Slum-problems in the developing world

The slum problem in London and Nairobi

Abstract

2007-2008 was a turning point in the history of mankind: since then the urban population has surpassed the number of people who live in rural areas. However, whilst in the Western world urbanization is associated with development and prosperity, in developing countries urbanization and economic development are gradually forming a division line because the rapid increase in urban populations outperforms the pace of the expansion of the infrastructure and services. This situation results in an ‘urbanization crisis’, which manifests the most spectacular in slums. Africa, the fastest urbanizing continent today, is not an exception. Between 1950 and 2014 the urban population of the continent grew 13 times: from 33 million to 455.3 million. One of the most spectacular results of this incredible growth is Africa’s biggest slum, Kibera – in Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi. It is true that at the beginning of modern urbanization, there were slums in the big cities of the developed world, too, but the problem was small scale, and due to successful policy interventions, they ceased to exist. These experiences of the past can be useful to handle today’s slum-problems. The aim of this study is to compare urbanization in the more developed and the developing world through the examples of London and Nairobi, to highlight similarities and differences, and in light of these factors reveal the reasons for the formation of one of the ‘urbanization crisis’ symptoms, the slums. In addition, useful conclusions are offered from the past solutions of London’s slum-problem, in connection with the recent urbanization crisis.