Monday, November 13, 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
Planet of Slums, Mike Davis
Are poorness and slums around the world an illusion ?
By looking at the numbers that Davis gives, it seems a reality e.g. Indian slums are likely « to grow 250 percent faster than its overall population » and in Africa the « slums are growing at twice the speed of the continent’s exploding cities. » But in reality those numbers are never representing the actual state of poorness. In some cases those numbers are manipulated by the state itself , trying to conserve a "clean image" of the country on national and international basis.
We prefer to hide the poor and so our reality that we do not want to see.
By looking at the numbers that Davis gives, it seems a reality e.g. Indian slums are likely « to grow 250 percent faster than its overall population » and in Africa the « slums are growing at twice the speed of the continent’s exploding cities. » But in reality those numbers are never representing the actual state of poorness. In some cases those numbers are manipulated by the state itself , trying to conserve a "clean image" of the country on national and international basis.
We prefer to hide the poor and so our reality that we do not want to see.