When a country and its governing leaders govern for occasions or a certain category of people, slums will always be a reality. When a country and its governing leaders are happy with the creation of a few billionaires, millionaires and middle classes only, slums will always be a reality. When a country and its governing leaders practice lopsided economic developments, slums will always be a reality. Slums are the creations of national political failures and the social mortuary of dashed hopes, which shouldn’t have happened in this so-called civilized and developed world.

1. World of Slums: National Epitome of Political Failure
and Social Mortuary for Dashed Hopes
What are two highlights in the world news Medias that has reference to slums? In
the first highlight, CNN news carries the headlines: “Police launch massive sweep of Rio de
Janeiro Slum (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/11/28/brazil.rio.violence/
index.html?hpt=T2).” What is the motive for this massive police clean-up of Rio de Janeiro
Slum? BBC reports that, “Brazilian authorities say the operation aims to make the city safer
ahead of the World Cup in 2014 and Olympic Games in 2016.” So, the motive for the clean-
up is to make the city safer before the start of two world events. Questions are, what will
happen after the two world events are over? Will the Brazilian authorities ensure continuity
of safety in the Rio de Janeiro Slum?
In the second highlight, BBC news carries the headlines: “India’s Ambani hosts party
for ‘world’s priciest home.’” In the same news article, it mentions that, “The house has
sparked some controversy, with anti-poverty campaigners underlining the contrast between
the luxury of the house and the plight of those who live in Mumbai's slums, which house
about half of the city's 18 million people (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-
11854177).” What does the contrast of the anti-poverty campaigners actually show in
regards to slums? Is there a connection between the claims of the anti-poverty campaigners
and the poverty of 9 million people in Mumbai slums? To answer the above questions, let us
begin by understanding, “what are slums?”
What Are Slums?
UN-Habitat describes slums comprehensively. A slum can be summarized as densely
populated settlements made of the poorest quality housing. It lacks basic amenities like
water, electricity, and sanitation. Its people have minimum or sometimes no access to
health-care, education, and legal or social protection. The lack of legal and social protection
is sometimes directly related to the absence of legal tenure for the settlements. It is infested
with diseases and crime. And the people live in abject poverty. How are slums created?
How Are Slums Created?
The causes for slum creations in different countries have different reasons. But three
prevalent reasons can be gleaned from among the numerous reasons:

2. Rural-Urban Worker Migration
Decline of Agriculture-Based Economies
What causes rural-urban migrations? Many reasons can be found for rural-urban
migrations. Among them is the decline of agriculture-based economies in rural areas.
Decline in agriculture-based economies is many times due to the national economic policy
that focuses on industry and technologies. In the worst scenarios, unplanned rush to
transform agriculture-based economies to industrial and technology based economies might
end in economic and social disasters. One of the end-results of such disasters is the
desperate rural-urban migration of people who have lost their means of survival, who
migrate to the cities in search of a better quality of life and future.
Younger Generations Inadaptability to Rural Life
Unlike their parents and grandparents, many younger generations cannot adapt to
rural life, which lacks many amenities and facilities which are taken for granted in the cities.
Lack of amenities and facilities in rural areas are generally directly related to the neglect of
federal and state governments in providing an equal amount of resources for rural
developments as the cities. Thus, the legitimate yearning of the rural younger generations
to have a better quality of life drives them to risk an unknown future in the cities. Their
success or failure in making a life for themselves is dependent on many factors: education,
skills, monetary resources, social support, and the opportunity to find work. Those who
succeed may join the middle class while those who fail may end up in the city slums. It is to
be noted between male and female rural-urban migrant workers, the females risk more in
terms of all their potential exploitations and abuses in the cities. Any form of uncontrolled
rural-urban worker migrations contributes to an uncontrolled urbanization.
Uncontrolled Urbanization
Uncontrolled urbanizations can turn cities into slums. Population density affects
housing developments and property prices. Ability of existent public amenities, facilities and
services, to cope with increase demands of additional population needs may end in failure.
Economic opportunities may diminish leading to the loss of a means of survival for the
average wage earner. This may contribute to rise in crimes and other social ills, abuses,
exploitations and corruptions. It leads to socials situations where dog begins to eat other
dogs.
Foreign Migrant Workers, a Result of Globalization
To add to the problems of uncontrolled urbanization, influx of foreign migrant
workers, resulting from globalization, contributes to the city slum problems. The motive
and reasons of foreign worker migration is similar to internal rural-urban worker migration,
a hope for better quality of life and future. But the end result for foreign migrant workers

