Slums from the nonacademic perspective

Tuhus-Dubrow, Rebecca. “Learning from Slums.” The Boston Globe. March 1 2009. Web.

Slums have grown increasingly in the media spotlight, especially with the advent of blockbusters like Slumdog Millionaire. Typically, though, slums of the developing world are found only in media when a major crime ring is busted, or riots occur, or something noticeable happens. It is rare for the mainstream media to pick up on the topic of slums and address it in a candid and careful manner, but the Boston Globe interestingly does so in their Ideas magazine, providing a layman's overview of slums, methods of addressing, and some of the debates around the topic.

The author starts off by accurately stating the sort of tension found among development practitioners interested in slums, saying that slums "...are as a rule overcrowded, unhealthy, and emblems of profound inequality. But among architects, planners, and other thinkers, there is a growing realization that they also possess unique strengths, and may even hold lessons in successful urban development." This rhetoric is very exemplary of the attitude put forth by influential planners like John Turner which suggests that slums are not the problem but indeed, the solution.

Slums, as a matter of fact, hold many advantages. Economically, the amount of enterprise, informal economy, economics of agglomeration and so on provide a potentially beneficial system to the urban poor. High density and close living conditions, while potentially harmful health wise, can foster strong social networks, and the reuse of trash in creative methods helps environmentally. The author even goes as far as to suggest that "Indeed, slums embody many of the principles frequently invoked by urban planners: They are walkable, high-density, and mixed-use, meaning that housing and commerce mingle."

The article then goes on to discuss cursorily the historical debates, current ideology and potential trends of dealing with and understanding slums. Citing famous planners and rights-bearers, the author briefly mentions slum giants such as Turner and Hernando de Soto, and discusses the debate behind slum upgrading - an expensive but possibly positive process.

The tension between romanticizing these areas or not crediting them fully continues throughout the article, with some attention spent on the efforts of those in the "developed world" to utilize and borrow certain aspects of these marginalized communities and use them to inspire our own buildings and plans. "we can also learn from the spirit of collaboration in informal settlements, and their ingenuity in the use of space."

I myself have always wondered about this particular question. What can we learn from slums? Is there not something to be captured in slums that is not beneficial - not just to them, but to those in other countries? This article was, therefore, encouraging, showing that there exists a common debate still.

John F.C. Turner: Impacts and Critiques

Harris, Richard. “A double irony: the originality and influence of John F.C. Turner.”  Habitat International. 27.2 (2003): 245-269. Web.   

Harris provides an extremely thorough and detailed analysis of John Turner's life and legacy in this paper, mostly critiquing Turner's reputation as it stands and attempting to argue for an alternative method of understanding him and his work. Overall, Harris does not discredit Turner's work, but instead suggests that Turner was not quite as pioneering as he gets credit for, and that in fact, his legacy should be seen somewhat more uniquely. 

John Turner was an architect, planner, writer, politician and academic in the 60s and 70s, considered by some to be "the most influential writer about housing in the developing world." Known for his theories on self-help and dwelling control, Turner's experiences on the ground in Peru greatly shifted his attitude toward housing. He primarily advocated for as little government control as possible, being a firm believer that the poor themselves were the best deciders of their housing and livelihood. Government, to him, exists to provide assistance and resources, but in the end, the poor know best. Turner became one of the well-read and quoted writers during his time, and is credited with changing the World Bank's agenda to focus on urban problems and to provide sites+services projects for slum upgrading, instead of slum clearance.

Harris offers several noteworthy critiques of Turner's fame and contribution to development theory. First, he notes that others before Turner had already begun to champion the concepts of "self-help," and that other developing countries had been implementing such policies before Turner. He points, furthermore, to Turner's warm reception by a variety of practitioners - policymakers, World Bank officials, academics, mayors, etc - suggesting that the ideas must have been existing and percolating before Turner in order to have set the climate in a favorable manner. Therefore, Harris puts down Turner's ideas as not revolutionary, and suggests that Turner's biggest contribution to the discourse is in bringing Latin American ideas and tactics to the table.

My take on the situation is that Turner must have been really good at getting his thoughts and opinions heard. Even if he were not the first to advocate for self-help, he was clearly the most influential and pervasive ideologically. This achievement of wide distribution of ideas is commendable. On the content of his ideas, I have always struggled over laissez-faire versus control dichotomies in planning. While I agree that in the end the poor do know what is best for themselves, I'm not sure that we can neglect planning, especially with a problem of this scale and speed.

"Do you want to continue to review literature on your topic/question, do you want to move on to reviewing cases, art work, buildings, and/or studies related to your topics (AKA basic research on what is out there), do you want to review literature on methods used to study topics (much on stellar about this). Your choice. Pick your direction, tell me what it is when you write and have fun"