Why do so many people live in slums?

Introduction 

One of the key challenges that most of the developing countries face, especially in areas of housing, is on providing effective housing solutions in both urban and rural settings. Slums refer to substandard housing units, which are usually densely populated occurring within urban cities (Bolt, Phillips, and Kempen, 2010, p.132). Most of the slums are characterized by poor sanitary conditions and social disorganization, which becomes a key issue of concern for the high number of people living within these settings. The challenge has been that a majority of people in urban settings find themselves not being in any position allowing them to afford decent housing. The ultimate result is that it serves as a key determinant of the increasing number of people living in slums. A slum refers to a residential area that is highly populated, especially with closely packed and decrepit housing units while lacking the necessary infrastructure. Slums are common in urban settings in developing countries taking into account that they help accommodate high numbers of people attributed to differentiated factors.

A review of causation factors contributing to the demand for slums suggests that indeed slums result from a wide array of factors including urban poverty and inadequate housing among other key factors. A significant number of countries in Africa face a serious challenge in providing housing for persons living within slums. An example can be seen from the case of Nigeria, which has been on the forefront in its adoption of housing policies that seek to change the overall structure of housing to reduce the population living within slums. NREH (2014) takes note of the fact the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT) points to rapid urbanization as a contributor to the high number of people finding themselves in informal settlement. The challenge has been ensuring that most of these people have access to quality and affordable housing, which has sought to build on the concern resulting from the serious challenge of urbanization. In this report, the focus is on examination of the factors contributing to a high number of living within slums.

Why people live in slums? 

Slum dwelling has become one of the most common issues facing urban cities, especially in developing countries. Most of the slums, especially in African countries, have experienced rapid growth through the years as a result of most people, working within the urban cities, not being in any position that would allow them to afford high costs of living (Atkinson & Blandy, 2005, p.182). Slums have become popular in urban settings taking into account the high number of people living within these housing settings. The challenge in dealing with the issue of slums has been on the fact that a significant number of people living within slums live way below the poverty line considering that they are not in any position to afford basic human needs including housing. From that view, this has been noted as a key issue of concern that governments seek to deal with as a way of promoting human dignity.

Aerial views of slums show a high number of people living within small areas with most of the housings being informal in nature. The ultimate result of this is that it has created a major challenge for countries working towards developing infrastructure within the slums. Most of the slums lack basic infrastructure including road networks among other key infrastructure developments (Harvey, 2011, p.47). The issue has been on the fact that governments tend to ignore people living within these settlements regardless of the need for having to create an avenue through which to support equality. The consequence that this has had is that it has created a major challenge for governments in their bid to providing quality the life for the people living within slums and other informal settlements.

Figure 1: Street-View of Njemanze Settlement 

The picture above is a street-view of Njemanze settlement, which is one of the largest informal settlements not only in Nigeria but in the world today. The challenge that the Nigerian government has been facing in its bid to dealing with the issue of the high number of people in the slums is that they lack effective housing policies. The policies that the government has put in place do not institute effective strategies that would help meet the housing demands in the country. Instead, the only seek to create an avenue through which more and more people are finding themselves living within informal settlements, which would otherwise be considered as slums. The issue in question is on how the government would be able to maximize on its capacity towards improving the living standards for the people in slums.

A majority of people living within slums find themselves in such informal settlements due to inability to afford formal housing units, which serves as a key challenge of great consideration in defining strategic approaches to reducing the number of people in slums (Lilford et al., 2017, p.561). One of the key aspects to note is that countries with the highest slum populations are developing, which becomes a challenge for governments in providing resources to build on housing. The ultimate result is that most of the people in slum settings find it hard in their bid to accessing affordable housing units. The issue is driven by the fact that governments have failed in their bid to engaging with their private stakeholder partners in their bid to creating housing plans that would meet the set out demands.

Causes of Slum Dwelling 

When evaluating the challenge of slums, it is important to evaluate some of the factors contributing to the issue. As can be seen from the discussion above, slum dwelling remains as a key issue of concern for a significant number of developing countries taking into account that they have experienced a significant increase a high number of people living within slums. From that perspective, it becomes essential to consider some of the causation factors contributing to the high number of people living within these settlements in a bid to finding lasting solutions to the challenge. The analysis will seek to evaluate some of the key contributors to the issue of slum dwelling with the focus being towards getting a clear picture of what to expect with regard to adoption of strategic approaches to meet set out housing standards. The following is an analysis of some of the underlying causes contributing to the high number of slum dwellers:

Urban Poverty 

The first key factor noted is high rates of poverty, specifically a type of poverty that can be described as urban poverty. Urban poverty has been noted as a key factor encouraging the formation and demand for slum settlements considering that the number of people not being able to afford decent housing is increasing (Harvey, 2012, p.103). With the number of people moving from rural to urban areas increasing at a rapid rate, most countries experience major challenges in providing the people with employment. The ultimate result is that most of the people moving into urban settings find themselves facing a high risk of urban poverty. The idea of having to adopt strategic approaches on how to deal with poverty would be considered as one of the key strategies through which to deal with the issue of urban poverty. It is important to reflect on ways through which to ensure that the people are empowered economically as a way of maximizing on their capacities to deliver on best possible outcomes.

The poor are punished more due to poverty because the penal system also punishes them differently. That can be attributed to a clear lack of equality within the penal system in ensuring that the populations are accorded equal rights and freedoms regardless of their existing social status. The consequence of this is that most of the people are unable to afford decent housing units, which prompts them to turn to slums as one of the key solutions. Slums offer low-cost housing units that people with no formal employment or those that are working in low-earning jobs would be able to afford. In most African countries, the rate of unemployment, especially among the youth, is significantly high, which has served as a contributing factor to a high number of slum settings in urban regions. A majority of the people living within these slums find it hard to afford decent housing units considering that whatever they earn at the end of the month is very limited. The housing units in the slums remain as a viable alternative considering that they often provide a valid solution for persons intending to live within housing units that are low-cost options.

