Slums
As slums generally very poor and dilapidated quarters are designated cities that are inhabited mostly exclusively by poor people. Instead of slums, the common names of other countries and language areas are often used in German, such as Slum (originally from Great Britain, today international), Shantytown or Squattertown (English-speaking countries), Bidonville (French-speaking countries), Favela (Latin America, especially Brazil), Rancho (Venezuela) and Basti (India).
The term informal settlement is used in German for slums that are unregulated and unplanned, mostly on the outskirts of large cities.
Social housing areas are mostly not referred to as slums, despite some similar socio-economic conditions. Nevertheless, there are government-planned neighborhoods that turn into slums over time due to poor planning, as is the case with most favelas in Brazil .
In the countries of Latin America, the organization Un techo para mi país has set itself the goal of eliminating slums and building accommodation for all residents of a country.
Web links
- Definition of slums ( memento of January 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive )