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.