Slums Essay
Slums are a growing problem that not only is in a certain area, but it is all around
the world. A slum is a run-down kind of city that is overcrowded and has people in
poverty that live there. Slums are a negative effect in the world because they have poor
housing, are really dirty, and are full of diseases.
One of the negative effects of slums is that they have people living poor housing.
In the article interview of Cities of the Poor 1; Life in the Slums it says “Squatters or
slum lords put up shacks on land no one else wants to develop: flood plains, toxic waste
dumps, steep hillsides. The precarious locations and poor quality construction make
these settlements vulnerable to disasters like earthquakes and landslides.” This
quote shows that slums are made on the very bad land that is at high risk to of disaster,
but still people put poorly made houses and sell them to slum dwellers to live there.
Another negative that slums have on the world is that they are really dirty places
to live in. According to Sheri Fink “Fascades are marked by a water line. The polluted
stream sometimes overflows and floods them. While sewage from outside Kiberia flows
into the slum, the sewage from inside never leaves.” Another source that is
Mumbai’s Slum Life Poses World Problem says “There are public toilets and water taps,
but sanitation is poor with open sewers along the alleyways.” These quotes
show that slums are dirty place.
Diseases make it a problem to live in slums because the people are so exposed
to them. The article Two Billion Slum Dwellers it says “According to the United
Nations, slum children are more likely to die from water-borne and respiratory
illnesses than rural children, while women living in slums are more likely to contract HIV
than their country cousins.” This means that people that live in slums are more
likely to get fatal diseases than other people.
