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Informal settlements have been part of the South African landscape as far back as the late 1800s. However, in the post-apartheid era, they have increasingly come under the spot light as a media concern. Housing shortages, service delivery, political tension, violence and crime, poverty and the high environmental and health risks are just some of what these settlements have to face. The problem is growing in many urban centres as inmigration continues and exacerbates the problems. In the case of Cape Town (main study context), an estimated 48 000 people are migrating into the City annually (CCC, 2004). Last year alone (2003) the City of Cape Town had a backlog of 240 000 houses (DiMP, 2004) and this year it has increased to 302 000 (CCC, 2004). Besides the huge backlog which the city faces, these areas have become the environments for accumulating disaster risk which result in repeat events that destroy the existing infrastructure and leave many people destitute and homeless. The causes for these disaster occurrences are very under researched and understanding of the complexity is just starting. The data collected shows a 120% increase in fire incidents in the last four years, as well as the fact that the frequencies of small events and the severity of disaster events are increasing disproportionately to the intensity of the hazard (MANDISA, 2004). This fact alone forms the basis of this study which investigation the relationship between settlement density and densification and the increasing patterns of fire severity over time. For this purpose two settlements, namely Imizamo Yethu (Hout Bay) and Joe Slovo (Cape Town Metropol) have been chosen. Upgrading the infrastructure has, up until recently, been how many local authorities have dealt with informal settlements. They have started realising that the structural upgrading method used to counter the vulnerability of the community only partly solves the problem of fires. Weak community unity, limited awareness of risk, inappropriate behaviour, and irresponsible tenancy by landlords need to be addressed in parallel with structural upgrades (DiMP, 2004). GIS is the main tool used in this study to examine the relationship between dwelling density and informal settlement fires. Its main functionality revolves around analysing certain environments spatially and representing structural factors, however does not currently include non-structural mapping tools. This study will show that the socio-political and economic dynamics in informal settlements, which play an important role in the fire severity and community risk, also needs to be included when undertaking any comprehensive disaster risk assessment. The challenge posed by the complex nature of risk in informal settlements in the South African urban landscape, underlines the need for a holistic and integrated approach to GIS and Disaster Management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]