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OPPORTUNITIES FOR TRANSFORMING INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN CARIBBEAN SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES

Informal settlements are quite complex because they consist of economically disadvantaged, often landless households located on steep hillsides, floodplains and swamps, which contribute to their exclusion from accessing infrastructure. These challenges need not be constraints; rather they offer opportunities for transformation. Such communities are generally characterised by inadequate access to safe water; inadequate access to sanitation and other infrastructure; poor structural quality of housing; overcrowding and insecure residential status. This paper uses primary and secondary data to determine the drivers which impact on the burgeoning of informal settlements in the Caribbean and analyses their implications for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11 which focuses on achieving safer, sustainable and resilient human settlements. The main findings of the paper are that housing shortages, delays in obtaining planning approvals, inflated land values and poverty contribute to the growth of informal settlements. However, such settlements occupy vulnerable sites where infrastructure is sometimes lacking and they help trigger environmental hazards which may be further exacerbated by climate change. Based on the key findings of the empirical evidence, the paper raises what is the critical role of engineering and engineering education in improving access by informal settlements to basic services that are fundamental in achieving sustainable, resilient human settlements and human well-being? These questions are answered within the Caribbean Small Island Developing States context and draws from a crosssection of case studies within the region.