Ojämnlikhetens bakgator : en studie om slum, med fokus på SSA och Kenya

Sammanfattning: Today there is more people living in urban areas than in rural; this has changed the structure of the cities and resulted in a faster growing slum in the developing world, especially in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). The purpose of this study is to first give a broad overview of slum characters and motivations, and analyze the fact that slum formation is wider in developing countries than in industrial countries. My point of view in this question is the dependency theory and it´s centre and periphery perspective. The dependency theory argues that the North is imposing a new form of structural violence that was used for decides to maintain these countries in a state of underdevelopment, during the colonial era. The study also intends view methods designed to improve the slum residents living situation. Ultimately, two current projects, in Kenya, that are intended to do so will be presented and top-down and bottom-up tendencies will be analyzed. The general focus will lie on the SSA and Kenya. The applied method for this study consists mostly of documentary and literary analysis. Inequalities both within and between countries has resulted in different access to housing. These inequalities are being imposed through capitalism, Structural Adjustment Programs and the unbalanced trade relations. The methods designed to improve the slum residents living situation has varied from “bulldozer methods” to participation methods, and is still very varied. The applied method usually depends on the operator’s basis to the current structure of power (the global market). If the operator has a critical basis it usually uses bottom-up influenced methods. If the operator, on the other hand, has a positive basis to the structure it uses trickle-down methods. The current projects in Kenya proved the well known tendency, that state methods are more top-down influenced and NGO’s uses more alternative bottom-up methods.