INTEGRATING CONSOLIDATED INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS: PATHWAYS TO SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND EQUITABLE URBAN FUTURES IN CONSTANTINE, ALGERIA

Abstract

This study addresses the critical challenge of socio-spatial fragmentation driven by Consolidated Informal Settlements (CIS) in Constantine, Algeria. It investigates their multi-scalar impacts on resident well-being, critically evaluates the limitations of prevailing legal frameworks, and proposes a transferable model for equitable integration. This study examines how CIS in Constantine, Algeria, contribute to socio-spatial inequality and affect residents’ daily lives. Using a mixed-methods approach: surveys with 660 residents (selected from 4,056 buildings using stratified random sampling), GIS mapping of service access, a review of Algerian urban laws, and comparisons with global case studies, the research shows that CIS residents face systemic exclusion. This is evidenced by severe infrastructure gaps (with 68% lower basic service access than in planned areas) and measurable psychosocial distress. In response, the study proposes an evidence-based, four-pillar approach for integrating CIS into the city, including tenure security through rights recognition, community-coordinated infrastructure upgrading, embedded psychosocial support systems, and adaptive municipal codes that enable incremental formalization. This framework supports the UN-Habitat “Right to the City” principle and helps meet Sustainable Development Goal 11 “, inclusive, safe cities”. As the first evidence-based CIS integration model developed for North Africa, it links spatial marginalization directly to well-being using local data. It also shifts focus from top-down government control to community participation, offering useful policy lessons from a post-conflict context often overlooked in global urban debates.