FA+
Shop
Joggle Your Noggin: The Slum Problem
14 years ago
This one's comin' out of left field, folks, so be ready!
Fun Fact! About 5 years ago, UN-HABITAT released a report stating that roughly 327 million people in Commonwealth nations (formerly the British Commonwealth) live in slums. That's 1 in 6 citizens, and conspicuously a number that exceeds the entire population of the United States.
To address the issue, we first have to look at what exactly a slum is. According to UN-HABITAT it is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing, squalor, and a lack of tenure security (legal protection for tenants). This broad definition for what a slum is indicates the tricky nature of the issue, for just about every slum in every city presents unique problems.
Slums in Johannesburg, Mexico City, Mumbai, Rio De Janeiro, and Nairobi all have different characters and cultures, and while they share the common problems of explosive population growth and stress on the city infrastructure no two situations are alike.
Historically, cities have taken different approaches to problems with slums. In London's East End in the 19th century, living conditions were arguably some of the most dreadful in the world, yet enlightened problem solving and focused attacks on crime and public squalor revolutionized the way cities are structured. Some cities have taken the approach of simply zoning off areas as off-limits and channeling the growth of slums away from city centers. Others have actively tried to 'starve out' slums, discouraging growth by cutting off city services such as law enforcement, electricity, and even fire protection.
Choosing to deal with the problems of slums by ignoring them has proven disastrous in certain cities, but on the flipside some expensive efforts to improve conditions have also failed spectacularly. Cities in the developing world and the developed world alike have attempted to eliminate slums through the construction of massive public housing projects, only to discover too late that the resulting explosion of crime and/or disease leads to their abandonment.
Many poor areas that could be called 'slums' choose not to be, for by definition slums lack tenure security. Thus, the residents of an area recently declared a slum could quickly find themselves the victims of a military or police crackdown and a rash of forced evictions. Forcing people out of their homes does not alleviate, but rather exacerbates urban misery, and as such many slumlike areas refuse to be called such as a matter of self-preservation.
The world's slums are growing. Whether it's the result of political unrest, overpopulation, industrialization, or a combination of these factors, the fact remains that the proliferation of slums is a growing issue that will only rise in importance in the coming decades.
This is neither a new problem nor a neglected one, and artists and architects alike are trying to tackle the problems of slums or cities with poor reputations. In some cases, adding structure and fully integrating slums into a city 'grid' can be successful. In other cases, allowing slums to exist and develop, loosely connecting them to cities while allowing civic autonomy has also proven effective. Fundamentally the problem of slums is a human one, and must be solved according to human wants and needs.
So here are some questions for you: Do you know of any slums or slum-like communities in your city? If you were a city planner, would you take a structured or an unstructured approach to improving conditions in slums? Would you even try to improve conditions, or only react when matters threaten the rest of the city?
Most of us were weaned on a diet of supermen and warriors, tales of people who swept in and saved the world from big villains and big problems, but how do we approach the problem of improving life for as many people as possible, knowing that there aren't enough resources to make everyone truly happy?
Fun Fact! About 5 years ago, UN-HABITAT released a report stating that roughly 327 million people in Commonwealth nations (formerly the British Commonwealth) live in slums. That's 1 in 6 citizens, and conspicuously a number that exceeds the entire population of the United States.
To address the issue, we first have to look at what exactly a slum is. According to UN-HABITAT it is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing, squalor, and a lack of tenure security (legal protection for tenants). This broad definition for what a slum is indicates the tricky nature of the issue, for just about every slum in every city presents unique problems.
Slums in Johannesburg, Mexico City, Mumbai, Rio De Janeiro, and Nairobi all have different characters and cultures, and while they share the common problems of explosive population growth and stress on the city infrastructure no two situations are alike.