3. may also be equally the same with internal rural-urban migrant workers – a slum life. The
reasons are the same. There are not enough economic opportunities. The results will also be
the same: crimes, social ills, abuses, exploitations and corruptions. So, why do all these
takes place? When a city or part of a city transforms into slums, what does it symbolize?
What Do Slums Symbolize of a Nation?
Political leaders are elected as political managers to govern the country, its
cities, towns and villages with millions of citizens whose basic hope is to have a better
quality of life. In accepting the governing powers from the people, the political managers
are supposed to fulfill these basic dreams of the people. But when a city or part of a city
transforms into slums, it symbolizes national political failure. Any economic lacks or failures
reflect the national political failures of its governing political managers – the elected leaders.
How?
Political Failures
Firstly, the transformation of cities into slums is an undeniable event that confirms
political failures. What kind of political failures? A lack of political foresight, that fails to
foresee the dangers of lopsided economic developments. Such failures in foresight, results
from a mono-perspective of economic success, both in terms of the type, the means, the
range and the category of beneficiaries. In a family, all family members are equally
important. In a country that is governed like a family, all the people, rural and urban will be
equally important in economic developments. And all economic activities (agriculture,
technology, informational, and industry) would be equally significant in contributing to the
wellbeing of a nation’s economic. Politicians many times fail to see this simple principle.
Lack of political wills, to design, implement, control and follow-up balanced and
spaced-out developments of rural and urban cities, towns and villages. Balanced and
spaced-out developments across a country (whole nation), would avoid all the ingredients
that transforms cities into slums. It would create more economic opportunities for survival,
more living spaces, and more accessibility to public amenities and facilities, and more
people across the country would enjoy economic success and prosperity. When people can
find work, amenities, facilities, and resources wherever they are, they won’t be an urgent
need to migrate anywhere. Worker migration, whether it is local and internal or foreign and
external, is an indication of the lack of economic opportunities, amenities, facilities and
resources in a country. So, the people migrate in hope of a better quality of life and future.
Social Mortuary for Dashed Hopes
Secondly, the transformation of cities into slums is an undeniable event that creates
a social mortuary for dashed hopes. A mortuary is a storage place for corpses awaiting

4. decent disposal. When the dreams and hopes of migrating people and workers, both local
and foreigners, end up in a slum – the slum becomes the social mortuary for their dashed
hopes awaiting eviction, deportation or death. When elected political leaders become a
contributing factor in the creation of slums through their political failures, they also are
responsible for the dashed hopes of millions of their people who hoped for a better quality
of life. When people live in slum environments which are social mortuaries of the modern
world, what will happen?
What Slums Can Breed?
Misery and hopelessness
An unfilled hope creates misery, and, when misery is unaddressed, it creates
hopelessness.
Feeling of Injustice
Hopelessness in turn creates the feeling of injustice especially when the slum
dwellers look up to see the middle and upper class of people living their comfortable lives.
Exploitation by Criminals
Their feeling of injustice then creates a fertile mind for criminals to exploit. Crimes in
the slums are the expressions of normal people who are desperate to survive because their
political leaders have failed them. And the middle and upper classes have no time and
sympathy for them. They are on their own. Being exploited, abused and terrorized by even
those who are suppose to protect them, the criminals become the slum dwellers’ saviors.
Crime becomes a slum culture.
Breeding Grounds for Potential Terrorists.
If nothing is done to resolve the exploitation of normal people whose suffering is a
mockery of the modern day social justice, one day these very slums will become the active
recruiting depots for potential terrorists. For people who have lost all hope, the next level of
their exploitation after criminals and crime, will be terrorists and terrorism.
Conclusion:
When a country and its governing leaders govern for occasions or a certain category
of people, slums will always be a reality. When a country and its governing leaders are
happy with the creation of a few billionaires, millionaires and middle classes only, slums will
always be a reality. When a country and its governing leaders practice lopsided economic

5. developments, slums will always be a reality. Slums are the creations of national political
failures and the social mortuary of dashed hopes, which shouldn’t have happened in this so-
called civilized and developed world.