What works in improving the living conditions of slum dwellers

About 1 billion people currently live in slum settlements – almost a third of the world’s urban population – and this could increase to 3 billion by 2050 (UN DESA, 2013). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed earlier this year, acknowledge the urgency of the urbanization challenge, most clearly reflected in the inclusion of an urban-specific goal. Goal 11 aims to ‘make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable’, with its first target seeking to ‘ensure access for all to have adequate, safe, and affordable housing and basic services, and upgrade slums’ (UN, 2015).

It is, therefore, timely to review the evidence on what works in improving the living conditions of slum dwellers. Our focus is on physical living conditions: that is, access to land, housing, and utilities, as these are among the most salient challenges facing the urban poor. They are also core elements of UN-Habitat’s definition of a slum household.

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