The CASE studies (Community Agency for Social Enquiry) contained in the collection were commissioned by Carien Engelbrecht during her time at the Gauteng Department of Housing and Land Affairs, to track the impact of land release and informal settlement activities. From a policy point of view, the purpose of the CASE study was to show that proactive, positive engagement with land hunger and informal settlement formation was far more effective from an economic and social development perspective than doing nothing. The study tracked the changes over time. The conclusions of the study speak for themselves, as the provision of security of tenure within "official" land release and informal settlement programmes led to rapid economic and social change that was not matched in "illegal" sites. This perspective strongly informed subsequent work in the Department. The Final Report on the Alexandra Renewal Programme (see B9) was compiled by Carien Engelbrecht on her leaving the Department, after she pointed out issues of corruption.