slumArticle Free Pass slum, Densely populated area of
substandard housing, usually in a city, characterized by
unsanitary conditions and social disorganization. Rapid
industrialization in 19th-century Europe was accompanied by
rapid population growth and the concentration of working-class
people in overcrowded, poorly built housing. England passed the
first legislation for building low-income housing to certain
minimum standards in 1851; laws for slum clearance were first
enacted in 1868. In the U.S., slum development coincided with
the arrival of large numbers of immigrants in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries; laws concerning adequate ventilation, fire
protection, and sanitation in urban housing were passed in the
late 1800s. In the 20th century government and private
organizations built low-income housing and appropriated funds
for urban renewal and offered low-interest home loans.
Shantytowns, which often grow up around urban centres in
developing countries as rural populations migrate to the cities