What is a shanty town?
A shanty town or squatter area is a settlement of improvised housing, called shanties or shacks, made of plywood, corrugated metal, sheets of plastic, and cardboard boxes.
What are shanty towns called in Africa?
In francophone countries, shanty towns are referred to as bidonvilles (French for "can town" - can being a reference to tin metal); such countries include Tunisia and Haiti. Other countries with shanty towns include South Africa (where they are often called Townships) or Imijondolo, Kenya...
What is a shanty town called in Argentina?
In Argentina, shanty towns are known as villas miseria. As of 2011, there were 500,000 people living in 864 informal settlements in the metropolitan Buenos Aires area. In Peru they are known as pueblos jóvenes ("young towns"), as campamentos in Chile and as asentamientos in Guatemala.
How many shanty towns are there in Thailand?
Thailand has 5,500 informal settlements, one of the largest being a shanty town in the Khlong Toei District of Bangkok. In China, 171 urban villages were demolished before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. As of 2005, there were 346 shanty towns in Beijing, housing 1.5 million people.
What is another word for shanty town?
•slum (noun) public squalor, skid row, shanty town, blighted area.
Is shanty town the same as slum?
Shanty town vs Slum So a slum is poorly maintained housing stock that would have originally been built "to code". It would generally still have municipal services like water, electricity, and telephones. A shanty town is a collection of makeshift housing thrown together with no recognizable organization.
What is a shanty town slum?
Definition A deprived area on the outskirts of a town consisting of large numbers of shanty dwellings--that is, small, crudely built shacks.
How many slums are there in Kolkata?
Presently, there are 2011 registered and 3500 unregistered slums in Kolkata housing more than 1.5 million people. Majority of this population lives below the poverty line and works as domestic workers, daily wage labourers, factory workers, rickshaw pullers, hawkers and security guards.
Are shanty towns illegal?
A shanty town (also called a squatter settlement) is a type of slum settlement (sometimes illegal or unauthorized) containing improvised dwellings made from scrap materials: often plywood, corrugated metal, and sheets of plastic.
What is the biggest shanty town in the world?
Ciudad NezaThe world's largest shanty town is Ciudad Neza or Neza-Chalco-Itza, which is part of the city of Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, next to Mexico City. Estimates of its population range from 1.2 million to 4 million.
Why are they called Hoovervilles?
The towns were named “Hoovervilles,” because of President Herbert Hoover's ineffective relief policies. Mass unemployment was rampant among men aged 18–50, and the lack of a social safety net continued to push them down the ladder.
What were shanty towns built by the poor called?
A "Hooverville" was a shanty town built during the Great Depression by the homeless in the United States. They were named after Herbert Hoover, who was President of the United States during the onset of the Depression and was widely blamed for it.
Why do people live in shantytowns?
Free Shelter The major reason for people living in slums is the lack of proper employment and earning opportunities, due to which they migrate to other places. To survive, they need homes, and shantytowns are the best options available to them. This prevents homelessness for migrants who can't afford a living.
What are Bustees in Kolkata?
Registered slums (bustees): these slums are recognized by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) on the basis of land title; since 1980, they have been taken over by the CMC for letting/lease to slum dwellers. Unregistered slums: this comprises slums onthe land encroaching settlements.
Which city of West Bengal has the highest slum population?
58 (Tangra area) of KMC has the highest percentage of slum population and slum households (i.e. 99.85 %).
Which city of West Bengal has 3rd highest slum population?
asansol is the city of west Bengal having 3rd highest slum population.
What are South African slums called?
In South Africa, “slum” is not used due to its political implications. The country's past was marked by Slum Clearance Acts, which were used by the government to evict people who lived in poor conditions. For this reason, the preferred terms are “informal settlements” or “squatter camps”.
What is a difference between slum and city?
While slums differ in size and other characteristics, most lack reliable sanitation services, supply of clean water, reliable electricity, law enforcement, and other basic services.
What are the slums in Cape Town called?
In the Khayelitsha slum of Cape Town, one toilet is shared by five families on average. Most people use open fields or bushes to do their business, which contributes to the spread of diseases like cholera within communities. It's also the best place for criminals to attack.
What is slum area?
A slum is a residential area with substandard housing that is poorly serviced and/or overcrowded, and therefore unhealthy, unsafe, and socially undesirable. A single dwelling can fit this description, but the term is usually reserved for larger areas, rural or more commonly urban.
What is a shanty town?
A shanty town or squatter area is a settlement of improvised housing, called shanties or shacks, made of plywood, corrugated metal, sheets of plastic, and cardboard boxes. Such settlements are usually found on the periphery of cities, in public parks, or near railroad tracks, rivers, lagoons or city trash dump sites. Sometimes called a squatter, informal or spontaneous settlement, a typical shanty town often lacks adequate infrastructure, including proper sanitation, safe water supply, electricity, hygienic streets, or other basic necessities to support human sett
Why are shanty towns safe?
There is less traffic leading to less fuel consumption and lower pollution due to transport needs. Streets are so narrow that cars are not even feasible , making shanty towns safe for walking and cycling. People live on fewer resources and the focus on re-use and sharing of resources is more.
What is a squatter settlement?
Squatter settlement is a concentration of spontaneously constructed dwelling on land not owned by the buiders and not politically controlled by the urban government.
