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URBAN HISTORY ESSAY #3

‘I’D RATHER LIVE IN A SLUM’: THE PROS AND CONS OF SLUM LIVING

In a world driven by progress and development, one of the starkest portrayals

of inequality is the third of the world’s population who live in slums (Ooi & Phua

2007). Drawn in by economic prospects, the poor converge on the city both by

choice and necessity, perpetuating the phenomenon known as the urbanization of

poverty (Quirk 2007). Slums are informal inner-city settlements, which are

constructed and inhabited by these immigrants (Davis 2006). They are

characterized by overcrowding, squalor and inadequate infrastructure and

services (Davis 2006); yet despite the destitute environment, it is estimated that

the global slum population will continue to increase by 25 million a year

(OCHA/IRIN & UN-HABITAT 2007). For the new urban poor, ‘I’d rather live in a slum’

is a likely proclamation as traditional rural livelihoods are threatened (Lloyd 1979)

and cities become “magnets of hope and opportunity” (OCHA/IRIN & UN-HABITAT

2007, pp.108). This essay will examine the prevalence of slums in this rapidly

urbanising era. It will analyse the conditions of marginalisation and the less

discussed, positives, experienced by these slum dwellers, and suggest how

governments should react to their growing presence in cities.

Slums are formed as a result of a city’s incapacity to absorb the influx of

immigrants (Ooi & Phua 2007); and their proliferation into sprawling slum

settlements is resultant of continual ill-response by governments that are

“unequipped physically, fiscally, politically and administratively” (Ooi & Phua 2007,

pp.31) to tackle the drastic growth in urban population. New immigrants arrive

with little financial resources, leaving them vulnerable to the capitalist forces of

the city. With limited supply of affordable housing in cities, they are driven to

illegal means of residence (Lloyd 1979). Often, this leads to unauthorized

construction of housing on marginal lands (Davis 2006). Rather than addressing

the shortfall of housing, governments react by aggressively clearing slum

settlements. This serves only to displace its inhabitants temporarily.

Misconception and consequently, mistreatment of slums abound as governments

wilfully forsake strategic planning and research into slum alleviation. Instead,

they continue investing in the rich and cultivating the city’s ironic image of

progress (Ooi & Phua 2007).

Slums are therefore “invisible [cities]” (UN-HABITAT 2003, pp.6), blank voids on

city maps that are denied recognition and adequate services. Apathy and

ignorance of slum and city dynamics effectively disengages the government from

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its responsibilities to provide for the urban poor. Considered temporary blights,

most governments believe that extending urban infrastructure systems into slums

will only legitimise their existence and encourage permanent settlement

(OCHA/IRIN & UN-HABITAT 2007). Thus, many slums lack basic necessities like a

potable water supply, piped sewage system and disposal services (UN-HABITAT

2003). Without access to essential infrastructure, slum environments are not

maintained or managed, allowing rubbish and excretions to accumulate. High

population concentrations and poor sanitation conspire to create conditions ripe

for disease and potential epidemics. Slum dwellers must endure the unhealthy,

marginalized environment that descends daily into further decay.

The illegal nature of slum settlements means that residents are burdened with

an overwhelming sense of uncertainty and insecurity. It is estimated that 30 to 50

percent of the developing world’s urban population do not have legal ownership

of their property (OCHA/IRIN & UN-HABITAT 2007). Not only are they faced with

exploitation from opportunistic ‘landlords’ and the destruction of their homes by

government officials (Lloyd 1979); without appropriate rights, what meagre assets

the slum dwellers have are left unprotected and uninsured (Davis 2006). Without

legal precedence, what losses they suffer go unheard, as slum dwellers have no

formal representation in the city (Ooi & Phua 2007). The difficulty of leaving the

slums and improving their living conditions is compounded by this discrimination.

They remain excluded from economic services that require collateral (Lloyd 1979),

and ultimately, these obstacles prevent the slum dweller from rising above the

cycle of poverty.

An additional cause for insecurity is the location of the slums themselves,

which are often on lands deemed unfit for development. Desperate slum dwellers

occupy these environmentally degraded and dangerous, toxic wastelands, risking

their health and safety for shelter and urban proximity (Davis 2006). High density

and unregulated construction are major contributing factors to the vulnerability

of slums to natural disasters. For example, slum dwellers in Dhaka, Bangladesh

are especially impacted by flooding, a seasonal occurrence that contaminates

their water supply, destroys housing and disrupts their livelihoods (OCHA/IRIN &

UN-HABITAT 2007). The unmonitored and unregulated erection of slum dwellings

on high-risk floodplains leave dwellers exposed to the harsh climatic events

prevalent in Bangladesh.

