An imijondolo, or Shanty town, in Soweto, South Africa. Soweto is an urban area in the City of Johannesburg, in Gauteng, South Africa. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa

A shanty town in Manila, Philippines. The City of Manila The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP

Joe Slovo shanty town in Langa on the Cape Flats simmers after a fire (Cape Town, South Africa)

Shanty town near Tijuana, Mexico. The Cape Flats ( Afrikaans: Die Kaapse Vlakte) is an expansive low-lying flat Area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Cape Town (Kaapstad Xhosa: Ikapa) is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Tijuana (ˌtiːəˈwɑːnə Spanish, ti'xwana|ti'ʍana is the largest city of the Mexican state of Baja California, situated on the U The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America.

Cite Soleil, Haiti, 2002

The police crush a demonstration by the South African Shackdwellers' Movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, 28 September 2007

Shanty towns (also called squatter camps or favelas) are settlements (sometimes illegal or unauthorized) of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap plywood, corrugated metal, and sheets of plastic. ---- Cité Soleil ( Kreyol: Site Soley, or Sun City in English is a very densely populated Shanty town located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Haiti ( English: ˈheɪ·tiː or haɪ·ˈjiː·tiː French Haïti a·i·ti Haitian Creole: Events 48 BC - Pompey the Great is assassinated on orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Squatting is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or Building that the squatter does not own rent or otherwise have permission to use Favela (Portuguese and Spanish for slum) is a specifically Brazilian word for a Shanty town. Poverty (also called penury) is deprivation of common necessities that determine the quality of life including food clothing shelter and safe Drinking water, and Plywood is a type of Engineered board made from thin sheets of Wood, called plies or veneers Corrugated galvanised iron (colloquially corrugated iron, commonly abbreviated CGI is a Building material composed of sheets of hot-dip galvanised Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products Shanty towns, which are usually built on the periphery of cities, often do not have proper sanitation, electricity, or telephone services. Sanitation is the hygienic means of preventing human contact from the hazards of wastes to promote health Electric power is defined as the rate at which Electrical energy is transferred by an Electric circuit. Basic principle A traditional landline telephone system also known as "plain old telephone service" (POTS, commonly handles both signaling and audio information

Shanty towns are mostly found in developing nations, or partially developed nations with an unequal distribution of wealth. Economic inequality refers to disparities in the distribution of Economic Assets and Income. In extreme cases, shanty towns have populations approaching that of a city.

Origins

Shanty towns tend to develop on the outskirts of cities. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, shanty towns, often called "Hobo jungles,", "favelas" or "Georgie Slums" appeared in cities across North America because of massive unemployment. Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work but the person is without work. Some were nicknamed "Hoovervilles" because the residents blamed the economic conditions on then President Herbert Hoover, whose decisions were popularly thought to have caused the depression. A Hooverville was the popular name for a Shanty town built by homeless men in the depression years Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10 1874 &ndash October 20 1964 was the thirty-first President of the United States (1929–1933 In Economics, a depression is a term commonly used for a sustained downturn in one or more national economies Similarly in Canada, hobo jungles were dubbed "Bennettville" after Prime Minister Bennett. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Richard Bedford Bennett 1st Viscount Bennett PC KC ( July 3, 1870 &ndash June 26, 1947) was a Canadian

The first recorded use of the word shanty, as meaning a crude dwelling, was in Ohio in 1820. Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads It may have been derived from the French Canadian word chantier, meaning hut in a lumber camp, from the French word for timberyard. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Alternatively, it could have been derived from the Irish sean tigh, meaning "old house" or from the Nahuatl word chantli "home". Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. Nahuatl ( is a group of related languages and dialects of the Aztecan or Nahuan branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family

Dangers

Shanty town residences are almost always built without a license. Since construction is informal and unguided by urban planning, there is a near total absence of formal street grids, numbered streets, sanitation networks, electricity, or telephones. The grid plan or gridiron plan is a type of City plan in which Streets run at right angles to each other forming a grid. Sanitation is the hygienic means of preventing human contact from the hazards of wastes to promote health Electric power is defined as the rate at which Electrical energy is transferred by an Electric circuit. Basic principle A traditional landline telephone system also known as "plain old telephone service" (POTS, commonly handles both signaling and audio information Even if these resources are present, they are likely to be disorganized, old or inferior. Shanty towns also tend to lack basic services present in more formally organized settlements, including policing, medical services, and fire fighting. Fires are a particular danger for shanty towns because of the close proximity of buildings and flammability of materials used in construction.

