study noted that marginalised groups of society, mostly young and unemployed, make claims to the city for the various conveniences it provides. Where urban systems fail to accommodate them, they will fight for space in whichever way they can. One of the key means used is forceful occupation of any land deemed vacant, private or public. Based on some knowledge and a mix of social norms and borrowed statutory rules, they "plan" and build "their own city". After a long period of struggles, many of these settlements ultimately received the approval of the State, resulting in their permanent establishment, as is the case for Mindolo North informal settlement. The study noted three important stages in this development process, namely infancy (initial occupation), consolidation (characterised by rapid expansion of land coverage and construction), and maturity (intensification of construction within the occupied space). This whole process is underpinned by a local institutional and governance structure of informal rules, norms and interaction with formal structures.
As observed in the case of Mindolo North informal settlement, three key parameters such as land coverage, house completions, and property rights and documentation revealed the rapid growth of the settlement. The study revealed that between 2014 and 2018, the settlement had experienced an increase in land coverage from 62 ha to 260 ha, completed (including rebuilding) houses from 440 to 581, and received promises of offer letters for 2 000 settlers. Over the same period, the settlement had seen the construction of more permanent houses of concrete blocks, all these being clear indications of a maturing settlement. However, this has come after many struggles with local authorities, which saw demolition of about 600 houses in June 2014.
This study is limited in that it is based on one case study. Nonetheless, it points to a number of relationships that need to be investigated in a larger comparative study. For instance: What is the relationship between level of threats and durability of building materials? What is the relationship between age of a settlement and durability of building materials? What is the role of tacit knowledge in the building of informal settlements? These issues need further investigation.