While the degrading realities of slum life are grim, many persist in slum

habitation for multiple reasons. The slum is borne from the interdependent

relationship between the city and the urban poor (Lloyd 1979). The poor rely on

the city for income, whilst the city relies on them to do the menial jobs urbanites

shun. These jobs are usually the dirty, dangerous and often, demeaning jobs

essential for city maintenance. Despite the job description, the monetary benefits

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of their new urban livelihoods are substantial, for example, 66 percent of city

migrants in Brazil were noted to receive greater incomes in an urban

environment (Quirk 2007). The proximity of the city allows inhabitants to benefit

from urban employment opportunities, free from the limitations of the rural

domain.

Financial gains are not the only benefits of slum life. In many developed

countries, the middle and upper-class experience increasing social isolation in

their auto-centric suburbs. In contrast, slums foster a tight-knit community

amongst its dwellers (Lloyd 1979). Pieced together by its inhabitants, the organic

development of slums grew not from the implementation of controlled planning

measures, but local collaboration. The densely constructed environments are thus

consciously aware of the human desire for social activity and interaction. The

narrow corridors restrict transportation to slow modes, such as walking and

cycling, allowing slum dwellers to create a network of acquaintances that

gradually evolve into relationships (Gehl 2006). They identify with their

surroundings, develop a local familiarity to the area and as such, create an

attachment and sense of belonging (Fried & Gleicher 1961). Despite assumptions,

slums do not have a transient population, but rather a stable one that is able to

nurture and cultivate these networks within the slum community (Lloyd 1979).

The prevalence of community bonds supports the development of informal

economic activity that often arises from slum environments. It is the “rich,

informal social life” (Eckstein 1990, pp.7) in those environments that encourage

inhabitants to demonstrate their creativity, resourcefulness and entrepreneurial

vigour (Eckstein 1990). Jane Jacobs’ experience in the North End neighbourhood in

Boston is exemplary of how the relationships between slum inhabitants can

contribute to the positive development of an environment. Having been refused

loans for rehabilitation work, the community consolidated their resources and

through combined efforts, transformed North End into a beautiful and healthy

neighbourhood with a vibrant street culture (Jacobs 1961). The social stigma of

slum dwellers as peoples entrapped in the “culture of poverty” (Lloyd 1979, pp.57)

is largely unfounded. They are not typified by passivity or defeatist attitudes

(Lloyd 1979). Instead, slums enable the entrepreneurial urban poor to establish

and capitalise on local economic opportunities and create bustling informal

economies that often benefit the wider city as well (Eckstein 1990).

In recent years, slum community movements have risen to prominence.

Grassroots action in slums like Dharavi in Mumbai, or the Orangi Pilot Project in

Pakistan, demonstrates the power of strong community synergy and how it can

perpetuate change. Refusal of the government to recognize slums and persistence

in traditional top-down methods of slum clearance reflects ignorance of these

advancements in slum representation. The marginalisation faced by slum dwellers

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is largely the result of discrimination, poor governance and the misallocation of

resources; However, the self-driven empowerment of slum communities and their

entrepreneurial mindset makes evident that the urban poor should no longer be

viewed as an “impediment to progress” (OCHA/IRIN & UN-HABITAT 2007, pp.11) but

potential contributors to a forward-moving city. According to the United Nations,

“no country has grown rich before its people shifted to cities” (Quirk 2007). Great

cities of today arose from similar problems of urbanisation centuries ago

(OCHA/IRIN & UN-HABITAT 2007, pp.10). Governments should acknowledge that if

history informs the future, slums are but the beginning of a richer urban

environment for their cities.

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LIST OF REFERENCES

Davis, M., 2006. Planet of Slums, Verso, New York.

Fried, M. & Gleicher, P. 1961. ‘Some Sources of Residential Satisfaction in an

Urban Slum’, Journal of the American Planning Association, vol.27, no.4, pp.305-

315

Gehl, J 2006. excerpt from Life Between Buildings: using public spaces, Danish

Architectural Press, Copenhagen, pp.9-38

Jacobs, J. 1961. The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Vintage Books, New

York.

Lloyd, P., 1979. Slums of Hope? Shanty Towns of the Third World, Penguin Books

Ltd, Manchester University Press, Manchester.

OCHA/IRIN & UN-HABITAT., 2007. Tomorrow’s crises today, Progress Press Co.

Ltd, Malta.

Ooi, G.L. & Phua, K.H., 2007, ‘Urbanization and Slum Formation’, Journal of

Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, Vol. 84, No.1,

pp.27-33

Quirk, M., 2007. ‘Bright Lights, Big Cities’, Atlantic Monthly, December, pp.32-33.

UN-HABITAT., 2003, Slums of the World: The face of urban poverty in the new

millennium?, Habitat Publications, Nairobi.