To deal with the pressing housing problem, the government has shifted its emphasis from building new brick and mortar houses toward in-situ upgrading of existing informal settlements and providing access to services.

CNN: High-tech shack brings solar power to slums

The labour of love of eccentric English aristocrat Sir Stewart Gore-Brown, it is approached down a long, tree-lined drive, flanked by farm buildings, settlements and workers houses, giving it the air of an old feudal domain.

BBC: Escaping modern life in Zambia��s north

On land, barely travelled roads link quiet settlements of thatched and whitewashed houses, moorland valleys and rocky mountains.

BBC: Bike touring Scotland, on road and off