Fabien Mainguy ©AFD
Slum Wahle Daba (Djibouti)
Part 1
Precarious settlements, definitions and operating methods
1. What is a precarious settlement? A working definition Each country has its own words for informal settlements and slum areas: Favelas (Brazil), Gecekondus (Turkey), Invasiones, Barrios populares or Quebradas, (Colombia), Villas miserias (Argentina), Pueblos jóvenes (Peru), Gazras or Kebbé (Mauritania), Ashwaiya (Egypt), etc. These terms generally have negative connotations and emphasise what these areas typically lack rather than being based on their own identities.
In an attempt to give an identity to these areas in light of their characteristics and qualities, the definition proposed here follows on from the analysis work of other researchers and development actors, particularly GRET and UN-Habitat (Mansion and Rachmuhl 2012). In France, the term “bidonville” (slum) is most frequently used. It spread after 1953 as a way of describing the shantytowns of Casablanca and took inspiration from the materials (“bidon” means “oil drum” or “metal container” in French) used by
poor workers newly arrived in the city to build their homes. Little by little, this term gained a wider meaning and was used to describe all settlements built using salvaged material. It merged with the English term “slum”, used in the 19th century for the hovels in England’s working class areas. It was only in 2002 that an official definition was adopted as part of a UN-Habitat initiative. Today, this definition is an international reference and the basis for tools to evaluate progress towards Millennium
Slums according to UN-Habitat “A slum is a contiguous settlement where the inhabitants are characterised as having inadequate housing and basic services. A slum is often not recognised and addressed by the public authorities as an integral or equal part of the city.” It has four main characteristics: > l ack of access to water; > l ack >6
of access to sanitation and other basic services;
>p oor housing quality; >o vercrowding.
Owing to a lack of reliable measurement criteria, a fifth characteristic, “secure tenure”, was removed from the definition adopted by the experts committee that met in Nairobi in November 2002 under the theme “Defining slums and secure tenure”.