ISBN: 9788170221289    Publisher: Concept Publishing Year of publishing: 1984     Format:  Hardcover No of Pages: 117        Language: English

Although the slum has come to be regarded as a major problem of urbanization, there have been only a few full length studies of slums which give both insights into as well as a general picture of slum life. This book is an attempt to fill this gap. The authors define and identify different kinds of slum areas and analyse the factors in their emergence and growth in general. They then give a graphic description of a squatters' slum (Peta) in the city of Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) in terms of social composition, demographic features of the slum-dwellers, patterns and causes of rural-urban migration, occupational structure and mobility, work organization of occupational groups and the slum-dwellers form part of the economic, political and social organization of the city. In so doing, the authors attempt to bring out the inherent limitations of the conceptual frameworks of "informal sector" and "culture of poverty" in understanding the nature of the economic and social organization of slums. Based on a classwise examination of the programmes and policies of slum clearance, improvement and control, they advocate a combination of several measures in the urban ideology of town planning and municipal development in favour of the urban poor and the establishment of a Gandhian ashrama type of settlement that will eventually lead to improved environmental conditions and community life in slums.
Both participant observation and survey methods have been used in this study and the result is a book rich in insights that should appeal to those interested in understanding and solving the problem of the urban poor.
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