What this lesson teaches
I can explain why slums develop and evaluate the strategies that improve them.
Syllabus 8834, Topic 1.1, 2. Sustainable Cities. Why is effective slum management important for progress towards sustainable urban development?
Make a guess
Thousands of families live in crowded shacks right next to a wealthy business district. Why do they stay?
- Housing near the jobs is too expensive.
- The shacks are temporary and will vanish soon.
- They prefer to live without water.
- Nearby wealth reaches them through jobs.
Show the answer
Housing near the jobs is too expensive.
People settle near work, but high land costs and little affordable housing leave them few choices except unserviced or risky land.
Slums form when people cannot get adequate housing and services, and different deprivations make each other worse.
Deprivation means lacking resources or opportunities needed for a basic standard of living. A slum household lacks one or more of these: clean water, sanitation, enough living space, a durable home, or tenure security. Tenure security means protection against being evicted unfairly. The label describes conditions, not the people.
In fast-growing, poorer cities, affordable housing and serviced land cannot keep up with new households and migrants. Low or unstable incomes, expensive land and few loans leave people with few choices near work. Settling on unserviced or risky land may be their only option.
Housing deprivation also happens in richer cities, where rents rise faster than wages or cheap housing is scarce. Crowded or insecure homes do not always look like slums.
Deprivations reinforce each other. Poor sanitation causes illness, which cuts income and schooling. Insecure tenure discourages repairs. Hazards can wipe out savings again and again. But residents also run businesses and support networks, and improvements should build on these.
- Deprivation
- Lacking what is needed for a basic standard of living.
- Slum
- Lacks water, sanitation, space, durable housing or tenure security.
- Tenure security
- Protection against unfair eviction.
Step by step
Find the housing gap
Water, sanitation, space, durability or tenure?
Explain why it lasts
Income, land, housing supply, loans or planning.
Link the effects
Show how one lack worsens another.
Real examples to use
Dharavi, Mumbai
One of Asia's largest informal settlements, home to around a million people. It has crowded housing and poor sanitation, but also thousands of small businesses.
Canada Real, Madrid, Spain
Slums exist in rich countries too. About 15 km from central Madrid, more than 8,000 people live in an informal settlement of self-built homes. In October 2020 its unofficial electricity supply was cut, and thousands of people, including many children, lived without power for years.
Worked example: Living close to work
A made-up family rents a crowded room near casual jobs. A cheaper home far away would cost more to travel from and risk their jobs. Housing policy must consider location and income, not just building quality.
Watch out for this
Clearing poor buildings removes the causes of slums.
Without affordable homes and secure rights, families may just be moved or rebuild elsewhere.
Check your understanding
Why can slum conditions last right next to a wealthy business district?
- Everyone nearby must earn the district's average income.
- Poor families face high land costs and little affordable housing.
- Residents prefer the shacks to new flats offered nearby.
Show the answer
Poor families face high land costs and little affordable housing.
Yes. Nearby wealth does not make housing affordable.