Tags: Informal settlements, Poverty, Urbanization, Slums, Environment, Development, Sustainability, Partnerships

Poverty and rapid urbanization are two of the greatest challenges facing Africa today. The current Millennium Development Goals underline the need to urgently improve the lives of millions of slum dwellers around the world, and to reduce the number of people without sustainable access to drinking water and sanitation. With the dramatic increase in the numbers and proportion of people living in cities in Africa, urban slums and irregular settlements have become so pervasive that they now outnumber legally planned developments, and their social legitimacy appears to be no longer in question; however, the appalling environmental conditions associated with these settlements constitute a major threat to the health and well-being of the urban community.

The urban poor.pdf