The arts of survival

One of the reasons for slums is...modernization

“One crucial political result of modernization is the gap it produces between countryside and city. This gap is, indeed, a preeminent political characteristic of societies undergoing rapid social and economic change. It is the primary source of political instability in such societies and a principal, if not the principal, obstacle to national integration. Modernization is, in large part, measured by the growth of the city. The city becomes the locus of new economic activities, new social classes, new culture and education, which make it fundamentally different from the more tradition bound countryside.”

“The city and countryside become different nations, different ways of life.”

“Historically, the emigration of the peasant from village cottage to city slum was a decisive and irreversible change. In the later modernizing countries, however, the very process of modernization itself has made the move less decisive and has reduced the gap between city and countryside.” (Samuel P. Huntington, Political order in changing societies, Yale University Press, 1968, p72)

Hidden reason for urbanization is modernization. We can clearly understand why there are slums in the cities. People all over world try to get from countryside to the city. Naturally, everyone understands that you can earn more money and there are more opportunities there.
“The standard of living in the city is often four or five times that of the countryside. Most of those in the city are literate; a substantial majority of those in the countryside are illiterate.”(Samuel P. Huntington, Political order in changing societies, Yale University Press, 1968, p72)

The city is not planned to have so many people living in one space and if there are slums in the city it indicates that state authorities simply can’t afford providing basic facilities for their citizens.