DISCUSSION NOTE

WHAT IS A SLUM ?

It has been long since a number of non-government

organizations are working for the welfare of poor communities
living in urban areas. But as it is very difficult to define and
categorize who and which community is poor, so is difficult
to assert which community is a slum.

Adequate and quality data and information about status

of poor, their whereabouts, their existing sources of water,
their willingness to pay for water, etc. are very essential
to develop pro-poor water supply policy. Since it will
only be like beating the bush to do something on for
the slum community without scientifically defining them,
the NGO Forum for Urban Water and Sanitation has
tried to come to a more acceptable definition of slum
through a “brainstorming” workshop. The given definition here is based on the workshop, held on 9th November
2004, and further studies that followed it.

Defining an area as a slum area is very complex task since there is no any authentic definition or documentation
exists in the country for defining slum. Organization like LUMANTI has developed its own criteria for slum for Nepal
and UN Habitat has its own criteria for defining slum. In the workshop, the Forum invited different government and
non-government organizations, municipalities, professionals, social worker and individuals who have potentiality to
provide valuable inputs in developing such criteria.

Following paragraphs presented useful definitions of slums shared in the session, some important characters of
slums identified by brainstorming, primary list of indicators to be taken into consideration in developing criteria for
defining slums and criteria for defining slums in Nepal.

Existing definitions of slums:

Different organizations have coined different definitions of slum for their working purposes. Among them, the
definitions of slums provided by LUMANTI for Nepal and definition of slum by UN Habitat are worthy to share.

1. Definition of slum by Lumanti:

Slum communities are defined by

poverty, low income, inadequate living
conditions and sub-standard facilities.
These communities are usually inhabited
by socially disadvantaged people (people
regarded as lower caste). Unlike squatter
settlements, the residents of these slum
areas generally own their land and
houses, which are very small in size and
have formal title papers (Lalpurja) to prove
their ownership. These communities are
also officially recognized by authorities.

On the other hand, a slum area, where

the residents do not have Lalpurjas is
defined as a squatter settlement. Thus, all
squatter settlements are slums but a slum
may not be a squatter settlement.

2. Definition of slum by UN Habitat:

A slum is an area that combines to various extents the following characteristics-

• Inadequate access to safe water
• Inadequate access to sanitation and other infrastructure
• Poor structural quality of housing
• Overcrowding
• Insecure residential status
Important characteristics of slums in Nepal:

• A slum is a cluster of houses - a slum is an area therefore, an individual house is not considered as a slum.
• Slum areas are generally found in periphery of old inner city, which is a marginalized area from the point
of view of old settlements and these days,
which is being occupied by new migrants.
• Lack of access to public services – a slum
generally lacks access to public services
such as sewerage, water supply, roads,
street lamps etc. or even if they have them,
they provide poor service facilities.
• Over crowded area – a slum generally have
high density of people within the dwelling
unit on the basis of space occupancy.
Small houses or huts with narrow and dark
street lanes characterize slums in most of
the cases.
• Low income group – residents of the slum
belongs to low income or economically
deprived group such as poor tenants. In
some areas, they can also be the people,
displaced by disasters or conflict.
• Socially deprived – residents of the slum
may also belong to socially deprived group such as “lower castes”.
• Poor housing – houses in the slum area generally used low-cost building construction materials with poor
hygiene and sanitation.

Primary list of indicators:

1. Population density – Population density of that area

2. Infrastructure – Accessibility to public services such as road, water supply, sewerage in that area
3. Income – Income of the residents living in that area
4. Social status – Social status of the residents living in that area, proballby in terms of “caste”
5. Construction material of houses – Construction materials used in the houses of that area
6. Legal aspect – Land ownership status in that area
7. Health and sanitation – Health and sanitation status of the houses in that area

Criteria developed for defining slums in Nepal:

Slum is defined as a cluster of houses with following criteria:

1. Crowded - Population density of that area is very high, that is the population size is much higher in comparison
to the land they occupy.
2. Low income - Majority of residents in that area has very low income or they are economically deprived.
3. Socially deprived - Majority of residents in that area is socially deprived such as lower cast people.
4. Infrastructure – The area do not have or very poor accessibility to basic public services such as road, water
and sewerage.

Slum area is generally named by the name of settlement (eg. tole). Houses in the slum area generally have land
ownership with some exceptional case. A slum without land ownership houses are called as a squatter settlement.
Some challenges and recommendation in identifying slums:

Some challenges that may encounter during identification of slums are as follows. The challenges are also followed
by recommendations to deal them.

• There are some areas in Kathmandu Valley (e.g. Bode),

which used to be public land long time back and later
was encroached by local residents and still occupying
by them. Such area should not be considered as a
squatter settlement.

• There is no official standard for defining poor in

Nepal. So it is very difficult to define low-income
group or economically deprived people in urban area.
Therefore, it is important to define urban poor prior to
defining slums in urban areas.

• Low cast people has been considered as a socially

deprived people in most of the identified slums. But
even displaced people are also found living in slums.
People displaced from conflict also are recognized as
social deprived people. Therefore, it is important to
define who the socially deprived people are.

• Density of the people as one of the criteria in defining

slum may not work in case of the area where household
size varies frequently. That may happen in the poor
rental areas. It is important to know the mobility pattern
of residents in such area.

• It was mentioned that a slum has to be named by name of settlement like tole. But demarcation of slum in
such case is not always easy as the slums may extend to larger space in the course of time.

• A slum is a cluster of houses, defining the smallest cluster size is very difficult.

• All slums should not have same grade. A grading of slums is essential so that they can be addressed as per
their grade.

• There are some areas like Asan, which meet all criteria of a slum except the “low income”.

There is no any authentic Nepali word to define slum. A proper Nepali word has to be created
with the help of linguists as soon as possible. NGOFUWS has requested all to mail at
ngoforum@mail.com.np, if any one come up with a proper Nepali word.

For more information, please contact:

119 Purneshwor Marg, Tripureshwor, G.P.O.Box: 21036, Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel: 977-01-2042122, Fax: 977-1-4218386
E-mail: ngoforum@mail.com.np, URL: www.ngoforum.net