Ghulam Farooq Nadeem - Ph.D. in Urbanism, Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Engineering, Herat University, Afghanistan
Seyed Moslem Seyedalhosseini - Associate Professor, Department of Urbanism, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran
Toktam Hanaee - Associate Professor, Department of Urbanism, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran

The reality of informal or unplanned settlements in the Global South, including Afghanistan, cannot be ignored. These settlements are characterized by poor living conditions and negative social issues. Studies conducted in Afghanistan have likened unplanned settlements to slums and revealed that the slum rate is as high as ۸۶% of the entire urban housing stock. To verify this analogy and such figures, this research selected six unplanned areas in the City of Herat, three of which are developed regularly while the others are completely irregular. Statistical data collected from two sources were used to study the cases by five slum indicators; inaccessible improved water and sanitation, inadequate space, and undurable dwelling and insecurity of tenure. The results show that both types of settlements do not meet the first four indicators of slum. Therefore, these settlements provide adequate housing in terms of access to improved water and sanitation, adequate space, and durable dwellings. Moreover, the perceptive security of tenure against eviction is also strongly evident. Consequently, this paper shows that there is no resemblance between slums and unplanned settlements, and the statistics provided by various institutions on the extent of the slums in Herat may not be reliable. Additionally, the research demonstrates that regular and irregular settlements are not significantly different from each other, contrary to popular belief.

Slum, informal settlement, unplanned settlement, Herat, Afghanistan