Changing housing and service provision in developing countries

How has housing in developing countries changed? Improving living conditions in slums in urban areas Improving living conditions in rural areas Click to continue

Improving living conditions in slums Slums — shanty towns or squatter settlements — are improvised shacks made of wood, tin and other materials that are built, often illegally, in urban areas, usually on the edges of cities. It can be dangerous to build there because the land is often steep and unsound. The land might be close to industry where there may be air and noise pollution, and often dangerous waste. Click to continue

Improving living conditions in slums What are the impacts on quality of life of living in a slum? Click to continue Fotolia

Improving living conditions in slums How would the housing affect health and safety? How would lack of sanitation affect health? How would poor water supply affect health? How would lack of lighting affect safety? Fire and disease spread easily, so it is dangerous and there are more deaths. Lack of toilets means more people will be ill and can’t work or go to school. This causes disease, so people have less money because they spend it on medicine. There is more crime and there are more accidents, so residents feel unsafe. Click to continue

Improving living conditions in slums How can quality of life be improved in slums? Options: A Demolish the slums and rehouse people in a different area. B Move people out of the slums, demolish the slums and rehouse the people in high-rise flats in the same place. C Provide residents with materials to improve the slums. D Improve rural areas to reduce rural-to-urban migration. Give one advantage and one disadvantage of each of the options. Decide what you think is the best solution for improving quality of life in slums. Click to continue

Improving living conditions in slums Option Advantage Disadvantage A B C D Houses will be well built, so safer, and built at a lower density, so less likely to spread disease People can’t afford to travel into the city from the edge, so they will just set up new slums after the old ones have been demolished High-rise housing will be stronger and safer than the slums and close to work and services Many people in the slums have businesses there and they will be demolished. People can’t run their businesses in tower blocks The houses would become stronger and safer, and people don’t have to leave their businesses The housing is still high density, so disease and fire spread easily If fewer people moved to the urban areas, the slums would not grow and the problems could be managed There are not many job opportunities in rural areas, so people still want to live in urban areas for work Click to continue

Improving living conditions in rural areas It is difficult to manage the problems caused by slums because new people are always arriving in urban areas, often from rural areas. In some less developed countries, the focus is on improving living conditions in rural areas to reduce the numbers of people moving to urban areas. Click to continue

Improving living conditions in rural areas Suggest possible solutions for each problem residents have to face in rural areas. Problem faced in rural areas Possible solution Houses are made of mud or wood, and often have no electricity There is no permanent health service because there are not enough people in the area to pay for a doctor People have to walk a long way to get water from the local river, which sometimes dries up There are few jobs outside farming, which is hard work and made difficult by droughts or flooding Many family members have moved to urban areas to earn money, leaving mainly women and children behind Click to continue

Improving living conditions in rural areas Problem faced in rural areas Possible solution Houses are made of mud or wood, and often have no electricity There is no permanent health service because there are not enough people in the area to pay for a doctor People have to walk a long way to get water from the local river, which sometimes dries up There are few jobs outside farming, which is hard work and made difficult by droughts or flooding Many family members have moved to urban areas to earn money, leaving mainly women and children behind Provide bricks and tiles so that houses are safer and less damp. Provide solar-powered lamps and solar cookers — appropriate technology Provide a mobile clinic to a variety of rural villages. Teach local people basic healthcare skills so they can teach each others Build a well or a water pump to access clean water from underground Provide people with small business loans and advice so they can build sustainable businesses or diversify their farming practices. Encourage farmers to join fair trade schemes Provide public transport to urban areas so families can be together more often and don’t need to move to urban areas Click to continue

Decision-making It is important to balance your ideas. Point: I would demolish the slums and replace them with high-rise flats… Explanation: Because the slum housing is dangerous and unstable, so the people living there are at risk from accidents and they feel unsafe… Click to continue

Decision-making It is important to elaborate your answers. Point: I would demolish the slums and replace them with high-rise flats… Explanation: Because it is dangerous and the housing is high density, so disease spreads easily… Even better if (EBI): So there will be fewer accidents and injuries, so people will not be stopped from going to school or work and they will not have to spend as much money on seeing doctors or buying medicine.