A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inhabited by impoverished people. [1]

Slums represent one of the main types of housing in many growing urban cities from Kibera in Nairobi, to New Delhi and Manila. The effects of poverty related to the growth of slums span everything from poor health to education. As informal (and often illegal) housing, slums are …

Jun 26, 2024 · In slums, the living conditions are characterized by inadequate access to safe water, lack of sanitation and other basic infrastructure, poor quality of housing structures, overcrowding, and insecure residential status.

Mar 29, 2025 · slum, Densely populated area of substandard housing, usually in a city, characterized by unsanitary conditions and social disorganization.

Slums come in all shapes, sizes and have various names, yet they all mean the same thing: an overcrowded residential urban area characterised by below standard housing, poor basic services and squalor. The word ‘slum’ first came into use in the 1820s.

Slum clearance in the United States has been used as an urban renewal strategy to regenerate derelict or run-down districts, often to be replaced with alternative developments or new housing.

Jan 19, 2023 · It has developed a notorious reputation for poverty and violence, fueled by gang wars and the effects of a spiraling economy. It’s home to over a quarter of a million people, squeezed into about eight square miles of marginal land between they city’s airport and the shores of the Caribbean.

According to UN-Habitat, a slum household is a group of individuals living under the same roof in an urban area that lacks one or more of the following: durable housing of a permanent nature, sufficient living space (not more than three people sharing the same room), easy access to safe water in sufficient amounts at an affordable price, access ...

Informal settlements, also called “slums”, lack important factors that make a house a home, such as cramped spaces leading to overcrowded homes, access to water & sanitation, durability and secure tenure. Today, 2.8 billion people live without adequate shelter.

Mar 5, 2013 · Slums are dangerous places to live and work. Unpaved roads and open sewers invite or cause accidents. Injuries are common and often go untreated, because to be injured is to be unable to earn even a meager living. Women in slums, often the principal family breadwinners, face dangers every day.