Fit for purpose? Lessons from transitional shelter provision for internally displaced persons in urban informal settlements in Brazil Mirian Sayuri Vaccari and David Sanderson University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Martin Loosemore University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia, and Mohammad Mojitahedi University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges of transitional shelter provision for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in urban informal settlements. While there has been considerable research on postdisaster transitional shelters, less is known on shelters for IDPs in urban informal settlements. Design/methodology/approach – A case study is presented based on field research at the communities in Olaria and City in S~ ao Paulo, Brazil. Collection of data included personal communication with the dwellers, surveys and interviews with representatives from Techo, one of the few organizations that provide transitional shelters for IDPs. A review of documents regarding the construction, design and users’ adaptation of transitional shelter was also undertaken. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings – The study found that Techo’s program impacts positively on the nonphysical aspects of shelter, such as physical and mental health, security, household responsibilities and community participation. However, Techo’s transitional shelter for IDPs in urban informal settlements and most postdisaster transitional shelters share similar problems. These programs respond to the needs of a small proportion of the affected populations with shelters of minimum quality and low durability. Research limitations/implications – This paper is limited to a single case study of the NGO Techo and further case study research is recommended to further develop and validate the study results in other urban development contexts. Originality/value – This research contributes to describing and understanding the context and the provision of transitional shelters to IDPs in urban informal settlements and impacts in the community. With increasing numbers of IDPs settling in urban informal settlements in many parts of the world, this paper is valuable to policymakers, NGOs and researchers operating in this field to facilitate community development. Keywords Disaster, Slum, Urbanization, Internally displaced person, Favela, Transitional shelter, Urban informal settlement Paper type Case study 1. Introduction The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), defined as persons who have been forced to leave their homes because of armed conflict, violence, violations of human rights or disasters triggered by natural hazards, is on the increase (IDMC, 2020). In the Americas, Brazil is one of the most affected countries in the region, where floods and landslides triggered 295,000 new displacements. Other displacements were caused by slow-onset phenomena such as drought and coastal erosion as well as wildfires in the Amazon forest (IDMC, 2020). From 2000 to 2017, 7.7m people were forced to leave their homes in Brazil due to disasters triggered by natural hazards or due to development, such as the construction of the Lessons from transitional shelter in Brazil The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/0965-3562.htm Received 13 January 2020 Revised 28 May 2020 13 July 2020 Accepted 14 July 2020 Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal © Emerald Publishing Limited 0965-3562 DOI 10.1108/DPM-01-2020-0016