Biographical note

Richard Martin is an architect/town planner who became engaged with informal settlements when he started working in Zambia in the 1960s. He taught in the field of sites and services and upgrading at Bouwcentrum International Education. He has written widely and worked in many countries in Africa in the field of housing and informal settlements. Ashna Mathema is a city planner/architect specializing in low-income housing and urban development. Her work in informal and underserviced settlements spans 20 countries, mostly in Africa, and East and South Asia. Through in-depth field work and personal interviews with local residents, she draws on their aspirations, struggles, and successes to establish a development process that is participatory and more responsive to their needs.