HOUSING : 3

SLUMS
A slum is a heavily populated urban informal settlement characterized by sub
standard housing and squalor. All slums lack basic reliable sanitation facilities,
supply of clean water, electricity , law enforcement and other community based
recreational amenities.

Slums were common in 19th & 20th centuries all over the globe. According to the
UN- Habitat report, around 33% of the urban population in the developing
world in 2012 lived in slums. The world’s largest slum city is in Mexico city.

Common causes of slum formations are rapid rural to urban migration, economic
stagnation and depression, high unemployment, poverty , informal economy,
poor planning, politics, natural disasters and social conflicts.

The word ‘slum’, is a slang word used commonly since 1845 which implied a
street of poor people. The other terms used for slums are shanty town, favela,
ghetto, barrio, rookery, etc. New York City is believed to have created the world’s
first slum, named the five points in 1825 as it evolved into a large urban
settlement. In Europe slums were common.
● According to last census in 2011, the slum-dwelling population of India had
risen from 27.9 million in 1981 to 93.06 million in 2011.

● Even after offering many services and facilities, most of the people living in
slum areas do not have electricity, water supply and cooking gas.
● After Mumbai, Delhi has the second largest slum Population in India.

● Slum people are mostly unemployed or daily wage workers who cannot even
afford basic necessities of life.
● 1 out every 5 person from the slums belongs to the Schedule Caste (SC)
community.
● However sex ratio of this community is far better than the communities living
in the urban area.
● The literacy rate in these areas has risen up to a remarkable level that is 77%,
but it is still less than the urban area.

● Slum areas gets created when individuals or families move to the urban areas
in order to fulfill their dreams or to find a better economy

● India is a third world country that suffers from poverty, malnutrition, diseases,
and more.
● India alone is responsible for 25% of the deaths of children among the world.
● The slums offer many great risks for the poor children due to the unsanitary
environment.
● Nearly 1.8 million people lives in slum areas in capital of India - New Delhi.
● According to UNICEF, “India alone, more than 1 million child lives could be saved
with a few vitamins and some kind of nutrition.

● The data of “notified” or “recognized” category of slums is provided by the

official authorities.
● Identified is the last category but does not have legal status as a slum thus not
have access of municipal services and legal protections.
● Identified category shows that it has the largest sub set of slum population.

● Workforce rate is higher as to the urban areas; both men, women and children
participate in any sort of employment.
● According to Government sources, the number of slum population has doubled
in last two decades.
● Unsanitary water supply, waste, dirty rivers and pipelines along their sides,
sewage lines invite number of disease in these areas.

● There are many volunteers and NGO’s who are working for them.