slum definition

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It has been long since a number of non-government organizations are working for the welfare of poor communities living in urban areas. But as it is very difficult to define and categorize who and which community is poor, so is difficult to assert which community is a slum. Adequate and quality data and information about status of poor, their whereabouts, their existing sources of water, their willingness to pay for water, etc. are very essential to develop pro-poor water supply policy. Since it will only be like beating the bush to do something on for the slum community without scientifically defining them, the NGO Forum for Urban Water and Sanitation has tried to come to a more acceptable definition of slum DISCUSSION NOTE WHAT IS A SLUM ?

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It has been long since a number of non-government organizations are working for the welfare of poor communities living in urban areas. But as it is very difficult to define and categorize who and which community is poor, so is difficult to assert which community is a slum.

Adequate and quality data and information about status of poor, their whereabouts, their existing sources of water, their willingness to pay for water, etc. are very essential to develop pro-poor water supply policy. Since it will only be like beating the bush to do something on for the slum community without scientifically defining them, the NGO Forum for Urban Water and Sanitation has tried to come to a more acceptable definition of slum

DISCUSSION NOTE

WHAT IS A SLUM ?

through a “brainstorming” workshop. The given definition here is based on the workshop, held on 9th November 2004, and further studies that followed it.

Defining an area as a slum area is very complex task since there is no any authentic definition or documentation exists in the country for defining slum. Organization like LUMANTI has developed its own criteria for slum for Nepal and UN Habitat has its own criteria for defining slum. In the workshop, the Forum invited different government and non-government organizations, municipalities, professionals, social worker and individuals who have potentiality to provide valuable inputs in developing such criteria.

Following paragraphs presented useful definitions of slums shared in the session, some important characters of slums identified by brainstorming, primary list of indicators to be taken into consideration in developing criteria for defining slums and criteria for defining slums in Nepal.

Existing definitions of slums:

Different organizations have coined different definitions of slum for their working purposes. Among them, the definitions of slums provided by LUMANTI for Nepal and definition of slum by UN Habitat are worthy to share.

1. Definition of slum by Lumanti:

Slum communities are defined by poverty, low income, inadequate living conditions and sub-standard facilities. These communities are usually inhabited by socially disadvantaged people (people regarded as lower caste). Unlike squatter settlements, the residents of these slum areas generally own their land and houses, which are very small in size and have formal title papers (Lalpurja) to prove their ownership. These communities are also officially recognized by authorities.

On the other hand, a slum area, where the residents do not have Lalpurjas is defined as a squatter settlement. Thus, all squatter settlements are slums but a slum may not be a squatter settlement.

2. Definition of slum by UN Habitat:

A slum is an area that combines to various extents the following characteristics- • Inadequate access to safe water• Inadequate access to sanitation and other infrastructure• Poor structural quality of housing• Overcrowding• Insecure residential status

Important characteristics of slums in Nepal:

• A slum is a cluster of houses - a slum is an area therefore, an individual house is not considered as a slum.• Slum areas are generally found in periphery of old inner city, which is a marginalized area from the point

of view of old settlements and these days, which is being occupied by new migrants.

• Lack of access to public services – a slum generally lacks access to public services such as sewerage, water supply, roads, street lamps etc. or even if they have them, they provide poor service facilities.

• Over crowded area – a slum generally have high density of people within the dwelling unit on the basis of space occupancy. Small houses or huts with narrow and dark street lanes characterize slums in most of the cases.

• Low income group – residents of the slum belongs to low income or economically deprived group such as poor tenants. In some areas, they can also be the people, displaced by disasters or conflict.

• Socially deprived – residents of the slum may also belong to socially deprived group such as “lower castes”.

• Poor housing – houses in the slum area generally used low-cost building construction materials with poor hygiene and sanitation.

Primary list of indicators:

1. Population density – Population density of that area2. Infrastructure – Accessibility to public services such as road, water supply, sewerage in that area3. Income – Income of the residents living in that area4. Social status – Social status of the residents living in that area, proballby in terms of “caste”5. Construction material of houses – Construction materials used in the houses of that area 6. Legal aspect – Land ownership status in that area7. Health and sanitation – Health and sanitation status of the houses in that area

Criteria developed for defining slums in Nepal:

Slum is defined as a cluster of houses with following criteria:

1. Crowded - Population density of that area is very high, that is the population size is much higher in comparison to the land they occupy.

2. Low income - Majority of residents in that area has very low income or they are economically deprived.3. Socially deprived - Majority of residents in that area is socially deprived such as lower cast people. 4. Infrastructure – The area do not have or very poor accessibility to basic public services such as road, water

and sewerage.

Slum area is generally named by the name of settlement (eg. tole). Houses in the slum area generally have land ownership with some exceptional case. A slum without land ownership houses are called as a squatter settlement.

Some challenges and recommendation in identifying slums:

Some challenges that may encounter during identification of slums are as follows. The challenges are also followed by recommendations to deal them.

• There are some areas in Kathmandu Valley (e.g. Bode), which used to be public land long time back and later was encroached by local residents and still occupying by them. Such area should not be considered as a squatter settlement.

• There is no official standard for defining poor in Nepal. So it is very difficult to define low-income group or economically deprived people in urban area. Therefore, it is important to define urban poor prior to defining slums in urban areas.

• Low cast people has been considered as a socially deprived people in most of the identified slums. But even displaced people are also found living in slums. People displaced from conflict also are recognized as social deprived people. Therefore, it is important to define who the socially deprived people are.

• Density of the people as one of the criteria in defining slum may not work in case of the area where household size varies frequently. That may happen in the poor rental areas. It is important to know the mobility pattern of residents in such area.

• It was mentioned that a slum has to be named by name of settlement like tole. But demarcation of slum in such case is not always easy as the slums may extend to larger space in the course of time.

• A slum is a cluster of houses, defining the smallest cluster size is very difficult.

• All slums should not have same grade. A grading of slums is essential so that they can be addressed as per their grade.

• There are some areas like Asan, which meet all criteria of a slum except the “low income”.

There is no any authentic Nepali word to define slum. A proper Nepali word has to be created with the help of linguists as soon as possible. NGOFUWS has requested all to mail at [email protected], if any one come up with a proper Nepali word.

For more information, please contact: 119 Purneshwor Marg, Tripureshwor, G.P.O.Box: 21036, Kathmandu, NepalTel: 977-01-2042122, Fax: 977-1-4218386E-mail: [email protected], URL: www.ngoforum.net