Hello rich123456 and thank you for your question,
The reasons why squatter settlements occur in third world cities can
be broken down into two main reasons.
1.) Pull factors
and
2.) Push factors
"Pull factors" are the reasons why people are attracted to move TO a
particular area, and "Push factors" are what make them go FROM where
they are at the moment.
Push factors might include:
"Farming is not invested in - without investment, people who live in
rural areas (who mostly farm) cannot improve yields and so have little
to eat/sell.
Extreme physical conditions such as aridity, mountains - these can
make life difficult, from simple points such as the daily weather to
growing crops.
Overpopulation - too many people and not enough resources.
Mechanisation causes a reduction in the number of jobs - this means
people are forced to look elsewhere for jobs.
Pressure on the land.
Natural disasters kill crops, people and livestock - the more that is
lost, the less poeple have.
Starvation - this could be caused by famine, and so people are forced
to move to where there is a food supply.
Overgrazing - this causes soil erosion and a loss of yields.
Local communities forced to move - war, famine, etc. can force people
to go to safer places.
Lack of services (such as hospitals and schools) - people would want
to find a better education and level of healthcare for themselves and
their families.
Families do not own land - this means landowners can evict people
whenever they want."
Pull factors might include:
"Looking for better paid jobs - urban areas are larger and have more
and a larger variety of paid work.
Better chance of putting children through school - urban areas have
schools.
Expect more comfortable housing - with services such as electricity
and water available, this should improve quality of life.
Religious and political activities can be carried out more safely in
cities.
Have a higher quality of life.
Attracted to the 'bright lights' of opportunity - urban areas are
perceived as having greater chances for so many different reasons.
Better chance of access to services - a higher concentration of them
in urban areas, should increase chances of access, as there are little
(if any) in many rural areas.
More reliable food sources - instead of relying on growing own crops,
buy it with wages instead."
http://www.kesgrave.suffolk.sch.uk/Curric/geog/pushpull.html
======================================================
"Brazilians flock to shantytowns"
"Low prices, proximity to work, very little in the way of bureaucracy
and zero property taxes.
These are the factors that are causing an ever-increasing number of
Brazilians to buy homes in the favelas, or shantytowns, of Sao Paulo.
According to a census carried out two years ago, 30,000 people live in
the Paraisopolis favela - the largest one in the city of Sao Paulo.
However, the local residents association puts this number nearer to
60,000."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1711412.stm
==========================================================
Incidentally, I live about 200 yards away from Rocinha which is the
biggest Favela (slum) in Latin America. About 250,000 people live
there and many of them come to Rio de Janeiro from the North East of
Brazil (which is poor in many parts) looking for jobs. When they get
here, thay realize that jobs are difficult to get and that they cannot
afford housing, so they build there own homes on land that no one owns
(or is owned by the government) called favelas...............
Whilst the favelas have drug traffickers, most people who live in the
favelas are honest people, and many do have jobs that are not well
paid but do provide some income for their families.
You can see some pictures of Rocinha here:
http://ruavista.com/barbaraE.htm
Rocinha even has its own website!
http://www.rocinha.com.br/
I hope this answers your question and if you need any clarification of
my answer, do not hesitate to ask.
Best regards
THX1138
Search strategy included:
"pull factors" "push factors"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&as_qdr=all&q=%22pull+factors%22++%22push+factors%22&btnG=Google+Search |
Clarification of Answer by
thx1138-ga
on
10 Feb 2003 13:29 PST
Hello rich123456,
The key part as to why they are forced to form squatter settlements, I
touch on when I say......
"many of them come to Rio de Janeiro from the North East of
Brazil (which is poor in many parts) looking for jobs. When they get
here, thay realize that jobs are difficult to get and that they cannot
afford housing, so they build there own homes on land that no one owns
(or is owned by the government) called favelas..............."
This is true in many third, second, and sometimes first world
countries. The problem is that people often 'give up' all they have
in their home town to travel to the 'big city' to make their fortune.
They arrive in the city with little money and begin the search for
employment, often without success. This period of looking for
employment lasts until what little money they have left runs out, and
they are left with no means to travel back to their hometown (assuming
they had something to go back to) and so they have to make the best of
life in the big city ie. no job, no income, no permanent/safe home.
Usually the slums have a community, and these communities have a
positive and negative side. Because people are sometimes desperate
for money they might turn to drug dealing, theft, prostitution
etc.....on the other hand, many of these communities have their own
'wellfare' systems. Charitable organizations often work in these
communities providing, food and water, health care, sanitation and
sometimes education. In other words, even though people might not
have any income, their lives can still be better than in their home
towns.
I also suggest you read this short article which mentions briefly how
the drugs barons also provide a type of 'wellfare' system:
"They dictate who enters the favela, who leaves, who has the right to
live there, they control the sale of drugs and even provide a social
umbrella for the poor."
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/06/18/30530.html
I hope that has clarified my answer of what is a large and complex
issue.
Best regards
THX1138
|
Clarification of Answer by
thx1138-ga
on
11 Feb 2003 11:45 PST
Hello again rich123456,
Here are some more resources describing why squatter settlements occur
in third world cities.
"Urban population and slums grow due to rural migration. The poor come
down to the cities because the land is unable to sustain them, or
because the prospects of life there are brighter."
http://www.ccsindia.org/people_pjs_slums.htm
"At low levels of economic development and urbanization, 40% to 50% of
growth results from migration from rural areas. When urban growth is
most rapid, natural growth adds more to the population than migration.
This is primarily because of a reduction in urban mortality rates,
especially among mothers and children, owing to improved access to
medical services. In addition, migrants' contribution to urban growth
is greater than would appear from their numbers alone, since most of
them are of childbearing age and thus they have a higher birth rate
than the urban population as a whole."
"The urban slums grow at a faster rate than the other established
parts of the city (commonly twice as fast). Cities in Latin America
may be growing at a rate of 4% to 6% a year, while the slums grow at a
rate of 12% to 15%. The slum population of Nairobi, Kenya, is reported
to be increasing by 25% to 30% a year, compared to the total city
growth rate of 6% to 8%. In Manila, Philippines, the growth of slum
population was found to be 7%, against 1.5% for the whole metropolitan
area. A large part of this population is also floating and mobile, and
difficult to reach through any services"
http://www.unu.edu/unupress/food/8F094e/8F094E08.htm
"One reason for this is the low regard that young people have for
agriculture as a profession. As a result, cities swell with unskilled
newcomers and a whole range of urban, social, environmental and
political problems intensify such as rapid slum growth, drug
trafficking, unemploymentand crime."
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe/daily/19991018/fco18068.html
I hope this helps a little more.
Best regards
THX1138
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