Assessing benefits of slum upgrading programs in second-best settings

Abstract

Slum formation is occurring at unprecedented rates. A report by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat, 2003) estimated the number of slum dwellers in 2001 at almost 1 billion, about 32% of the global urban population. While the representation of slum dwellers in the urban population varies across regions, there is no doubt that slum formation is a daunting problem. Slum dwellers account for 71.9% of the urban population in Sub-Saharan Africa, 58% in Southcentral Asia, 36.4% in East Asia, and 32% in Latin America and the Caribbean. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in his foreword to the UN-Habitat report, warned that if no serious action is taken, the number of slum dwellers worldwide is projected to rise over the next 30 years to about 2 billion (p. v). © 2009 Springer Netherlands.