One billion people – a sixth of the
world’s population – now live in slums, and it is predicted that the
number of slum dwellers will double within the next quarter of a
century. Such statistics are as staggering as they are sobering. Yet
beneath the shacks and lean-tos of corrugated metal, plywood and
plastic sheets, communities thrive and individuals meet the daily
challenges their lives throw up at them.
UN-Habitat defines slums as overcrowded urban settlements with poor
living conditions, whose residents lack adequate access to safe water,
sanitation, and other basic infrastructure. A slum is characterised by
substandard housing, squalor, and insecure residential status for
tenants. Slums often exist off official city grids and municipal
maps
, and are in a constant state of transition – like fast-evolving living organisms.
Dharavi, Mumbai, India
Photo by
Jonas Bendiksen
Photo by
Jonas Bendiksen
“15 people live in this house. It’s too many people… but we are all family… When the rain comes… the whole
house
fills with water. We can’t call anyone and we just sit like that
through all the night. The gutter water gets into the house – even
sewage. The house stinks… One day we eat, other days we sleep hungry
but just don’t tell anybody… If we tell people about our house will
anyone believe us?”
Photo by
lecercle
Photo by
lecercle
An astonishing two-thirds of Mumbai’s densely crowded population live in its numerous slums; Dharavi is the city’s best known,
home
to as many as 1 million residents. Sanitation is a major problem here
due to the dearth of toilets and public water supply, and contagious
diseases have spread as a result. Matters are made worse by flooding
during the annual monsoon.
Piles of rubbish, open sewers and ramshackle shanty homes make up
the landscape – a landscape often hard to make out, with the shacks so
tightly packed they block out the light. Yet for all its dirt and
squalor, some of Dharavi’s better-planned homes are ingeniously
designed. And beyond the putrid smells and the stronger smell of
stigma, the slum is a haven for many people.
Photo by
lecercle
Photo by
lecercle
The one square mile community is a brimming economy, where both
native residents and migrant workers separated from their families toil
day and night to make ends meet – or work their way out of poverty.
Alongside traditional sweatshop industries like pottery and
textiles
, there is a growing recycling trade, where all kinds of waste from other parts of the city are processed.
Despite all this, Dharavi looks destined to be destroyed within 10
years. The area on which it stands is earmarked for demolition and
development, and the slum is to be razed to the ground. Prime location
for offices and apartments Dharavi may be, but it is also home for
countless people and filled with memories. In the words of one
inhabitant: “Dharavi is heaven for me”.
Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya
Photo by
Jonas Bendiksen
“I am staying in this 10 by 10-foot house in Kibera with my 5 children… On my walls there are some daily
newspapers
that we have been reading… I put these newspapers up to decorate my
house. It makes the house look beautiful and it allows me to see
everything – like cockroaches… It is OK but there are no proper windows
so there is not enough ventilation. Although we are comfortable, there
is risk. We pray to God that we are not going to be attacked by disease
or suffocated”
Photo by
subcomondata
Photo by
subcomondata
Home to as many as 1.2 million people – a quarter of the population
of Kenya’s capital – Kibera’s residents squash into an area smaller
than New York’s Central Park. Yet, rented for as little as $7 a month,
the close-lying claustrophobic shacks are places of solace to many
residents, in spite of the widespread social problems.
With no paved roads, Kibera is a slum literally built on refuse and
trash. Its residents use the working train track that cuts through the
area as a pedestrian thoroughfare. As well as being heavily polluted by
soot and dust, open sewers run among the shacks, causing contamination
of the area with faeces. Such poor sanitation makes disease a constant
threat. It is furthermore estimated that almost half a million Kenyans
with HIV may live in Kibera.
Photo by
Chrissy Olson
Photo by
Chrissy Olson
Not formally recognised by the authorities, Kibera is excluded from
official urban plans and is all but bereft of public services such as
public water, healthcare and
schools
. According to the UN, one in five children living in Kibera will die before their fifth birthday.
Violence and beatings trouble those trying to build better lives in
the ghetto – and crime has even affected recent efforts to upgrade the
slum. Building materials cannot be left unattended because they might
be stolen. Kibera is a self-policed, self-organised enclave where
police fear to set foot.
Photo by
Chrissy Olson
Jakarta, Indonesia
Photo by
Jonas Bendiksen
“We are all scavengers here. We live under the bridge, about 40
of us. I came here 7 years ago when there were no lights, no
electricity. Now it is much better. I brought in my friends, cousins,
nephews and neighbours. We are all here together with one common goal.
We want to work, so we can eat… Most people think trash is disgusting.
We don’t say no to it as long as we can feed our families.”
Photo by
Jonathan McIntosh
Photo by
Jonathan McIntosh
The population of the sprawling metropolis that is Jakarta has
exploded over the last 50 years, and large proportions of its more than
13 million residents live in myriad pockets of poverty scattered
throughout the city. The slum dwellers live in outspread settlements
found below clamouring highway overpasses, skirting train tracks, and
perched beside riverbanks and drainage canals.
Photo by
Jonathan McIntosh
Photo by
Jonathan McIntosh
The people must deal with incredibly cramped living conditions,
regular harassment and evictions by police, fires that can quickly set
settlements ablaze, and the severe flooding Jakarta is prone to. Many
of the poorer neighbourhoods lie near storm drains filled with trash
that offer little shelter during the annual monsoon, and families are
frequently forced to flee their homes until the water subsides.
Drainage, sanitation and access to clean water are huge problems that
carry the risk of diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and cholera.
Photo by
Jonathan McIntosh
Hope and dignity nevertheless prevail among the people huddled
together beneath the bridges and in the hastily hammered together
self-built homes. The recycling of metals, plastics and other scrap is
one form of work the slum dwellers have turned to put food in the
mouths of their families and help support their children’s
education
.
Scavenged materials are also used to furnish the homes – be it pieces
of wood for furniture or stickers that serve as wallpaper.
For more beautiful yet devastating images of slums and stories told by the people who live there, visit
The Places We Live
.
