One billion people claim leftover spaces in cities or live in unauthorized dwellings called informal settlements. With these settlements increasing rapidly, that number will double in twenty years. On a global scale, informal settlements are a significant problem especially in third world countries which house most of the world's disadvantaged. Thus, the improvement of living conditions, education, clean water, and housing within informal settlements are the most pressing challenges facing today’s modern world. I am of the notion that responsible architecture is a major avenue for making a difference within these settlements, and I am determined to be a part of that change.

          With this scholarship, I propose comparatively studying informal settlements in South Africa and India for two months in an effort to understand their social degradation and the role of architecture and environmental design in bettering these conditions. I intend to begin my studies with a four week study in South Africa. Due to the expeditious growth of Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg, 7.17 million people have been pushed out of the cities and live in informal settlements. I will use these settlements to photographically document South Africa’s urban poor, their way of life and sense of community, their infrastructure or lack thereof, and their need for a healthier environment.

          While South Africa’s poor have been overcome by a major influx of people, the informal settlements of India were formed as a result of the rigorous Hindu caste system. Consequently, the poor of India are believed to have lived a shameful former life and are thus deserving of their inhumane place within society. I have made contact with various government officials in Bengaluru, India and will focus on understanding their political system of community and the Hindu caste system that controls most India. Accordingly, I will research the environmental and architectural needs in these informal settlements in comparison with the findings in South Africa.

          I am responsive to the notion that “…poverty is unnatural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.”  (Nelson Mandela) Furthermore, I am convinced that architecture has a strong place in changing the situations of the world because it offers the ability to build safer water systems, design stronger and sustainable homes, and contrive better communities. “Perhaps a time when architects stand to make the greatest contribution to relief-architecture is during the course of their education… which can help challenge and define both students’ and educators’ notions of architecture as a form of community service.” (Janz)