Slums

In simple terms a slum is known as a poor standard of living. In slums there seems to be a certain environment. This environment has certain characteristics which seem to exist in all slums. The thing about slums is they are, insecure tenure, pollution takes place in them, they lack a solid infrastructure, there is often too much overcrowding, and finally poor housing. Many of you who have seen "Slumdog Millionaire" probably can relate the living conditions from that movie to those that I discussed.

A man by the name of Mike Davis wrote a book titled, "Planet of the Slums" in which he discusses just as the title states, slums. He includes details about them and explains how many people are in slums today. According to the United Nations, more than one billion people now live in the slums of the cities of the South. The reader learns that urbanization has become disconnected for industrialization therefore contributing to this term, we know as slums. Davis ends his book by relating to a present conflict that we are trying to figure out today in the United States. Davis states, “What is clear is that the contemporary mega-slum poses unique problems of imperial order and social control that conventional geopolitics has barely begun to register. If the aim of the “war on terrorism” is to pursue the erstwhile enemy into his sociological and cultural labyrinth, then the poor peripheries of developing cities will be the permanent battlefields of the twenty-first century" (Davis).

Along with, "Planet of the Slums," definitions such as squatting can be heard when talked about in a slum like society. Squatting is when one shows up to a place that may be abandoned and begin to live there until they are evicted or have other problems. In New York, if one is found squatting in a house after ten years then they cannot lose the house. The law states that if you're there more then ten years, then it is your property. In the 40's, 50's, and 60's squatting had political decolonization, but in the 80's, squatting becomes economic. Finally, squatting is formed on the periphory of cities.

It was interesting to read another person's blog on slums. This area that I am talking about is known as Panama City and Casco Viejo. The blog includes a little history and detail behind what is now known as a tourist attraction to some.

Overall, slums will continue to exist throughout the world. The interesting part behind them is the nature of the slums, and the very rough conditions one can have to suffer and live in that some of us take for granted such as using the bathroom. In slums, a task as easy as getting rid of waste by flushing the toilet, may be very tough in a slum. This is because in a slum, one does not have a toilet to flush and it may be dumped right next to their living space.