slums

December 6, 2010

Growth, benefits, and dangers of slum tourism

Kenya’s slums attract poverty tourism. (Guardian) Maintaining Dignity. How writers about poverty try to show stories that bring “reality and relationship.” (Compassion International) Think of the harm you might do. The dangers of slum tourism (Guardian). Slumdog Tourism (Kevin Kelly). “Poorism” – where travelers are taken on guided tours through impoverished areas. Also: Poorism, poverty tourism (Boing Boing, 2007) comments on tour companies that specialize in guided tours of Dharavi. Poverty as Entertainment? The thoughts of an African man who grew up in a Nairobi slum on the phenomenon of slum tourism. Does slum tourism make us better people? (Science [...]

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March 24, 2010

Slums in crisis

A new paper by the Humanitarian Futures Programme, Urban Catastrophes, explores how a lack of clean water and sanitation in burgeoning slums could trigger a complex series of humanitarian crises.

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March 22, 2010

The need for toilets

Lack of access to sanitation–read, toilets–is a critical issue of health. “Open defecation” is on the decline but 1.1 billion still practice it, leading to the spread of disease from polluted water. In New York Times. (Although the percentage of the world doing this declined, constant population growth means the absolute number has grown.) The problem is worst in the urban slums.

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