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Slum in Mumbai, India. 60% of the population of Mumbai live in slums, which cover only 6% of the city's land. Slum growth rate in Mumbai is greater than the general urban growth rate.
Slum in Mumbai, India. Mumbai ( Marathi:,, IPA: formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country 60% of the population of Mumbai live in slums, which cover only 6% of the city's land. Mumbai ( Marathi:,, IPA: formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial [1] Slum growth rate in Mumbai is greater than the general urban growth rate. [2]

A slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security The United Nations Human Settlements Programme ( UN&ndashHABITAT) is the United Nations agency for human settlements

The term has traditionally referred to housing areas that were once respectable but which deteriorated as the original dwellers moved on to newer and better parts of the city, but has come to include the vast informal settlements found in cities in the developing world. Shanty towns (also called Squatter camps or Favelas are settlements (sometimes illegal or unauthorized of impoverished people who live in improvised [3]

Many shack dwellers vigorously oppose the description of their communities as 'slums' arguing that this results in them being pathologised and then, often, subject to threats of evictions. [4] Many academics have vigorously criticized UN-Habitat and the World Bank arguing that their 'Cities Without Slums' Campaign has led directly to a massive increase in forced evictions. The World Bank is an internationally supported Bank that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries for development programs (e [5]

Although their characteristics vary between geographic regions, they are usually inhabited by the very poor or socially disadvantaged. Slum buildings vary from simple shacks to permanent and well-maintained structures. Most slums lack clean water, electricity, sanitation and other basic services [6]

Contents

Etymology

Suburban slums in Cairo
Suburban slums in Cairo

"Slum" was originally used mainly in the phrase "back slum," meaning a back room and later "back alley," [7]. Cairo () which means "the Vanquisher" or "the Triumphant" is the capital and largest city of Egypt. The Oxford English Dictionary says it may be a "cant" word of Roma (Gypsy) origin. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English The Romani people (singular Rom, plural Roma as a Noun; also known as Romanies or Roma people) are an ethnic group with origins The etymologist Eric Partridge says flatly that it is "of unknown origin. Eric Honeywood Partridge ( February 6, 1894 – June 1, 1979) was a noted New Zealand / British lexicographer of " [8]

Other terms that are often used interchangeably with "slum" include shanty town, favela, skid row, barrio, ghetto, and "The Hood," although each of these has somewhat different meaning. Shanty towns (also called Squatter camps or Favelas are settlements (sometimes illegal or unauthorized of impoverished people who live in improvised Favela (Portuguese and Spanish for slum) is a specifically Brazilian word for a Shanty town. A skid row or skid road is a run-down or dilapidated urban area with a large population of impoverished abusers of Alcohol and often other Drugs Barrio is a Spanish word meaning District or Neighborhood. The Word has come into use in English mostly through the large A ghetto is described as a "portion of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social legal or economic pressure Slums are distinguished from shanty towns and favelas in that the latter initially are low-class settlements, whereas slums are generally constructed early on as respectable, often prestigious communities. Skid row refers to an urban area with a high homeless population. A skid row or skid road is a run-down or dilapidated urban area with a large population of impoverished abusers of Alcohol and often other Drugs Homelessness is the condition and social category of people who lack housing because they cannot afford or are otherwise unable to maintain regular safe and adequate shelter The term is most commonly used on the west coast of the United States. Barrio may refer to an upper-class area in some Spanish-speaking countries, and only is used to describe a low-class community in the United States. Barrio is a Spanish word meaning District or Neighborhood. The Word has come into use in English mostly through the large Ghetto refers to a neighbourhood based on shared ethnicity. A ghetto is described as a "portion of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social legal or economic pressure By contrast, identification of an area as a slum is based solely on socio-economic criteria, not on racial, ethnic, or religious criteria. The term "The Hood" specifically refers to slums with a high African-American population. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa

Characteristics

Panoramic view of the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya
Panoramic view of the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya

The characteristics associated with slums vary from place to place. Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya is the second largest Slum in Africa, the largest being Soweto in South Africa, and has a population Nairobi (naɪˈroʊbɪ is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south Slums are usually characterized by urban decay, high rates of poverty, and unemployment. Urban decay is a process by which a City, or a part of a city falls into a state of disrepair Poverty (also called penury) is deprivation of common necessities that determine the quality of life including food clothing shelter and safe Drinking water, and Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work but the person is without work. They are commonly seen as "breeding grounds" for social problems such as crime, drug addiction, alcoholism, high rates of mental illness, and suicide. 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 Drug addiction is widely considered a pathological state. The disorder of addiction involves the progression of acute Drug use to the development of drug-seeking Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions Mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or disability that is not expected as In many poor countries they exhibit high rates of disease due to unsanitary conditions, malnutrition, and lack of basic health care. A disease is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions and can be deadly A UN Expert Group has created an operational definition of a slum as an area that combines to various extents the following characteristics: inadequate access to safe water; inadequate access to sanitation and other infrastructure; poor structural quality of housing; overcrowding; and insecure residential status. [9] To these one might add the low socioeconomic status of its residents[10].

