these problems will be examined in detail Slum areas are the most common informal below. settlements; they are overcrowded, vulnerable to natural disasters, they lack Slums and Low-Income Housing access to clean water and sanitation; slum Housing is a very important aspect of the residents face eviction and social exclusion. life yet the lack of proper housing may Access to energy and telecommunication is be very problematic for the urban poor. also a hardship for slum dwellers, despite Studies show that in some urban areas, the concentration of those services in cities. households with average incomes cannot Most slum settlements do not have access afford proper housing; as a consequence the to formal electricity and heating services, need for low-income housing emerges. most families use coal for heating, which Low-income housing is creates health and environmental problems. which is “housing Overall, there are seven most common reasonably adequate in standard and characteristics of slums that are used for location for lower or middle income defining the word slum: households and does not cost so much that of basic services a household is unlikely to be able to meet housing and structure and other basic needs on a sustainable basis”. According to UN Habitat, the costs of illegal settlement living in the city exceed what most can living provide for, 42% of the urban poor in Asia living conditions lives in slums -half of the World’s slum tenure population- which is the equivalent of 581 (Figure: 4 Inequality, poverty and slums, million people. UNHABITAT, 2003) exclusion and poverty the term slum is used to cover a “Usually of over a certain square-meter wide range of areas with poor quality (Photograph 1: Joseph, BBC NEWS) housing, insufficient infrastructure and The main reason behind slums is the lack of deteriorated living environments, but in affordable formal housing. The poor which the occupants have some kind of migrate to the cities only for a short period secure land tenure: as owners, legal of time and because of this; they do not occupants or formal tenants of the land.” want to a lot of money on temporary (UNESCAP, 2008)
these problems will be examined in detail below. Slums and Low-Income Housing Housing is a very important aspect of the life yet the lack of proper housing may be very problematic for the urban poor. Studies show that in some urban areas, households with average incomes cannot afford proper housing; as a consequence the need for low-income housing emerges. Low-income housing is “housing which is reasonably adequate in standard and location for lower or middle income households and does not cost so much that a household is unlikely to be able to meet other basic needs on a sustainable basis”. According to UN Habitat, the costs of living in the city exceed what most can provide for, 42% of the urban poor in Asia lives in slums -half of the World’s slum population- which is the equivalent of 581 million people. “Usually the term slum is used to cover a wide range of areas with poor quality housing, insufficient infrastructure and deteriorated living environments, but in which the occupants have some kind of secure land tenure: as owners, legal occupants or formal tenants of the land.” (UNESCAP, 2008) Slum areas are the most common informal settlements; they are overcrowded, vulnerable to natural disasters, they lack access to clean water and sanitation; slum residents face eviction and social exclusion. Access to energy and telecommunication is also a hardship for slum dwellers, despite the concentration of those services in cities. Most slum settlements do not have access to formal electricity and heating services, most families use coal for heating, which creates health and environmental problems. Overall, there are seven most common characteristics of slums that are used for defining the word slum: of basic services housing and structure and illegal settlement living living conditions tenure (Figure: 4 Inequality, poverty and slums, UNHABITAT, 2003) exclusion and poverty of over a certain square-meter (Photograph 1: Joseph, BBC NEWS) The main reason behind slums is the lack of affordable formal housing. The poor migrate to the cities only for a short period of time and because of this; they do not want to a lot of money on temporary
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