Background & Context

An estimated one-third of all urban residents live in informal settlements or slums—the vast majority in developing countries. Globally, almost one billion people live in slums according to United Nations estimates. Conditions in such areas vary widely from dismal, temporary shelter in squatter settlements to relatively well-constructed, informal housing that may persist for many decades. Common characteristics include uncertain tenure status, poor basic services such as water and sanitation, low-grade construction, overcrowded living conditions, poor labor market integration, crime and violence, and a breakdown of traditional family and community safety nets typically found in rural villages.

Improving the lives of slum dwellers is a high priority for national and city governments and the international community. The Millennium Development Goals, for instance, advocates significant improvements in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020. There have been some initiatives from governments and development agencies to improve the living conditions of the slum dwellers. These initiatives mostly include a range of urban upgrading activities such as infrastructure development, job market creation, resettlement to new housing developments, etc.

While there is an urgent need to scale up interventions that improve the quality of life for slum dwellers, there is little clarity on (a) the types and composition of interventions that are most effective; (b) the sustainability of alternate programs (c) their relative cost effectiveness (d) fiscal impact and (e) the citywide consequences of these interventions.