Do shanty towns have close knit families?
Such shanty towns or slums have thriving communities of close knit families living very closely (physically) to each other. Due to this I have seen them form bonds of friendship and kinship which would put our modern developed societies to shame.
What are shanty towns called?
In Argentina, shanty towns are known as villas miseria. As of 2011, there were 500,000 people living in 864 informal settlements in the metropolitan Buenos Aires area. In Peru they are known as pueblos jóvenes ("young towns"), as campamentos in Chile and as asentamientos in Guatemala.
Where are shanty towns found?
Shanty towns are mostly found in developing nations, but also in the cities of developed nations, such as Athens, Los Angeles, and Madrid. Cañada Real is considered the largest informal settlement in Europe, and Skid Row is an infamous shanty town in Los Angeles. Shanty towns are usually found on places such as railway sidings, ...
Which country has the largest shanty town?
Latin America. The world's largest shanty town is Ciudad Neza or Neza-Chalco-Itza, which is part of the city of Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, next to Mexico City. Estimates of its population range from 1.2 million to 4 million. Brazil has many favelas.
What is the economy of shanty towns?
Shanty towns sometimes have an active informal economy, such as garbage sorting, pottery making, textiles, and leather works. This allows the poor to earn an income. The above shanty town image is from Ezbet Al Nakhl, in Cairo, Egypt, where garbage is sorted manually. Residential area is visible at the top of the image.
What is a shanty town?
A shanty town or squatter area is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood. A typical shanty town is squatted and in the beginning lacks adequate infrastructure, including proper sanitation, safe water supply, electricity and street drainage.
How many informal settlements are there in Thailand?
Thailand has 5,500 informal settlements, one of the largest being a shanty town in the Khlong Toei District of Bangkok. In China, 171 urban villages were demolished before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. As of 2005, there were 346 shanty towns in Beijing, housing 1.5 million people.
Where did squatters live?
Following the Great Depression, squatters lived in shacks on landfill sites beside the Martin Pena canal in Puerto Rico and were still there in 2010. More recently, cities such as Newark and Oakland have witnessed the creation of tent cities. The Umoja Village shanty town was squatted in 2006 in Miami, Florida.
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Characteristics
Historic and Modern Examples
- Shanty town history in the U.S. dates back to the year 1929 when the unemployed people were thrown out of their houses, and they started building these shanty settlements. In the year 1930, when the economy saw a setback, the condition also worsened as more and more people settled here. As these shanty towns were first developed in America, so they were known as Hooverville…
Sanitation and Disease
- Shanty dwellers suffer from sanitation problems, and diseases are caused by the poor upkeep in these shanty towns. They have to drink poor quality of water, which results into diseases like Cholera and Typhoid. Even some of the natural disasters may occur in the areas formed near the hillsides which can result in death sometimes due to hill slides. As there is sanitation problem a…
Economy and Crime
- Areas with shanty towns often pop up where the economic output is lower, and there are minimal levels of access to schools, hospitals, and other needful facilities that are often seen provided by the government and the private sector alike in more affluent areas. The income rate per capita of a person is low as the residents are often officially unemployed, and they work as a menial labo…
Solutions and Alternatives
- Effective solutions to make the shanty towns better may come in the form of help from the government or nongovernmental organizations, and they should be given education regarding public cleanliness. The self-help schemes should be introduced and they should be provided with the loans for making improvements in their lives. It is seen that the breeze-blocks and the ceram…
Overview
A shanty town, squatter area or hooverville (in the US) is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood. A typical shanty town is squatted and in the beginning lacks adequate infrastructure, including proper sanitation, safe water supply, electricity and street drainage. Over time, shanty towns can develop their infra…
Construction
Shanty towns tend to begin as improvised shelters on squatted land. People build shacks from whatever materials are easy to acquire, for example wood or mud. There are no facilities such as electricity, gas, sewage or running water. The squatters choose areas such as railway sidings, preservation areas or disputed building projects. Swiss journalist Georg Gerster has noted (with specific refere…
Development
While most shanty towns begin as precarious establishments haphazardly thrown together without basic social and civil services, over time, some have undergone a certain amount of development. Often the residents themselves are responsible for the major improvements. Community organizations sometimes working alongside NGOs, private companies, and the government, …
Instances
Shanty towns are present in a number of developing countries. In Francophone countries, shanty towns are referred to as bidonvilles (French for "can town"); such countries include Haiti, where Cité Soleil houses between 200,000 and 300,000 people on the edge of Port-au-Prince.
In 2016, 62% of Africa's population was living in shanty towns. Khayelitsha in Ca…
In popular culture
Many films have been shot in shanty towns. Slumdog Millionaire centres on characters who spend most of their lives in Indian shanty towns. The Brazilian film City of God was set in Cidade de Deus and filmed in another favela, called Cidade Alta. White Elephant, 2012 Argentinian movie, is set in a villa miseria in Buenos Aires. The South African film District 9 is largely set in a township called …
See also
• Informal settlement
• New village
• Refugee camp
• Slum
Further reading
• Daniel Carter Beard (1920). Shelters, shacks, and shanties. C. Scribner's Sons. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
• Slate article about an economist proposing New Orleans to be reconstructed with shanties
External links
• Photos of Dharavi, a shanty town in Mumbai, India.