Informal settlements are growing worldwide — here's what we need to do?
Nearly 1.1 billion people now live in slums of informal settlements. Solving that problem could be a major opportunity — but doing so won't
More people than ever before are living in slums or other informal settlements. This isn't just a global scale problem, though — it's also a global scale opportunity.
The number of people living in slums or other informal settlements has grown by 165 million in the past 20 years, bringing the total to nearly 1.1 billion.
Unable to access affordable housing, families have no alternative to living in substandard homes, with little access to sanitation services, electricity and safe drinking water. Residents of informal settlements often lack security of tenure or land rights, living under the constant threat of eviction.
Nearly 1.1 billion people live in slums and other informal settlements around the world.
A new report models the impact of improving informal settlements, and found it would enable millions of children to attend school and increase some countries GDP by more than 10%.
Solutions include providing land tenure, expanding microloans and supporting low-cost housing start-ups.