This reworked book focuses on the transformation of informal settlements into official low-cost formal settlements in the Western Cape, using a participatory approach. The provided conceptualisation of the "informal settlement" unpacks the realities of an underdeveloped settlement, which is far from the main activities of the city or town; where the dwellers are vulnerable to social and economic challenges with no access to basic services. Apart from the upgrading issues, the authors critically analyse a contested discourse on poverty and housing issues that is contextualised in a socio-economic dimension. However, these authors have employed the Western Cape setting that has a historical legacy of inequalities with limited success in providing a bright future and opportunities for the previously disadvantaged group.