Title: Slums and squatters in South and Southeast Asia.

POPLINE Document Number: 018160

Author(s):

Laquian AA

Source citation:

In: Jakobson L, Prakash V, ed. Urbanization and national development. Beverly Hills, California, Sage, 1971. :183-203. (South and Southeast Asia Urban Affairs Annuals Vol. 1)

Abstract:

Discussion relies on a review of the data available in terms of slums and squatters in Asia and in other developing countries, focusing primarily on the question of whether slums and squatters are developmental or not. The question is divided into what slums and squatters mean in terms of economic and social (including political) development. The economically relevant questions asked include: do squatters and slum dwellers contribute to production of goods and services; are they integrated with the urban and/or national economic system; and do they contribute to capital formation; and are squatters and slum dwellers upwardly mobile economically. For social development, relatively simple indices were used: social stability or the absence of disruptive events such as revolutions and riots in the urban areas; social and political participation of squatters and slum dwellers in community, city, and national affairs; integration of squatters and slum dwellers with the larger society; and openness of squatters and slum dwellers to external influences and values. Throughout the limited literature on slum dwellers and squatters in South and Southeast Asia, there is an air of optimism, based in part on a distinction between urban processes in South and Southeast Asian cities and those that occurred in the West. Mainly, it is founded on actual studies and surveys that have attempted to view the slum and squatter communities as they are related to the larger urban and national processes of which they form a part. The evidence suggests that slums and squatter communities contribute to economic production in several ways. They appear to be more closely integrated with the larger economic system than a structural and sectoral economic analysis tends to show. Living in the slums and squatter areas offers many opportunities for saving and for capital formation. Also, there is evidence of economic social mobility in the slums. Socially, slum and squatter areas do not appear as disruptive and unstable as their physical appearance often suggests. The value system of slums continues to be largely rooted in a traditional rural origin and it tends to be conservative even as it emphasizes personal and community improvement. Survival of the rural value system accounts for high social and political participation, yet as slum and squatter communities grow older, organizational behavior akin to labor unions and other more structured organizations replace the traditional practices. The politicalization of the slum contributes to its greater integration into the larger polity and society. Empirical studies and surveys of a comparative nature are required to validate these optimistic assertions of the nature and function of the slum and squatter community in South and Southeast Asia.

Keywords:

Asia, Southeastern
Asia, Southern
Asia
Squatters
Social Problems
Economic Development
Social Development
Development Planning
Political Factors
Urban Population
Residence Characteristics
Urbanization
Poverty
Literature Review
Ethnic Groups
Community Participation
Income
Developing Countries
Population Distribution
Geographic Factors
Population
Economic Factors
Population Characteristics
Demographic Factors
Urban Population Distribution
Socioeconomic Factors
Cultural Background
Organization and Administration