Slums and prosperity: a complex, dynamic pathway of intervention

Abstract

Purpose Slums have existed as long as cities have and are a growing context in the developing world. The challenge is in their efficient, effective and inclusive management. The purpose of this paper is to frame slums in the broad aim of urban development and the pursuit of prosperity, as active players and positive contributors in every right – a slum-prosperity framework. First, however, they need to be comprehensively defined in a non-exclusive, structured, dynamic and heuristic way; a previous publication was set to resolve this challenge. Design/methodology/approach Guided by a synthesized operative model for prosperity, such a definition for slums is used to precisely relate their characters to the pursuit of prosperity through a mapping process, whereby these characters are linked to potentials for prosperity, improvement goals, resources and intervention plans. Findings Both slums and prosperity are fuzzy, complex and variable terms; the only possibility to deal with them both is to break them down into simple and manageable yet operative units and establish the most influential and effective links between them to organize intervention according to patterns of change in both slums and city. Research limitations/implications An intervention agenda like the one proposed here, that gives room for contextual and temporal urban complexities, has the potential to augment urban practice and help curb the slum phenomenon. A final paper (forthcoming) will illustrate the application of both the comprehensive definition of slum and the implementation of a pathway toward prosperity. Originality/value The proposal in this paper is derived as part of research conducted for the award of a PhD at the University of Strathclyde Glasgow. This was in general set to contribute to the proactive and inclusive improvement of slums and cities. The proposal is further derived from the authors’ involvement and personal interest in developing regions and is designed on local experience and on wider expertise in urban renewal.

Understanding built environment realities

“…On the other hand, based on the complexity and the continuously changing dynamics of slums and prosperity, viewed as two separate phenomena, Abubakar et al (2019) propose an approach to frame slums within the perspective of prosperity by establishing the salient influential and effective links between them to develop possible intervention strategies according to patterns of change in both slums and the wider city developments. The agenda they propose integrates contextual and temporal urban complexities while having the potential to enhance urban practices that enable controlling the growth of slums.…”

Identifying factors influencing the low-income community in urban slum settlements in South Sumatera, Indonesia

“…The cities function as multi-dimensional and multi-dimensional machine rooms for human development (Nocca, 2017). The well-developed cities have always been attractive for residents looking for opportunities (Abubakar et al, 2019;Agnihotri, 1994;Glaeser, 2011).…”

“…However, urban slums have always been a relatively easy source of living, accessible, and often permanent residence for the poor or the less fortunate. The urban area is paving the way to prosperity; the other side of the city is also causing inequality, economic and environmental challenges (Abubakar et al, 2019;Arimah, 2017;Nocca, 2017). Prosperity in urban areas is increasingly worrying.…”

“…When it comes to slum settlements, poor governance and weak institutions can be linked. Herein lies the potential for engaging in this idea: for slums, cities have certain potentials for improvement and overall well-being; for the city, the way to achieve this goal is through prosperity (Abubakar et al, 2019).…”

Getting urban density to work in informal settlements in Africa

“… 7. Abubakar, A, O Romice and A Salama (2019), “Slums and prosperity: a complex, dynamic pathway of intervention”, International Journal of Architectural Research Vol 13, No 2, pages 314–330. …”