Historically, cities have taken different approaches to problems with slums. In London's East End in the 19th century, living conditions were arguably some of the most dreadful in the world, yet enlightened problem solving and focused attacks on crime and public squalor revolutionized the way cities are structured. Some cities have taken the approach of simply zoning off areas as off-limits and channeling the growth of slums away from city centers. Others have actively tried to 'starve out' slums, discouraging growth by cutting off city services such as law enforcement, electricity, and even fire protection.
Choosing to deal with the problems of slums by ignoring them has proven disastrous in certain cities, but on the flipside some expensive efforts to improve conditions have also failed spectacularly. Cities in the developing world and the developed world alike have attempted to eliminate slums through the construction of massive public housing projects, only to discover too late that the resulting explosion of crime and/or disease leads to their abandonment.
Many poor areas that could be called 'slums' choose not to be, for by definition slums lack tenure security. Thus, the residents of an area recently declared a slum could quickly find themselves the victims of a military or police crackdown and a rash of forced evictions. Forcing people out of their homes does not alleviate, but rather exacerbates urban misery, and as such many slumlike areas refuse to be called such as a matter of self-preservation.
The world's slums are growing. Whether it's the result of political unrest, overpopulation, industrialization, or a combination of these factors, the fact remains that the proliferation of slums is a growing issue that will only rise in importance in the coming decades.
This is neither a new problem nor a neglected one, and artists and architects alike are trying to tackle the problems of slums or cities with poor reputations. In some cases, adding structure and fully integrating slums into a city 'grid' can be successful. In other cases, allowing slums to exist and develop, loosely connecting them to cities while allowing civic autonomy has also proven effective. Fundamentally the problem of slums is a human one, and must be solved according to human wants and needs.
So here are some questions for you: Do you know of any slums or slum-like communities in your city? If you were a city planner, would you take a structured or an unstructured approach to improving conditions in slums? Would you even try to improve conditions, or only react when matters threaten the rest of the city?
Most of us were weaned on a diet of supermen and warriors, tales of people who swept in and saved the world from big villains and big problems, but how do we approach the problem of improving life for as many people as possible, knowing that there aren't enough resources to make everyone truly happy?
Find out what the primary problems are, then the secondary and address plans to deal with those two.. once a base of control begins, start addressing more problems as we move.
For example, i live in an area that most people call the ghetto, I say bullshit because people in this neighborhood are doing better than other places I have seen, but we also have streets that could use a lot of improvement.
Florida Hurricanes, the recent oil BP spill.. these also affect areas of the city on a wide range..
My only experience with something close to a slum would be in Mexico, around Tijuana, though having corrugated metal roofs doesnt guarantee that the owners dont have legal protection.
The main thing that sticks out to me is a lack of sanitation. Thats what extremely poor/slum areas have in common.
To me, it boils down to an unwillingness by the government (at all levels) to actually make their citizens cities livable. The Mexican and Brazillian governments probably just dont give a rats rear about "those filthy rabbits breeding themselves into misery." Basically, theres an assumption that if people are living in these shitty (literally) conditions, then its their fault for shitting in the first place. That, and breeding like rabbits.
To me, the solutions are that the governments need to take the initiative and actually be willing to do something called urban planning. Install sewage systems, build and invest in schools and teachers, offer free contraception (for chrissake), actually enforce the laws (and arrest officers who are corrupt) and build usable streets and light rail systems. Oh, and put up building codes.
In the US, we have had a bizarre regressive idea that this is socialism and communism, but then again, most Tea Partyish folks tend to come from the countryside (I know one), so they dont really understand how urban spaces operate.
Id throw back in trade schools for one thing. College is not for everybody, and all this babble about how important it is has done nothing but set people up for failure. A lot of kids, especially minority and immigrant kids, are interested in mechanics and hands on things. It would sure get a lot of kids interested in school again; academics are NOT for everybody.
Id also arrest ALL known gang leaders and frankly Id want to make it a crime to be a member of one. Problem is that crime is actually not as bad as a lot of people think it is, but people, thanks to the hysterical idiots in the media whod have people hide under their bed, are afraid of going outside, and this creates terror which scares away civic engagement and business.
