Effects of Slum Upgrading and Neighbourhood Livelihoods

With the projected increases in slum population, the demand for urban upgrading interventions is expected to grow. The main aim of this study was to make a noble effort to reduce the proliferation of informal settlements and slums. The findings of this study might be useful to the Kenyan government in providing knowledge on livelihood strategies adopted by Kibera residents after the slum upgrading programme. In addition, information was provided on the extent to which the identified factors influence the occupancy levels for the government to make adjustments that will ensure high occupancy levels are reported in the future.

It is estimated that over a billion people live in slums and informal settlements in the cities of the world. Urbanization is happening at a very fast rate, with an estimated urban population of almost five billion projected by 2030. Most of the increasing urbanization will take place in developing countries, mainly in Asia and Africa, where one-third of all urban residents are estimated to fall below the poverty level. Over 300 million urban poor live in informal settlements. This population is made of over 200 million in Asia, 50 million in Latin America and over 60 million in other African cities which are experiencing high population growth (UN-HABITAT, 2008). In Kenya, life is unbearable for the population that lives in the slums and informal settlements of the capital city, Nairobi.

Slum upgrading is an integrated approach that aims to turn around downward trends in an area. These downward trends can be legal (land tenure), physical (infrastructure), social (crime or education, for example) or economic. The main objective of slum upgrading is to rehabilitate them into functional neighborhoods by addressing the social needs of the community and improving integration into the formal urban economy. This approach is an alternative to the practice of slum clearance that has been practiced since the mid-20th century, most notably in cities such as Hong Kong and Tokyo.

The concept of slum upgrading primarily involves the introduction of infrastructure, connecting the slum to a nearby urban core. This promotes social cohesion, improving the social mobility, health, and quality of life a slum’s residents, and encourages development and economic integration to the urban area as a whole. For example, in Salvador (Bahia), Brazil, a Cities Alliance project focused on upgrading slums with single-family homes. The project had three goals: slum elimination, community engagement and education, and improving residents’ access to services. According to the report, 984 families were transferred into new homes over a 5-year period. These families all had the opportunity to attend courses on how to improve other aspects of their lives specifically their health, education, and finances.

Despite some successes and the support of Commonwealth Bank and the UN-HABITAT, not all people believe slum upgrading is the ideal choice for solving the problem of slums. In fact, there are a number of different players – such as local politicians – who would like to see the status quo concerning slums should be removed. Yet beyond petty local politics, there are major problems with the slum upgrading approach, some of which have to do with the very nature of many slums themselves. For example, in order to remove slums, there needs to be a mass evacuation for everyone in the slums. However, this raises tremendous difficulties when trying to figure out which land to buy, since slums are (by definition) so densely populated that some houses are literally on top of one another, making it difficult to bring any sense of organization to the areas.

The policy of slum upgrading will not affect the mass migration of the rural poor to the cities. However, it can help fix the problems with current slums. The UN-HABITAT officially supports the policy of slum upgrading, making it one of the foremost ways of urban renewal with respect to slums. In 2000, the Millennium Development Goals were developed and agreed upon by all 192 UN member countries. Goal 7 was to ensure environmental sustainability, and one of the targets under this goal was “to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers”. As the MDGs touched on the issue of slums, it has also refocused attention on how to alleviate the problem of slums.

For more information on slum upgrading, you can refer to the following external links: