Myth 1: You can’t predict how slum populations are going to grow

“One thing that is poorly understood is population growth in Africa,” says William Cobbett, director of Cities Alliance . “It is thought that populations are growing mainly because of urban migration. That’s not correct. Across the continent, the bulk of population growth comes from natural population growth. Undesa figuresfrom 1950-2050 show that in the case of Uganda – the outlier – its population in one century will multiply 20 times. That has never happened in human history.” Tanzania will grow 18 times and Nigeria 10.5. ...

Myth 2: Slum residents would always rather live in formal housing

The bulldozing of slums and the eviction of their residents used to be seen as a good thing. Why would people want to live in squalid, overcrowded spaces with no access to municipal services like water or waste collection? These places were a blight on cities so, if offered an alternative, people would jump at the chance to leave them, right?

Actually, no – especially as traditionally poor planning has sometimes not only left former slum residents in worse housing situations, but crucially also cut off from their old support network. ...

Myth 3: Slums should be treated differently to the rest of a city

Slums are part of the fabric of many cities and many have mighty populations. The informal areas in Cairo are a good example of this. They have among the biggest populations in the region and are given names such as ‘The City of The Dead’. Out of a population of 90 million people, the Housing and Land Rights Network says at least 30% of Greater Cairo’s residents live in slums. ...

Myth 4: It’s possible to discourage people from moving into slums

Alongside population growth, urbanisation is also driving slum growth – people moving to cities to find work. Here, India is a good example – the slum situation there is so vast that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to build 20 million homes. As implausible as this seems – where? how? – it doesn’t change the fact that 41% of the population of Mumbai lives in some kind of slum.

Tony Soares, director of volunteer organisation SlumAid, works primarily with the Baiganwadi slum, which is situated near Mumbai’s largest waste dumping ground.

“You’ve got to find a different solution that takes in the needs of the people who are currently living there. But people keep coming from the villages looking for work and people will find a way to rest their head any way they can,” Soares says.

How can you stop people moving to city slums? You can’t, says Soares: “People move from villages because they have a lot of children and there isn’t enough work. The cities are where they earn money.”