Why slums are increasing in cities

Since independence from the Dutch in , Indonesian cities have grown quickly. Their populations are currently growing by 4. Yet spending on basic infrastructure and services remains inadequate. While the economy grew 5. In the traditional model of slum upgrading, new high- or mid-rise apartment buildings replace informal settlements — but they don't stop new slums from forming nor do they increase residential density and available housing by much.

Knocking down slums can also displace residents, in effect just shifting slums from the city center to its periphery, which exacerbates urban sprawl and limits people's access to services. To combat these challenges, Surabaya took a new approach. The Kampung Improvement Program, a participatory, on-site approach to upgrading poor, traditional neighborhoods in Surabaya, became an international model.

Even neighborhoods not formally in the program have independently undertaken similar upgrades. Photo by Ashok Das. Between , Surabaya championed the Kampung Improvement Program, an international model of participatory, on-site slum upgrading: a research-backed method for ensuring adequate, secure and affordable housing in global South cities. Part of the program's success was due to close collaboration between the local government and experts from the university, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology.

Participatory upgrading puts residents at the heart of decision-making and day-to-day upgrades, using community-sourced data to identify and prioritize residents' most critical needs. Surabaya was able to raise outside funding from development organizations, including the World Bank, to provide basic infrastructure such as gutters, paved footpaths, stormwater drainage, public toilets, waste management and primary schools.

On top of physical interventions, the city empowered individuals to participate in planning processes and upgrading their homes. Communities typically contributed between one-third and one-half of upgrade costs. It was only in , with the collapse of the Iron Curtain in Europe, that trade picked up at an unimaginable pace and the world was steered into the era of globalisation. It was also during the famous s and s era that new communication technologies started to improve connectivity, which crucially allowed the developing world to find economic opportunities abroad.

Tapping into new markets became easier and accessing cheaper skilled labour from the developing world became the norm. Initially bridging the gap between the developing world seemed hopeful and prosperous, however, despite the benefits of globalisation, it made inequality and poverty a global phenomenon. As developing nations opened their economies to globalisation, the ideas of progressive taxation, social safety nets and labour regulation gradually became impacted.

Neo-liberal ideas were on the rise — they wanted to generate maximum profit and integrate more markets. As a result, the pace of economic and social growth, especially in developing countries was faster than planned…it was only a matter of time before difficulties started to arise. Having been responsible for a fair distribution of wealth and keeping prices under check, the neo-liberals now found that the state was taking a back seat — to promote wealth generation and improve services in government departments.

But without the necessary regulations to keep track of the outcomes, the change was too sudden. Following these developments, lower-income people from the developing world found themselves rushing towards the informal sector just to survive. During the cyclical phases of the recession even the thriving informal economy in large urban areas suffered, this was when the most rooted slums in the West started to grow in the peripheries of urban life. Research has shown that in long periods of recession more people moved to urban areas but also fewer houses were built so more slums developed.

For example in cities like Liverpool and Sydney where capitalism was on the rise due to free-trading ports, slums were particularly visible during the s to s. As the recession would cause the rate of maintenance and rent of dwellings and infrastructure to fall. Lower income people would take the opportunity to move into these areas as their circumstances had led them into poverty.

Sometimes governments believe that adopting alternative policies, such as focusing on rural development, will stop urbanisation.

This approach is rarely effective. Once governments accept the reality of urban growth, the next step is to plan for it and determine where the new residents will live. Authorities should identify land and plan for its settlement even if money is not available for urban services. Once people settle on that land and feel that they have a right to live there, they will begin investing in it. Over time, the area will upgrade incrementally. What do we mean by land rights or secure tenure?

Land tenure is the right of an individual or group to occupy or use a piece of land. It can be via ownership or lease. Land rights is about confidence in the future. People who are safe from eviction with a sense of long-term stability—whether they own the land or not—are much more likely to invest in their housing or community.

