How can we re-recognise slums as imperatives of urbanisation processes?

Abstract

In this literature review, I tackle the question: “How can we re-recognise slums as imperatives of urbanisation processes?” The use of the word “slum” often categorises and neglects the structures behind the settlements, obscuring linkages between the normative city and the slum. This literature review investigates slums as the materialisation and formal expression of complex political, economic and social structures that have accumulated through time and space. I start from a theoretical framework on subaltern urbanism, then go deeper into different theories on the origins of slums and different perceptions of the economy of slums. To finish, I take up the discussion on urban informality and the power structures behind slum settlements. After all these readings, one question remains: can we still talk about slums once we enter into the complexities of a given settlement?