Slum Dwellers in Khulna City

Evaluating The Overall Condition of Slum Dwellers in Khulna City

The primary goal of this study is to evaluate the socio-economic and environmental scenario and make a comparison among four types (i.e. public, private, socially disadvantaged and floating) of slums in four significant slums of Khulna City. Members of all 7 groups conducted a total of 927 household surveys.

The problems of these slums are determined using the Slum Severity Index based on physical aspects like housing structure and dwelling condition; socio-economic aspects like migration, income status, social conflict status; health and sanitation aspects considering overall sanitation system, waste disposal system drainage condition etc.

Also, some correlation matrices are generated through SPSS to establish relations among different variables. GIS is used to create accessibility maps in other contexts. All these results indicate that different slum needs insights in different aspects. By using this study as an overview of the overall slums in this city, it can play an important role regarding formulating related policies and strategies.

Slum is defined in many ways from different perspectives. It varies from country to country (Chauhan, 1996) defines slum as buildings and areas that are environmentally and structurally deficient. A result of multiple deprivations such as; illegal land tenure, deficient environment and inadequate shelter and are the result of the gap between the demand and the legal and formal supply in the housing market.

The definition of a slum is the same as set forth by Mahbub (2009), “A slum (is) thus defined as a neighbourhood or residential area with a minimum of 10 households or a mess unit with at least 25 members with four of the following five conditions prevailing within it:

• predominantly poor housing;
• very high population density and room crowding;
• very poor environmental services, particularly water and sanitation facilities;
• very low socioeconomic status for most residents and lack of security of tenure.

UN-Habitat, 2003 Defines a slum household in operational terms, as lacking one or more of the following indicators:

• a durable housing structure;
• access to clean water;
• access to improved sanitation;
• sufficient living space;
• and secure tenure.

The first four rely on conventional definitions; the last is the most difficult to assess and is not currently used in slum measurement. Again, from the definition of (Slum Census Bangladesh, 2010), the major characteristics of slums are-

• Predominantly poor housing
• Very high population density and room crowding (more than 1,000 persons per acre)
• Very poor environmental services
• Very low socio-economic status for the majority of residents
• Lack of security of tenure (permanent threat of eviction)
• Poor governance

As the concept of slum depends on several issues, it needs to be defined suitably for the research. According to different slum definitions, slums of Bangladesh can be defined as the settlement of people of homogeneous socio-economic conditions that developed illegally or legally in a small area with high density and deprived of all basic human needs.

The Slum Improvement Project (SIP) under the LGED began in 1985 in five municipalities, and the first phase ended in 1988. For the second phase (1988 – 1996), the SIP extended its program to four city corporations and twenty-one municipalities. (Alam) The improvement project needs upgradation of slum condition with proper assessment for achieving the final goal.

Slum up gradation means to mitigate the poor condition of it. The portion of poor living in an urban area is not negligible and they live miserable lives in highly congested areas without adequate basic needs which are defined as urban slums. As a part of poverty reduction and urban development, slums are a major concern of authority to be changed. It’s impossible to evict 4 this large group of people from the city. Hence, it is a must to improve their living condition to achieve overall development.

Fore more: Slum improvements in Khulna City