A slum as defined by UN-Habitat’s, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing, squalor, and lacking in tenure security. And that has one or more of the following five characteristics (UN-Habitat, 2002c:12).

 Poor structural quality of housing
 Overcrowding
 Inadequate access to safe water
 Inadequate access to sanitation and other infrastructure

 Insecure residential status

In rising population of the world, since 1990, the number of people living in slums has increased

every year. According to the UN, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 32 percent to 46 percent in the developing world between 1990 and 2010 (UN-Habitat, 2010:62).

Xalapa is the capital city of the Veracruz state in Mexico. As of 2005, the urban population of Xalapa was 413,136 including illegal settlements in the city’s periphery that lack many basic services such as electricity, water and drainage, among others (INEGI 2005; COPLADEVer).

There are many different kinds of slums and informal settlements, with different histories and process of land occupation and settlement consolidation.

The purpose of Living Environment Innovation (LEI) project in Xalapa is to investigate understanding of urban fabric and urban context intended to improve the living conditions in low-income settlements and encourage sustainable urban development.