In many slums, especially in poor countries, many live in very narrow alleys that do not allow vehicles (like ambulances and fire trucks) to pass. An ambulance is a Vehicle for transporting sick or injured people to from or between places of treatment for an Illness or Injury. Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous Fires that threaten civilian populations and property to rescue people from car accidents collapsed The lack of services such as routine garbage collection allows rubbish to accumulate in huge quantities. WASTE is a Peer-to-peer and Friend-to-friend protocol and software application developed by Justin Frankel at Nullsoft in 2003 that features The lack of infrastructure is caused by the informal nature of settlement and no planning for the poor by government officials. Additionally, informal settlements often face the brunt of natural and man-made disasters, such as landslides, as well as earthquakes and tropical storms. Many slum dwellers employ themselves in the informal economy. In Economics, the term informal economy (or second economy in the South African context refers to all economic activities that fall outside the formal This can include street vending, drug dealing, domestic work, and prostitution. In some slums people even recycle trash of different kinds (from household garbage to electronics) for a living - selling either the odd usable goods or stripping broken goods for parts or raw materials.

Growth and countermeasures

Some of the largest slums in the world, sorted by population
Some of the largest slums in the world, sorted by population

Recent years have seen a dramatic growth in the number of slums as urban populations have increased in the Third World. Third World is a name given to nations that are generally considered to be underdeveloped economically According to a 2006 UN-HABITAT report, 327 million people live in slums in Commonwealth countries - almost one in six Commonwealth citizens. The United Nations Human Settlements Programme ( UN&ndashHABITAT) is the United Nations agency for human settlements In a quarter of Commonwealth countries (11 African, 2 Asian and 1 Pacific), more than two out of three urban dwellers live in slums and many of these countries are urbanising rapidly. [11]

Many governments around the world have attempted to solve the problems of slums by clearing away old decrepit housing and replacing it with modern housing with much better sanitation. The displacement of slums is aided by the fact that many are squatter settlements whose property rights are not recognized by the state. This process is especially common in the Third World. Slum clearance often takes the form of eminent domain and urban renewal projects, and often the former residents are not welcome in the renewed housing. Eminent domain ( United States) compulsory purchase ( United Kingdom, New Zealand, Ireland) resumption/compulsory acquisition Urban Renewal (similar to Urban Regeneration in British English) is a controversial U Moreover new projects are often on the semi-rural peripheries of cities far from opportunities for generating livlihoods as well as schools, clinics etc. At times this has resulted in large movements of inner city slum dwellers militantly opposing relocation to formal housing on the outskirts of cities. See, for example, Abahlali baseMjondolo in Durban, South Africa. 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. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa

In some countries, leaders have addressed this situation by rescuing rural property rights to support traditional sustainable agriculture, however this solution has met with open hostility from capitalists and corporations. It also tends to be relatively unpopular with the slum communities themselves, as it involves moving out of the city back into the countryside, a reverse of the rural-urban migration that originally brought many of them into the city.

Critics argue that slum clearances tend to ignore the social problems that cause slums and simply redistribute poverty to less valuable real estate. Where communities have been moved out of slum areas to newer housing, social cohesion may be lost. If the original community is moved back into newer housing after it has been built in the same location, residents of the new housing face the same problems of poverty and powerlessness. There is a growing movement to demand a global ban of 'slum clearance programmes' and other forms of mass evictions. [12]

References

  1. ^ Living in Bombay's slums
  2. ^ Slums
  3. ^ UN-HABITAT 2007 Press Release on its report, "The Challenge of Slums: Global Report on Human Settlements 2003".
  4. ^ See, for instance, the press release from Abahlali baseMjondolo on the Slums Act in South Africa
  5. ^ For instance see the work of Marie Huchzermeyer
  6. ^ UN-HABITAT 2007 Press Release on its report, "The Challenge of Slums: Global Report on Human Settlements 2003". Abahlali baseMjondolo is a popular entirely non-professionalized and democratic mass movement of Shack dwellers and other poor people in South Africa.
  7. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary
  8. ^ Eric Partridge: Origins, 633
  9. ^ UN-HABITAT 2007 Press Release on its report, "The Challenge of Slums: Global Report on Human Settlements 2003".
  10. ^ Measure Evaluation / NIPORT (2006) Slums of urban Bangladesh: mapping and census, 2005. Centre for Urban Studies / Measure Evaluation / National Institute of Population Research and Training. Accessed 9 June 2007 [1]
  11. ^ Comhabitat: Briefing paper produced for the Commonwealth Civil Society Consultation, Marlborough House, London, Wednesday, 15 November 2006
  12. ^ See Robert Neuwirth's article 'Squatters and the Cities of Tomorrow'

See also

Literature

Pop-Culture

External links


Dictionary

slum

-noun

  1. A dilapidated neighborhood where many people live in a state of poverty.

-verb

  1. To visit a neighborhood of a status below one's own.
  2. To associate with people or engage in activities with a status below one's own.
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