Over time, these incremental improvements by residents can upgrade the entire community. There must also be a clear legal framework behind land rights. Often, slum dwellers face significant obstacles to owning or obtaining the rights to land. Land markets are frequently dysfunctional, and inappropriate standards or regulations make it nearly impossible for local authorities to find enough well-located, serviceable and affordable land for the residents of overcrowded slum settlements.

In addition, control of land is often connected to political patronage and corruption, making it difficult to get clear information about land ownership, use and availability. Slum dwellers are part of the urban populace, with the same democratic rights to environmental health and basic living conditions as all residents. The process of realising the rights of slum dwellers hinges on their capacity to engage actively with the government.

It is a question of creating a space where slum dwellers and the government can engage in a dialogue about slums and upgrading their communities. Through dialogue, the parties can begin to lay out their rights and responsibilities and design programmes that communities are able to respond to. Slum upgrading is an integrated approach that aims to turn around downward trends in an area. These downward trends can be legal land tenure , physical infrastructure , social crime or education, for example or economic.

Slum upgrading is not simply about water or drainage or housing. It is about putting into motion the economic, social, institutional and community activities that are needed to turn an area around.

These activities should be undertaken cooperatively among all parties involved—residents, community groups, businesses as well as local and national authorities if applicable. The activities tend to include the provision of basic services such as housing, streets, footpaths, drainage, clean water, sanitation, and sewage disposal.

Often, access to education and health care are also part of upgrading. In addition to basic services, one of the key elements of slum upgrading is legalising or regularising properties and bringing secure land tenure to residents. Ultimately, upgrading efforts aim to create a dynamic in the community where there is a sense of ownership, entitlement and inward investment in the area. Urban upgrading is broadly defined as physical, social, economic, organisational, and environmental improvements undertaken cooperatively among citizens, community groups, businesses, and local authorities to ensure sustained improvements in the quality of life for residents.

Generally, urban upgrading is about striking a balance between investing in areas that attract investment to the city on a global level and in programmes that invest in the citizens of the city so they can reap the benefits as well.

The interconnectivity of the two is crucial to a successful development strategy of any city. Slum upgrading is an integrated component of investing in citizens. Residents of a city have a fundamental right to environmental health and basic living conditions.

As such, cities must ensure the citizenship rights of the urban poor. The main reason for slum upgrading is that people have a fundamental right to live with basic dignity and in decent conditions.

If slums are allowed to deteriorate, governments can lose control of the populace and slums become areas of crime and disease that impact the whole city. Sometimes it is necessary to tear down a slum.

In some cases, slums are built on land that is unsafe or fundamentally unstable. For example, a slum may develop on an infill site where there is methane gas that can cause serious health problems.

Or, slums could be located on areas that are prone to land or mudslides. In such cases, relocation may be the best option. Generally, though, slums are built on land that is well-located and provides easy access to the city and its opportunities.

Most slum evictions occur when local authorities want to remove slums located on prime real estate and turn the land over to developers or other vested interests. Location is critically important for the urban poor.

They need to be near the city where job opportunities are accessible. There are many factors that are needed for a slum upgrading programme to be successful. The two most important ones are strong political will on behalf of government and strong buy-in on the part of communities.

There must also be a sense of partnership among all parties. Moreover, the slum upgrading initiative must meet a real need; people must want it and understand why it is important.

It is also beneficial if upgrading activities are city-wide and involve partners beyond the slums themselves, which is especially important in implementation. High house Rents In Cities Poor peoples, most of which coming from rural areas, are not able to pay high rent of houses in the towns.

Hence wherever they find a land, public or private, they start living there in temporary hutments, as the time progress, more and more people joins them and that area soon develops into the slum. Refugees Some of the slum areas in India are also inhabited by the refugees. Once an area is marked as slum it started growing because of increasing population pressure in cities. There are many harmful impacts of slums also.

They give rises to the varieties of problems, that we will discuss in next post. Challenges of India. Unknown September 7, at PM.

Unknown June 11, at PM. Popular posts from this blog Harmful impacts of slums on society and people living in it - August 17,