Explosion of Slums in Third world Countries
Davis exploration of the future expectations of urbanization in the radical yet unequally and highly unstable global world indicates that urbanization and industrialization are incoherent. Urbanization always forms aspects of industrialization and economical escalation in most developed countries, but the developing countries are full of shanty housing units that are the habitat for many people, thus making them far from the formal world of economic advancement (Davis, 2006).
According to Davis (2006), the increase of the slums is fully unnoticed by the classic Marxism and other liberation theories such as neo-liberal. The writer presents the global overview of the divers political, religious and ethnic groups or movements, fighting for personal growth and benefits at the expense of the poor.
The writing brings about data from various global locations such as Bombay where he gives the analysis of Hindu fundamentalism, Casablanca in Cairo where he talks of the Islamic resistance among others. His main question regards the role of urbanized and well off economies on the matter slums in developing countries.
Does the exponential growth of the slums have a link to the poor or corrupt administrations? Are the IMF and other handouts such as the structural assistance programs, a massive transfer of the wealth from the poor to the rich? The writing of Davis revamps the myth of ‘self-help salvation,’ indicating irresponsible leadership in support of personal gains while the poor and middle class continues to perish.
There is an indication that the battlefields between the wealthy or economically stable countries and the terrorists are occurring at the poor people peripheries (Davis, 2006). The geographically stable political elites fail to look upon and recognize the existence of problems caused by imperial social controls on the slums.
What causes the urban populations to out number the rural? The urbanization my be catalyzed by Informal wages, food handouts from first world countries, development needs, modernization, poverty or social class status, but the gigantic concentrations of poverty in urban slums are economically and logically unsustainable.
The decoupling of urbanization from industrialization is posing some reality. The growth of populations in the urban centres does not translate to growth of production especially in the sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, Latin America and parts of Asia.
The urbanization without a good link to economical growth of a city means that there are some influences of global politics legacies. The debts of these countries call for the IMF provisions for restructuring the economies. Despite the handouts, the urban unemployment statuses continue in the third world countries.
In some countries that experience negative GDP growth, the urban populace is still high due to the IMF’s enforcement policies to support deregulation of the agricultural sectors, by accelerated provision of surpluses, thus the exodus of rural labour force.
In line with Davis’s writing (2006), there are global forces that push people from the countryside to the urban sectors such as mechanization, food imports, civil wars and drought. Consolidation and mergers of small business to large enterprises and the business competitions for industrial growth are major causes of urbanization even when the economy is weak and countries are heavily indebted.
The IMF, World Bank, WTO and other financial institutions are highly pushing for the structural advancement and growth in the urban centres. The institutions provide the implication that the root cause of the poverty-infested slums has a close connection to governance styles.
According to the IMF reports on the increase of slums in urban centres, globalization and inequality are not the causes of the over-populated slums but poor governance. The structural adjustment programs funded by the IMF are rather neoliberal due to the constant increase in urban slums and thus the cause of poverty. The funds continue to weaken the efforts of the urban elutes to support growth.
One would consider the logic behind the IMF slum structural adjustment program to be restoration of the economy especially in support of the underprivileged majority in the urban centres, but the results is an increase of populations at the centres and brain drains to rich countries. The restructuring adjustments by the IMF and World Bank were a source of displacement for the most urban populace whose destiny was the slums.
According to Davis (2006), considering all he countries the IMF/World Bank offers financial guarantee or assistance, the economy of the poor country succumbs due to devaluation, elimination of the import modus operandi, privatization related issues, enforcement of cost recovery measures especially in the health or education sectors and, food subsidies. These features are all measures that downsize the public sectors.
Conclusion
Is the poverty and slum life becoming a common phenomenon in developing countries? Are the uncontrolled governance and funding for the urbanization by the financial institutions from the well up countries the root causes of the situation? There is a steady alarming rise of the urban population in comparison to the general growth rates. The effects are now traceable to the rural poverty, social problems, governance complexities, violence, insecurity, and poor services provisions.
Reference
Davis, M. (2006) Planet of Slums, London, UK: Verso Publishers, Print