According to the United Nations, through UM-HABITAT, slum is the term that designates areas that house precarious housing, devoid of regularization and public services (treated water, sewage, schools, health clinic, among others).
Currently, around one billion people live in slums around the world. Favelas are characterized by housing low-income people with a low quality of life.
This type of housing is the result of several factors, including: industrialization, mechanization of the countryside and vegetative growth of the urban population.
With the mechanization of the countryside, a very large number of rural workers were left without jobs, at the same time there was the installation of many industries in the main urban centers. This promoted a massive migratory phenomenon called rural exodus. However, cities could not absorb the high number of people and jobs were not enough. To make matters worse, migrants were not qualified to occupy a place in the labor market, thus, no income to buy or rent a house in more central areas, the only alternative was to occupy peripheral areas, usually from third parties or from the government.
The composition of favelas differs according to regions. Due to the situation of poverty inserted in these urban spaces, favelas enter the route of crime, such as drug trafficking and gangs, among other illegal modalities.
Because they occupy inappropriate areas and because of the fragility of the shacks, these are frequently affected by landslides, earthquakes, storms, fires, floods, among others.
By Eduardo de Freitas
Graduated in Geography
Brazil School Team
