Variations in poverty and health between slum settlements: Contradictory findings from Visakhapatnam, India

To Know the Field: Shaping the Slum Environment and Cultivating the Self

“…When the government expended the same effort cleaning their neighborhood as it did cleaning wealthy ones, slum residents said, they would find out that poor people were not the ones responsible for their degraded environment. Yet the daily environmental practices of women in slums confirmed another research finding, that individual behaviors to mitigate risks within homes and upgrade infrastructure can make a difference in health (Asthana ; Cairncross et al. ).…”

“…Driven by a lack of housing, urban migrants turned wetlands and jungles into habitable regions (Anand and Rademacher ; Read ; Sharma ; Tindall ). Against a background of structural inequality, the individual initiative of slum residents has resulted in variable conditions between slum settlements (Asthana ), achieved in part through building strong political relationships to secure improved environmental necessities like water (Anand ). Over time, improving housing can transform residents’ status from illegal slum dweller to legal slum resident, with improved urban amenities and the right to compensation in the event of demolition (Anand and Rademacher ; Appadurai ; Chandola ).…”

To Know the Field: Shaping the Slum Environment and Cultivating the Self

“…When the government expended the same effort cleaning their neighborhood as it did cleaning wealthy ones, slum residents said, they would find out that poor people were not the ones responsible for their degraded environment. Yet the daily environmental practices of women in slums confirmed another research finding, that individual behaviors to mitigate risks within homes and upgrade infrastructure can make a difference in health (Asthana ; Cairncross et al. ).…”

“…Driven by a lack of housing, urban migrants turned wetlands and jungles into habitable regions (Anand and Rademacher ; Read ; Sharma ; Tindall ). Against a background of structural inequality, the individual initiative of slum residents has resulted in variable conditions between slum settlements (Asthana ), achieved in part through building strong political relationships to secure improved environmental necessities like water (Anand ). Over time, improving housing can transform residents’ status from illegal slum dweller to legal slum resident, with improved urban amenities and the right to compensation in the event of demolition (Anand and Rademacher ; Appadurai ; Chandola ).…”

Contrasting Children and Women's Health and the Determinants of Health in a Small-Sized City

“…These studies focused on infrastructure and the housing environment, 47,48 including density and defensible space, 15 crowding, 56 violence and security, 16,57 temperature and dampness, [17][18][19]30,58 and economic deprivation-all of which were found to be related to physical or mental health of the inhabitants. 14,20,45 Other studies have also looked at health outcomes in deprived neighborhoods. In two surveys conducted in Northern Ireland in 1987 and 1995, different settlement areas of the city with different levels of deprivation were compared, and housing defects, unemployment rate, proportion of the population under the age of five, and ill-health in both children and adults were greater in the highly deprived neighborhoods.…”

Healthy Cities or Unhealthy Islands? The Health and Social Implications of Urban Inequality

“…They look only at the 'vulnerable' and at the differences within them. 45 Moreover, equity is rarely placed overtly on the agenda in descriptions of the health inequalities which result from the 'housing conditions' faced by the poor. It is possible to do this-and it becomes clear that poor children not only experience higher rates of illness than their wealthier neighbours but also that their parents often pay more for their contaminated food and water, their crammed, ill-built homes and for the limited services to which they have access.…”

To Know the Field: Shaping the Slum Environment and Cultivating the Self

“…When the government expended the same effort cleaning their neighborhood as it did cleaning wealthy ones, slum residents said, they would find out that poor people were not the ones responsible for their degraded environment. Yet the daily environmental practices of women in slums confirmed another research finding, that individual behaviors to mitigate risks within homes and upgrade infrastructure can make a difference in health (Asthana ; Cairncross et al. ).…”

“…Driven by a lack of housing, urban migrants turned wetlands and jungles into habitable regions (Anand and Rademacher ; Read ; Sharma ; Tindall ). Against a background of structural inequality, the individual initiative of slum residents has resulted in variable conditions between slum settlements (Asthana ), achieved in part through building strong political relationships to secure improved environmental necessities like water (Anand ). Over time, improving housing can transform residents’ status from illegal slum dweller to legal slum resident, with improved urban amenities and the right to compensation in the event of demolition (Anand and Rademacher ; Appadurai ; Chandola ).…”

Contrasting Children and Women's Health and the Determinants of Health in a Small-Sized City

“…These studies focused on infrastructure and the housing environment, 47,48 including density and defensible space, 15 crowding, 56 violence and security, 16,57 temperature and dampness, [17][18][19]30,58 and economic deprivation-all of which were found to be related to physical or mental health of the inhabitants. 14,20,45 Other studies have also looked at health outcomes in deprived neighborhoods. In two surveys conducted in Northern Ireland in 1987 and 1995, different settlement areas of the city with different levels of deprivation were compared, and housing defects, unemployment rate, proportion of the population under the age of five, and ill-health in both children and adults were greater in the highly deprived neighborhoods.…”

Healthy Cities or Unhealthy Islands? The Health and Social Implications of Urban Inequality

“…They look only at the 'vulnerable' and at the differences within them. 45 Moreover, equity is rarely placed overtly on the agenda in descriptions of the health inequalities which result from the 'housing conditions' faced by the poor. It is possible to do this-and it becomes clear that poor children not only experience higher rates of illness than their wealthier neighbours but also that their parents often pay more for their contaminated food and water, their crammed, ill-built homes and for the limited services to which they have access.…”

To Know the Field: Shaping the Slum Environment and Cultivating the Self

“…When the government expended the same effort cleaning their neighborhood as it did cleaning wealthy ones, slum residents said, they would find out that poor people were not the ones responsible for their degraded environment. Yet the daily environmental practices of women in slums confirmed another research finding, that individual behaviors to mitigate risks within homes and upgrade infrastructure can make a difference in health (Asthana ; Cairncross et al. ).…”

“…Driven by a lack of housing, urban migrants turned wetlands and jungles into habitable regions (Anand and Rademacher ; Read ; Sharma ; Tindall ). Against a background of structural inequality, the individual initiative of slum residents has resulted in variable conditions between slum settlements (Asthana ), achieved in part through building strong political relationships to secure improved environmental necessities like water (Anand ). Over time, improving housing can transform residents’ status from illegal slum dweller to legal slum resident, with improved urban amenities and the right to compensation in the event of demolition (Anand and Rademacher ; Appadurai ; Chandola ).…”

Contrasting Children and Women's Health and the Determinants of Health in a Small-Sized City

“…These studies focused on infrastructure and the housing environment, 47,48 including density and defensible space, 15 crowding, 56 violence and security, 16,57 temperature and dampness, [17][18][19]30,58 and economic deprivation-all of which were found to be related to physical or mental health of the inhabitants. 14,20,45 Other studies have also looked at health outcomes in deprived neighborhoods. In two surveys conducted in Northern Ireland in 1987 and 1995, different settlement areas of the city with different levels of deprivation were compared, and housing defects, unemployment rate, proportion of the population under the age of five, and ill-health in both children and adults were greater in the highly deprived neighborhoods.…”

Healthy Cities or Unhealthy Islands? The Health and Social Implications of Urban Inequality

“…They look only at the 'vulnerable' and at the differences within them. 45 Moreover, equity is rarely placed overtly on the agenda in descriptions of the health inequalities which result from the 'housing conditions' faced by the poor. It is possible to do this-and it becomes clear that poor children not only experience higher rates of illness than their wealthier neighbours but also that their parents often pay more for their contaminated food and water, their crammed, ill-built homes and for the limited services to which they have access.…”