From village to shantytown.

• Author: Teghrarian, Souren
• Position: Effect of massive rural-to-urban migration on children

One of the most striking demographic features of the last half-century is the massive influx of third world populations from rural to urban areas. During this time, populations in towns and cities increased twice as fast as in the rural countryside. It is estimated that by the end of the century roughly one third of the populations of Africa and Asia and two thirds of that of Latin America will be living in cities. This trend towards greater urbanization has profound social consequences for all segments of society, particularly for children who make up half of the urban populations of developing countries. Rural poverty is bad enough, but its problems are compounded when families leave their rural homes to seek a livelihood in overcrowded city slums, leaving behind deep-rooted traditions and ties to the extended family and the village community.

The driving force behind these migrations is not the abundance of jobs in the cities. Only 40 per cent of migrants are lucky enough to find employment in low paying jobs in the informal sector, but that is still better than what the countryside can offer. The newcomers find themselves in an alien environment without adequate resources, and the majority will be forced to enter some sort of "self-employment" - various forms of street vending, or worse, scavenging, begging, crime, prostitution, etc. A survey conducted in Lima shows that three out of four street vendors earn less than the government's minimum wage.

As even the cheapest public housing is beyond their means, they are driven to construct their own dwellings with whatever materials they can get their hands on. The shanties lack water supply, sewage and waste disposal facilities, and are located away from the affluent city centre, requiring unaffordable public transportation to commute for jobs. They are located on lands unsuitable for development, or else the bulldozers will be sent to tear them down. In Rio de Janeiro, "favelas" are built on steep slopes, and every year many shanties are swept down the hill by mudslides during a heavy rain.

The housing problem in third world cities staggers the imagination. About a third of Calcutta's population lives in slums. Other cities are even worse off: up to 85 per cent of Addis Ababa's inhabitants are slum/shantytown dwellers, 59 per cent of Bogota's, 51 per cent of Ankara's, 40 per cent of Manila's; and continent-wide figures show that two thirds of urban residents of Africa, two fifths of Latin...