by Lara
I wanted to add to my last post on slums in warmer climates by adding that informal communities exist in all climates, but I feel the way they manifest themselves in different way. Slums in tropical climates (at least form my experience) seem overwhelmingly massive, pushed to the fringes of urban settlements but in a very inclusive manner. At least in Barranquilla, the massive informal settlements engulf surrounding areas but are generally accepted a a part of the city, albeit a poor area of the city.
Columbus, Ohio may be a temperate climate, but that doesn’t mean shantytowns do not exist. A few years ago, there was a major uprising when the city decided to shut down one of the largest informal settlements, mostly of homeless people that existed on the banks of the Olentangy River, literally in the hub of the city, and close to downtown. Most people had no idea this even existed because a highway passed next to most of the river, and the community was by and large mostly hidden from the public.
Shantytowns and othe informal settlements seem to exists with a pretty high frequency in the area of appalachia as well, but unlike their neighbors to the south, these seem to be pretty socially marginalized.
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New York has had it’s share of tent cities and homeless encampments also.
I remember the “Dinkinsvilles” in the East Village that were bulldozed by the city and others that were razed in the desire to push the homeless out of sight. There were several underneath bridges and in subway tunnels. As always, the question is where did the people go? And why wasn’t adequate housing provided?