What Are The Causes Of The Slums?

According to Newman (2008), housing of the poor has to allow for economic independence and self-care while providing a safe and adequate place to live. The debate about decent housing alone is sufficient to provide a healthier living environment has its roots in the late 1920s, when the unhealthy environment of the slums was associated with numerous social ills. The hands-on approach of the housing and social service agencies was

The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) define the characteristics of slum housing as nondurable drinking water, insufficient domestic space, lack of drinking water, lack of sanitation, and tenure security. Based on this definition provided by the MDG, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Cuba can be classified as countries that are on track with the reduction of slum housing, for example. On the other hand, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Paraguay are stabilizing. All other Latin American countries and Caribbean countries are at risk or off track (Smith 76). Although Brazil’s condition is stabilizing, there is still a heavy amount of improvement necessary before we can deny the significance of the issue. Sao Paulo is still plagued by the slum houses and the favelas and awareness needs to be constantly shed on this issue. There is still a lot of work to be done and solely because the conditions may seem to be “stabilizing,” it is still not safe to assume that Brazil will be alright. The housing conditions of Brazil need to be more than alright, they have to be more than satisfactory; the conditions need to reach high levels of success so that the cities and the citizens living within will

Presently, low-income occupiers are in deeper poverty because of the dislodgment caused by gentrification. Furthermore, a lack of resources plagues low-incomes families and forces them into shelters. Current actions taken by city officials are a step in the right direction. Nevertheless, by including more voices in urbanization of cities in the future, the advancement of cities can include all members rather than just the wealthy.

Although a rapid phenomenon, the process of gentrification initially starts at a slow pace. According to Biro (2007), “When low income houses are renovated they reach a higher quality and therefore are marketable to buyers who can afford to pay a premium for homes with better quality characteristics.”(p. 42) The individuals who cannot cope with the gentrification process due to

Demitress Ewers Mr. Vandyke English 103 04 February 2016 “Gentrification: Affecting the Poor” Imagine if you have built a life in a community for generations and big project developers push you out of the community. In today’s society, this would be labeled gentrification. Gentrification as a universal definition, pertains to the process of renewal and rebuilding, accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.

The author Mike Davis has done countless research on the topic of urban poverty. In his studies he collects and receives his information from other sources. Perhaps this is the reason why he has a negative view on slums. This is illustrated in his piece “Planet of Slums” as he discusses the politics, urban development, and methods within the slums population. According to Davis, slums and urban poverty have and will continue to significantly increase. While doing so, the gap in exclusion and inequality will grow. As a result, this will weaken urban elites in their work to utilize cities as engines of growth. Slums and slum population are classified as those who are living below the poverty lines, all while, being associated with overcrowding, having poor or informal housing, inadequate access to safe water and sanitation, and insecurity of tenure. This is being recognized as an international phenomenon. To emphasis this phenomenon, approximately half of the slum population in most

“Gentrification” captures class disparities and injustices created by capitalist urban land markets and policies. This in turn can cause an increasing house expense encumbrance for low-income and working-class households, and the associated personal catastrophes of displacement, removal, and homelessness, are symptoms of a set of institutional arrangements (private property rights and a free market) that support the creation of urban environments to serve the needs of capital accumulation at the expense of the social needs of home, community, family. Displacement from home and neighbourhood can be a shattering experience. At worst it leads to homelessness, at best it impairs a sense of community. Public policy should, by general agreement,

Increasing numbers of people beginning to migrate to cities to find work, instead of working in the

Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums, predicts the direction in which the world’s cities are headed, and how the changes in living conditions are only going to deteriorate if certain trends continue. The title of his book explains Davis’s vision for the future of cities as he feels there is enough evidence pointing towards an exponential rise in slum populations across the world’s largest cities. Additionally, he expresses his opinion on many issues regarding the rapid rise in developing cities’ slum populations, although he offers very one-sided arguments geared towards those who feel the current system is causing more problems rather than improving current conditions. This causes Davis to overlook the problems of slums as resolvable through different modes of assistance such as international aid programs. Instead, he views aid programs as the root cause of imbalance created during industrialization. Throughout the book, Davis presents information that confirms his preconceptions towards the slums. Therefore, all the evidence that is presented by him portrays confirmation bias as Davis fails to mention anything about the resolution of the problem of the growing number of slums and instead sees this problem as unavoidable. Particularly, Davis’ writing, although intended for the general population, is more geared towards critics who have similar ideas. Instead of providing the means through which the economy could be improved and the problem of slums could be resolved, it is

A major cause of gentrification is land speculation. The act of selecting investments with higher risk to profit from an anticipated price increase. This not only was a loss of power to the local peoples, but it causes a loss of local culture. This is where local people started to not agree with gentrification and what it was doing.

As Rio’s favela residents watch their homes smashed to rubble, working-class people in urban areas worldwide are forced out of their apartments as rents skyrocket and local businesses are shut down. Gentrification is, without a doubt, a two-sided coin. For new-comers it provides affordable housing and job opportunities, but for those displaced it often means the loss of a livelihood, a school, a place to live. People are forced out of cities they have known all their lives and young people returning after only a few months or years can hardly recognize their own neighborhoods

We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty” (Brainy Quote, 1997). In the past homelessness was known as a result of any war. Nowadays, the percentage of homeless people is around 60% worldwide. Also, the concept of homelessness is an expression that covers a huge number of countries which means it shifts from nation to nation. Individuals who are needy are regularly unfit to earn and keep up a standard, protected secure and sufficient stay. Being caused mainly by the individual’s conditions, homelessness can affect people’s health and personal life.

Who are we as human beings if we overlook the suffering of others? While sitting on the cold, hard ground, dying of hunger, I watch these strangers pass by. Feels as though I am invisible to the world, like they are judging me because of the state I am in. Without even knowing my story to why I am homeless, many people make assumptions. Being watched every day with a scornful look, as though I am a disgrace to the world. On the bright side, there are these few strangers that would stop and give me something warm to cover with. I would probably feel this way if I was ever placed in that situation or something of that nature.

First, city life and countryside life are different from population. In big cities there are many people who live there, because job opportunities are abundant and the opportunity of better education. In fact, people live in urban areas because they want to have good jobs to get more money, and one of the best ways to achieve that is education. Nowadays, there are a lot of good universities and college that are totally located in

A Slum refers to informal settlements within urban areas or cities. The informal settlements depict inadequate housing and miserable condition with reference to living standards (Meade p 43). In the slums, numerous individuals seek housing facilities within small living spaces. The slums also lack basic local authority services such as sanitation, collection of waste, water, drainage systems, street lighting, and emergency roads. Most slums also lack schools, hospital, and public places that might offer adequate environment for social amenities. The experience of France illustrates the essence of slums within the modern society (Oberti p 58). Crime and unemployment are on the rise within the slums because of the poor