Poverty, Living Conditions, and Infrastructure Access : A Comparison of Slums in Dakar, Johannesburg, and Nairobi
In this paper the authors compare indicators of development, infrastructure, and living conditions in the slums of Dakar, Nairobi, and Johannesburg using data from 2004 World Bank surveys. Contrary to the notion that most African cities face simila...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20100728143906 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3872 |
| Summary: | In this paper the authors compare
indicators of development, infrastructure, and living
conditions in the slums of Dakar, Nairobi, and Johannesburg
using data from 2004 World Bank surveys. Contrary to the
notion that most African cities face similar slum problems,
find that slums in the three cities differ dramatically from
each other on nearly every indicator examined. Particularly
striking is the weak correlation of measures of income and
human capital with infrastructure access and quality of
living conditions. For example, residents of Dakar's
slums have low levels of education and high levels of
poverty but fairly decent living conditions. By contrast,
most of Nairobi's slum residents have jobs and
comparatively high levels of education, but living
conditions are but extremely bad . And in Johannesburg,
education and unemployment levels are high, but living
conditions are not as bad as in Nairobi. These findings
suggest that reduction in income poverty and improvements in
human development do not automatically translate into
improved infrastructure access or living conditions. Since
not all slum residents are poor, living conditions also vary
within slums depending on poverty status. Compared to their
non-poor neighbors, the poorest residents of Nairobi or
Dakar are less likely to use water (although connection
rates are similar) or have access to basic infrastructure
(such as electricity or a mobile phone). Neighborhood
location is also a powerful explanatory variable for
electricity and water connections, even after controlling
for household characteristics and poverty. Finally, tenants
are less likely than homeowners to have water and
electricity connections. |
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