Crime wont go away though if its basically the only way of making a lot of money. A lot of businesses stay out of low income areas with the perception of high crime. Beautification is nice, but that goes into infrastructure. Personally, Id rather we open up a bunch of open spaces, and basically encourage people to be more involved locally.
I call these short term solutions. Long term; people need to change their local cultures. When gang crime is tolerated as being "just the way it is" then the whole cycle is self reinforced.
The people though, are afraid of the cops too, and frankly its for good reason. Lots of things gotta change in that area, and I think....
... that we got to end the war on drugs. Its criminalized so many people that its created an underclass who basically dont give a fuck about what the law says.
Bah, I can give u a thesis paper, but I hope this didnt bore u half to death reading it.
But yeah, addressing the root causes of slums is the first step. I'd like to think that New Zealand's "state housing" policies that were started in the 1930s contributed to - at least initially - the prevention of slum conditions in NZ cities, where house rentals in state-built properties were tied to no more than 25% of the household's total income. When one government tried implementing "market rents" for these properties, the problems of overcrowding and unhealthy living conditions increased, leading to the next government putting the old "income-based" rent policies back in place...
My former city of residence, Philadelphia, tends to run in rather slow cycles of decline and gentrification. Take the historic district, Society Hill, North Philadelphia and Northern Liberties for example; prosperous and upscale in colonial times, slowly declining through the post WWII period, then gentrifying and becoming increasingly desirable from the '60s to the present. Meanwhile, the former outlying areas such as the Northeast which were 'safe' have been slowly declining as displaced poor and other 'undesirables' find their way out there...
An interesting tendency in some urban areas is de-densification, where, for example, neighborhoods full of abandoned tenements are razed, and low density suburban housing with lawns and garages put in their place. These neighborhoods tend to be clean and well-kept...
I've noticed a great deal of bad press and publicity surrounding Detroit, but I've never been in the area personally. Do you think that before any positive action is taken that a sense of civic identity and community would help heal Detroit's ails?
I admit, there aren't any easy solutions. Unlike many urban development programs in the developing world you can't just give the people of Detroit plumbing and pat yourself on the back. In my opinion, I'd say the first step toward healing Detroit would be to make it more attractive to said employers at a community level. It may be a bit over-optimistic, but having a sense of identity and belonging to a community can go a long way towards improving it in the long term. Tangibly, that would mean enlightened law enforcement, better mass transit connectivity, and basic efforts to beautify an area. There are many cases of such a system working in the United States within the last decade, like in New York and Washington D.C. Both cities (and neighborhoods like Hell's Kitchen or Southeast) have seen conditions improve dramatically thanks to community-oriented efforts.
It would also be wonderful if people understood that the government is largely responsible for fixing these sorts of issues, like it or not. These idiot tea baggers are mostly suburb or countryside dwellars who are clueless on how cities actually are supposed to work.
You know what disgusts me the most?
People like us, average middle, middle-lower, and lower class individuals, actually support people who think like this. Does a man who lives in his cage so long truly grow to love it??
Its bizarre how this whole thing came up. There was once a time when EVERYBODY left and right agreed that corporations had to be shrunk, and we needed to regulate industries. Now its so polarized that they cant even figure out how to fix the budget.
Honestly, Im scared about the long term prospects for us in the states.
The last point you brought up may very well be the nail in the coffin for our republic being a free republic and not a banana one. When the public no longer fights back and just sits on their asses while watching American Idol (bias disclaimer), they/we get what we deserve. If the public can no longer excercise commmon sense and have its own voice, then its asking for a pseudo fascist state. And you know what? I have NO sympathy, cuz anybody with a high school education can figure out that there is something seriously wrong in this country.
There! A GED kid who never did his homework just pointed out the things we need to change. IF I CAN FIGURE THIS SHIT OUT, SO CAN OUR DUMBASS POLITICIANS. lol