Shanty towns usually have high rates of crime, suicide, drug use, and disease. In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment Drugs can be used in many different ways as detailed below Medication See also Medication People can use drugs to relieve pain or discomfort or to cure A disease is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions and can be deadly On the other hand, observer Georg Gerster has noted (with specific reference to the invasões of Brasilia), "squatter settlements [as opposed to slums], despite their unattractive building materials, may also be places of hope, scenes of a counter-culture, with an encouraging potential for change and a strong upward impetus. George Gerster (born 30 April 1928 is a journalist and a pioneer aerial photographer Brasília (bɾaˈziliɐ is the Capital of Brazil. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country along a Plateau "^[1]

Examples

Shanty towns are present in a number of countries including South Africa (where they are often called squatter camps) or imijondolo, the Philippines (often called squatter areas), Argentina (where they are referred to as villas miseria), Venezuela (where they are known as barrios), Brazil (favelas), West Indies such as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago (Where they are known as shanty town), Peru (where they are known as pueblos jóvenes), and Haiti, where they are referred to as bidonvilles. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Squatting is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or Building that the squatter does not own rent or otherwise have permission to use The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. Vista Riachuelo desde Puente Boschjpg|thumb|240px| Villa miseria along the Riachuelo, on Buenos Aires' industrial southern edge Venezuela (ˌvɛnəˈzweɪlə) officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish República Bolivariana de Venezuela) is a country on the Barrio is a Spanish word meaning District or Neighborhood. The Word has come into use in English mostly through the large |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Favela (Portuguese and Spanish for slum) is a specifically Brazilian word for a Shanty town. The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting Jamaica (ˈdʒəˈmeɪkə} is an Island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ˈtrɪnɪdæd ən təˈbeɪgoʊ is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American Peru (Perú Piruw Piruw officially the Republic of Peru ( reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu is a country in western South America. Literally meaning "young towns" pueblos jóvenes is the nickname given to the vast Shanty towns that surround Lima and other cities of Peru Haiti ( English: ˈheɪ·tiː or haɪ·ˈjiː·tiː French Haïti a·i·ti Haitian Creole: Shanty towns (also called Squatter camps or Favelas are settlements (sometimes illegal or unauthorized of impoverished people who live in improvised

In many countries there are now large movements of shanty town residents which often face severe state repression. For example in South Africa Abahlali baseMjondolo have become a significant political force in the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg and in Brazil the Movement of Workers Without a Roof (MTST) is very strong. Abahlali baseMjondolo is a popular entirely non-professionalized and democratic mass movement of Shack dwellers and other poor people in South Africa. Durban (eThekwini is the third most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the EThekwini metropolitan municipality. Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second largest city of the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld

Many countries have a name for marginal settlements:

• Asentamientos (settlements) in Guatemala
• Bidonvilles in French-speaking countries
• Cantegriles in Uruguay
• Ciudades perdidas (lost cities) or Jacales in Mexico
• Colonias or Migrant camp along the Mexican-American border
• Favelas in Brazil
• Gecekondu in Turkey
• Katavlismos (campaments, referring to Roma settlements) in Greece
• Invasiones (invasions) in Ecuador and Colombia
• Khoshash in the Middle East
• Jhugi/Bustee/Zhopdi/Zhopadpatti in India
• Kachi abadi in Pakistan
• Kijiji in Kenya
• Mudduku in Sri Lanka
• Poblaciones Callampas (mushroom settlements), Poblas or Campamentos in Chile
• Chacarita in Paraguay
• Chabolas, rancheríos in Spain
• Pueblos jóvenes (young towns) or barriadas in Peru
• Ranchos or barrios in Venezuela
• Squatter camps or imijondolo in South Africa
• Villas miseria (poverty towns) or just Villas in Argentina
• Bairro de Lata in Portugal
• Lušnynai in Lithuania
• Barrio in Dominican Republic
• El Ghetto in Panama
• Precario or tugurrio in Costa Rica
• Setinggan or Rumah Kongsi in Malaysia (A local movie changed its name to 'Sting Garden', to the plot that a poor girl living in setinggans trying to attract a wealthy boy's heart)
• Kartonsko naselje (cardboard settlement) in Serbia

Korogocho (Kenya) see korogocho.org Australia

See also

• Ghetto
• Poverty
• Refugee shelter
• Slum
• Squatting
• Tent city
• Skid row

References

External links

• Slate article about an economist proposing New Orleans to be reconstructed with shanties
• Website for a large movement of shanty town residents in South Africa
• Extreme Rich-Poor divides on Deputy-dog.com
• Cities Alliance