Slum

For other uses, see Slum (disambiguation).

Slums in various countries
Nairobi, Kenya
Bucharest, Romania
Jakarta, Indonesia
Johannesburg, South Africa
Cairo, Egypt
Shanghai, China
Mumbai, India
Little Mexico Colonia, Texas, United States
Caracas, Venezuela
Share of urban population living in slums (2018)

A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inhabited by impoverished people.[1] Although slums are usually located in urban areas, in some countries they can be located in suburban areas where housing quality is low and living conditions are poor.[2] While slums differ in size and other characteristics, most lack reliable sanitation services, supply of clean water, reliable electricity, law enforcement, and other basic services. Slum residences vary from shanty houses to professionally built dwellings which, because of poor-quality construction or lack of basic maintenance, have deteriorated.[3]

Due to increasing urbanization of the general populace, slums became common in the 19th to late 20th centuries in the United States and Europe.[4][page needed][5] Slums are still predominantly found in urban regions of developing countries, but are also still found in developed economies.[6][7] The world's largest slum city is found in Orangi in Karachi, Pakistan.[8][page needed][9][10]

Slums form and grow in different parts of the world for many different reasons. Causes include rapid rural-to-urban migration, economic stagnation and depression, high unemployment, poverty, informal economy, forced or manipulated ghettoization, poor planning, politics, natural disasters, and social conflicts.[1][11][page needed][12] Strategies tried to reduce and transform slums in different countries, with varying degrees of success, include a combination of slum removal, slum relocation, slum upgrading, urban planning with citywide infrastructure development, and public housing.[13][14]

The UN defines slums as[15]

.... individuals living under the same roof lacking one or more of the following conditions: access to improved water, access to improved sanitation, sufficient living area, housing durability, and security of tenure

  1. ^ a b "What are slums and why do they exist?" Archived 2011-02-06 at the Wayback Machine UN-Habitat, Kenya (April 2007)
  2. ^ Caves, R. W. (2004). Encyclopedia of the City. Routledge. p. 601. ISBN 9780415252256.
  3. ^ UN-Habitat 2007 Press Release Archived 2011-02-06 at the Wayback Machine on its report, "The Challenge of Slums: Global Report on Human Settlements 2003".
  4. ^ Lawrence Vale (2007), From the Puritans to the Projects: Public Housing and Public Neighbors, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0674025752
  5. ^ Ashton, J R (2006). "Back to back housing, courts, and privies: the slums of 19th century England". Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. 60 (8): 654. PMC 2588079.
  6. ^ "Slums: Past, Present and Future" United Nations Habitat (2007)
  7. ^ "The challenge of slums – Global report on Human Settlements", United Nations Habitat (2003)
  8. ^ Mike Davis, Planet of Slums [« Le pire des mondes possibles : de l'explosion urbaine au bidonville global »], La Découverte, Paris, 2006 (ISBN 978-2-7071-4915-2)
  9. ^ Daniel Tovrov (December 9, 2011). "5 Biggest Slums in the World". Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine, International Business Times.
  10. ^ Craig Glenday, editor. Guinness World Records. 2013. Bantam. ISBN 978-0-345-54711-8. Page 277.
  11. ^ Patton, C. (1988). Spontaneous shelter: International perspectives and prospects. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference grhs2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference unh2007a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Mona Serageldin, Elda Solloso, and Luis Valenzuela (March 2006). "Local Government Actions to Reduce Poverty and Achieve The Millennium Development Goals" Archived 2019-10-22 at the Wayback Machine. Global Urban Development Magazine, Vol 2, Issue 1.
  15. ^ "Population living in slums". United Nations. Retrieved May 15, 2022.