Slums

The definition of slums: overcrowding, poor or informal housing, inadequate access to safe water and sanitation, and insecurity of tenure. We do not have the exact numbers of the inhabitants of the slums. Slum populations are often deliberately undercounted according to “Planet of the slums”. The classic slums where in inner parts of the city The new slums are more typically located on the edge of urban spatial explosions. The slums creating the answer to the developed worlds suburban sprawls.

The urbanization of earth is going rapidly faster than first predicted. The country sides has reached its maximum population and its population will start to shrink after 2020. As a result all future world population growth will take place in the cities. Ninety-five per cent of this population growth will occur in the urban areas of the third world. There is little or no planning to accommodate these people or provide them with services.

I enjoyed the Mike Davies reading and that it is well founded in statistics. But after going through all of the readings for this week it ended up being a lot of numbers and lists.

From the “Habitat Debate” we learn that the primary direction of both national and international interventions during the last twenty years has actually increased urban poverty and slums, increased exclusion and inequality, and weakened urban elites in their efforts to use cities as engines of growth.

According to the “Six Misconceptions about Squatter Settlements” reading squatters are generally quite well organized. Culturally they are highly optimistic and aspire to better education for their children and to improving the condition of their houses. It almost sounds like a well working society. One of the main problems might be the western world labeling the “slums” as slums, which could lead to an enhancement of the segregation.