Poor Housing Planning 

The second key factor that has been noted as a contributor to the high number of people living within slums is poor housing planning. A majority of developing countries experience a significant challenge in their bid to providing affordable housing for their people, which encourages the formation of slums (Ezeh et al., 2017, p.552). The governments have failed in their bid to ensuring that they provide the people with effective housing solutions that would serve as a guarantee that would enhance their capacities to meet the demand for housing in urban settings. In cases where persons are not in any position able to afford some of the high-rise housing units, the only alternative that exists for them is to focus their attention towards slums. Proper planning may be considered as of the ways through which to deal with the high number of people that are opting for slums.

Governments should come up with proper housing planning policies, which would create an avenue through which to improve on their capacities in planning to deliver affordable and decent housing units to serve the demands within their populations (Atkinson and Blandy, 2005, p.182). That would mean having to engage partners in the private sector, who would be of great value towards providing the necessary legal framework through which to adopt effective housing planning policies. However, governments should also anticipate a challenge in terms of infrastructure development considering that most of the slums lack the necessary infrastructure. For example, a majority of slums do not have access roads, which makes it hard for any individual without knowledge of the area to access the region in which the slums are located. That serves as a key issue that the government ought to consider as part of its structured approach towards dealing with the high number of people moving into slums.

Politics 

Another key factor that ought to considered is politics. Politics serves as a factor leading to a high number of people in slums considering that political leaders often subvert strategic efforts that seek to upgrade slums into better housing units. The leaders tend to consider slums as part of their political interests taking into account that the people living within these areas can be manipulated with ease (Townsend, 2009, p.153). The leaders often believe that changing the setting of slums would result in a situation where the people become much more empowered; thus, making it hard for them to be controlled in one way or another. Ultimately, this has created the need for having to subvert all efforts designed to upgrade the housing demands within slums.

It is a common occurrence for political leaders to ignore their expectations in terms of ensuring that they create the best possible legislations that would help towards promoting proper housing for their people. Instead, the leaders often focus their attention towards making political decisions that reflect on their political interests while ignoring the needs of the people that they represent. It is important for all leaders to recognize the value that they play in their bid to enhancing overall capacities towards meeting the basic needs of the people that they represent. One of the key areas that the people would need to consider is housing, which is a basic expectation taking into account the fact that lack of housing may have serious implications in terms of reduced capacities for the people to live in decent housing units.

Neoliberalism 

The theory of neoliberalism has also been noted as a key contributor to the high number of people finding themselves living in slums. Governments use fewer funds for social housing in a neoliberal era attributed to the fact that they seek to create a free and competitive market as a way of attracting investors (Harvey, 2011). The ultimate result is that the price margins for rent in decent housing units goes higher than may be anticipated attributed to the competitive nature of the market. Consequently, this means that many more people find themselves in a situation where they are not able to afford decent housing; thus, paving the way for a high number of people moving into slums. The theory can be used as a justification of the fact that indeed many more people find themselves facing serious challenges in terms of their abilities to afford the high costs of housing (Harvey, 2011). That reflects more on the fact that investors tend to price houses based on their personal expectations rather than having to consider the individual needs of the different populations.

Rapid Urbanization 

Urbanization refers to the migration of people from rural areas to urban settings with the aim being towards ensuring that they would be well a versed with the opportunities that these settings portend. A majority of the people moving from rural areas often consider cities and other urban areas as being full of the opportunities that they would want in their bid to achieving some level of success (Gans, 2009, p.38). Although this is viewed as a healthy approach to improved economic standards, rapid urbanization, especially in developing countries, is seen as a contributing factor to the high number of people living within slums and other informal housing settings. The challenge is that governments experience a major challenge in their bid to providing housing for the high number of people moving into the cities.

Inadequate Financing 

Financing is one of the key areas of consideration when dealing with housing, as it seeks to ensure that all individuals are in a position allowing them to afford housing regardless of their income. By providing financing, governments seek to create a standard through which to ensure that most of the people that they represent are in a position allowing them to living in decent housing units considering that they have the capability of buying or leasing such houses (Carpenter, Daniere, and Takahashi, 2004, p.536). However, this is not the case in developing countries, which face a key challenge in terms of limitations in areas of financing; thus, resulting in a situation where most of the people find themselves seeking informal housing units.

A majority of the people living within slums find it extremely challenging to afford the rising costs of rent considering that some of the people lack formal employment positions. Governments have failed in their bid to advancing their partnerships with the private investors as a way of ensuring that they would create financial options for the low-income populations with the intention being towards meeting some of the set out standards in terms of overall maximization of economic standards (Owusu, Agyei-Mensah, and Lund, 2008, p.185). By engaging with the private partners, governments would be in a better position allowing them to create effective frameworks through which to ensure that most of the people are in positions allowing them to afford housing units that may be considered as being decent.

Conclusion 

Slums refer to substandard housing units, which are usually densely populated occurring within urban cities. A review of causation factors contributing to the demand for slums suggests that indeed slums result from a wide array of factors including urban poverty and inadequate housing among other key factors. Most of the slums, especially in African countries, have experienced rapid growth through the years as a result of most people, working within the urban cities, not being in any position that would allow them to afford high costs of living. A majority of people living within slums find themselves in such informal settlements due to inability to afford formal housing units. In most African countries, the rate of unemployment, especially among the youth, is significantly high, which has served as a contributing factor to a high number of slum settings in urban regions.

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