What we can learn from slums

last updated 8 January 2015

Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow

The Boston Globe

Strange as it may seem, teeming slums could be the model for the cities of the future, said Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow. Not to minimize the despair in wretched shantytowns and squatter communities in such places as India and Brazil, but a growing number of urban planners see in slums some features that should be emulated, not condemned. Many slums, for instance, are “walkable, high-density, and mixed-use, meaning that housing and commerce mingle.” That’s a workable model for a thriving urban center. While most slums are dangerous, some are buzzing hives of diverse economic activity, with watchful neighbors helping to protect public safety. And despite severe sanitation problems, slums are in many ways “ecologically friendly,” with lower birthrates than rural areas and structures built from “materials that would otherwise be piling up in landfills.” Planners also believe there is much to be learned from “the spirit of collaboration” and clever use of space in many squatter cities. There are numerous reasons that we should not avert our eyes from slums—including, now, the realization that they have much to teach us.