Shanty town

Shanty town in Manila, Philippines.

Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa on the Cape Flats simmers after a fire (Cape Town, South Africa)

Shanty towns, "marginal" or informal settlements are units of irregular, low-cost dwellings, usually on lands belonging to third parties, and most often located on the periphery of cities. These dwellings are often assembled from pieces of plywood, corrugated metal, sheets of plastic, and any other material that will provide cover.

Origins and history

Shanty towns are mostly found in developing nations, or partially developed nations with an unequal distribution of wealth, In extreme cases, shanty towns have populations approaching that of a city.

Shanty towns tend to originate on the outskirts of cities During the Great Depression of the 1930s, shanty towns, often called "Hobo jungles," appeared in cities across North America because of massive unemployment. Some were nicknamed "Hoovervilles" because the residents blamed the economic conditions on then President Herbert Hoover, who supposedly helped to create the great depression. Similarly in Canada, hobo jungles were dubbed "Bennettville" after Prime Minister Bennett.

The first recorded use of the word shanty, as meaning a crude dwelling, occurred in Ohio in 1820. It may have been derived from the French word chantier, meaning a building site. Alternatively, it could have been derived from the Irish sean tigh, meaning "old house" or from the Nahuatl word chantli "home".

Dangers

Residences are almost always built without a license. Since construction is informal and unguided by urban planning, there is a near total absence of formal street grids, numbered streets, sanitation networks, electricity, or telephones. Even if these resources are present, they are likely to be disorganized, old or inferior. Shanty towns also tend to lack basic services present in more formally organized settlements, including policing, medical services, and fire fighting. Fires are a particular danger for shanty towns because of the close proximity of buildings and flammability of materials used in construction.

Shanty towns usually have a high rates of crime, suicide, and disease.

Examples

Shanty towns are present in a number of countries including South Africa (where they are often called squatter camps), the Philippines (often called squatter areas), Chile (where they are referred to as poblaciones callampas), Argentina (where they are referred to as villas miseria), Venezuela (where they are known as barrios), Brazil (where slums and shanty towns are known as favelas) and Peru (where they are known as pueblos jóvenes).

In many countries there are now large movements of shanty town residents. For example in South Africa Abahlali baseMjondolo have become a significant political force in the city of Durban.

Many countries have a name for marginal settlements:

• Asentamientos (settlements) in Guatemala
• Bidonvilles in French-speaking territories
• Cantegriles in Uruguay
• Ciudades perdidas (lost cities) in Mexico
• Colonias along the Mexican-American border
• Favelas in Brazil
• Gecekondu in Turkey
• Invasiones (invasions) in Ecuador and Colombia
• Khoshash in the Middle East
• Jhugi in India
• Kachi abadi in Pakistan
• Kijiji in Kenya
• Mudduku in Sri Lanka
• Penghu in China
• Poblaciones callampas in Chile
• Chacarita Paraguay
• Pueblos jóvenes (young towns) or barriadas in Peru
• Ranchos or barrios in Venezuela
• Squatter camps or imijondolo in South Africa
• Villas miseria (poverty towns) in Argentina
• Bairro de Lata in Portugal
• Lušnynai in Lithuania
• Barrio in Dominican Republic
• Migrant Camp in San Diego
• Precario in Costa Rica

See also

• Ghetto
• Poverty
• Refugee shelter
• Slum
• Squatting
• Tent city

External link

• Slate article about an economist proposing New Orleans to be reconstructed with shanties
• Website for a large movement of shanty town residents in South Africa