The Recipe for Regressive Urbanization - Essay Example

Module Differences in Views between Municipal Governments and Slum Residents: A Recipe for Regressive Urbanization Meaningful improvements of life and conditions in the slums have been hindered by the broken and antagonistic relationship between municipal governments and slum residents as evidenced by their divergent views on slums. Slum residential areas have always existed in societies for ages and as of today many people still reside in slums. Slums have always been characterized by some of the worst living conditions that can be conceptualized from serious public health concerns, crime and other problems albeit present in other sections of society but here amplified to dehumanizing extents. In light of this, it would be ignorant to think that successive authorities and stakeholders concerned have not made efforts to address the situation but this begs the question, is it impossible to eradicate slums as the world enters a post modern era? What is the reason behind the failures of slum upgrading projects? Possible answers to these questions lie in studying the slums themselves and the dynamics that characterize the visions to make life better in the slums with special reference to municipal efforts versus the views of the slum residents. “How the other Half Lives” by Jacob Riis is an important piece of work that can give critical insights into the relationship between arms of the municipal government and the residents of slums. Sprawling slums in the form of tenements had developed in New York mostly due to emigration into the city accompanied by impoverishment as evidenced by “A Nation by Design: Immigration Policy in the Fashioning of America” by Aristide Zolberg (115). The poor relationship between these two parties and their differences in perspectives on the slums is the main reason behind regressive slum improvement. The Relationship between Slum Residents and the Authorities: It is perhaps wise to start by establishing the gains made in improving the lives of the individuals and families residing in slums. One instance in which cooperation is clearly visible is in the face of an oncoming disaster where the slum community and the relevant arms of municipal government cooperate and help to reduce the impact of such an eventuality. Riis (11) details a case in which an expected outbreak of cholera and the catastrophe in terms of deaths it would cause galvanized the slum community into cooperation with the government resulting in formation of the Board of Health and enacting of the Tenement House Act of 1867. These were two steps in the direction of remedial legislation that found goodwill with the tenement dwellers. Amidst much opposition from the house owners who found it a cost to improve the dwelling units and some tenants who wished to be left alone by the authorities, the instituted Board made gains in terms of improving ventilation and sunlight penetration in the tenements albeit after nearly five years. The durability of housing units alongside the accompanied overcrowding in slums is an issue of much importance as evidenced by its prioritization in the millennium development goals (Moreno 50). In this respect, the condition of housing in terms of whether it is dilapidated beyond repair or whether it can be repaired is the central issue (51). This is another situation in which the cries of the tenants can be seen to be handled by the authorities in terms of forcing the house lords to improve the conditions of the dwelling units at least to commensurate to the high rent charges they impose on their tenants. Daniel Murphy, an old house owner made a fortune out of the tenements, running into hundreds of thousands of dollars yet stubbornly refused to renovate the houses since it would be cost him (Riis 18). Murphy deems the blind residents as not deserving to dwell in proper houses (19). The municipal is present to save the tenants from their plight through forcing Murphy to repair the old buildings and to clean them up. One area that causes major concern among slum dwellers and the authorities is health especially considering the fact that an epidemic is much harder to tame in the crowded slums (Moreno 25). We can see a mutual appreciation of this fact and a willingness to cooperate between the tenements’ residents and the Board of Health as depicted by Riis (77). The months of July and August were particularly harrowing to parents in the tenements as their little ones died of disease outbreaks. The Board of Health sent the so-called “summer doctors” who were specially trained to handle disease outbreaks in the tenements. These doctors supplied free medicine and gave crucial medical advice to the residents. The mothers devotedly took this up and provided the much needed care for the sick children and although the efforts were not quite successful it indicated mutual understanding and cooperation between the authorities and the slum residents in a bid to make life better. While efforts to address the conditions in the already established slums are important, considerations on the standards of new slums that sprout up or new buildings within existing slums are equally crucial in arresting the situation and preempting suffering of the individuals that will take up residence in such houses. It is with this understanding that a sanitary reform rule was put in place to manage new buildings in Riis’s New York; a move that was accompanied by considerable success in terms of arresting child deaths during outbreaks. A census that included a comparison with mortality rates revealed that there were much fewer deaths in these structures as compared to the old ones; the rate of death from diseases fell as the tenement buildings grew taller. This led Riis to conclude that no amount of improvement could change the situation in the old tenement structures leaving their ultimate destruction as the best choice (78). The new structures are an additional indication that cooperation between the slum dwellers and the authorities in identification of problems, devising of strategies and implementation has resulted in improvement of situations in slums. The cases of considerably successful relationships discussed above however fail in the face of explaining why slums still abound hence the idea of the authorities and slum residents reading from the same page must be muted. The arms of municipal governments concerned with improvement of the situations in the slums have largely failed to be in harmony with what the slum residents visualize and at times the views of the two parties have been in collision courses thus leading to failure in efforts to eradicate slum problems. This disconnect in what should be done in the slums is clearly visible in several aspects of Riis’ work. A case in point here is when the Board of Health reigned upon Daniel Murphy leading to clean up and repairs on his housing structures in a bid to improve the lives of the tenants most of whom were blind (18). The outcome of this move was largely bizarre with the tenants refusing to inhabit the renovated houses claiming that the reconstruction had destroyed the home feeling of the original residence hence they moved out and failed to ever come back. In other cases the police officers had to force out the tenants from their dilapidated dwelling structures (11). Such scenarios indicate that there is failure to incorporate the views of the slum dwellers when the authorities formulate plans to improve slums leading to failure of such efforts. The cause of such disagreement on slum improvement lies in poor communication and outright disregard of the slum dwellers’ perspectives by the concerned authorities resulting in policies that do not augur well with most residents. The relationship between the slum dwellers and authorities is full of mistrust, contempt and disregard which is unhealthy for slum improvement. On one side, the slum residents would wish to be left alone by the authorities since the governments have already failed them in provision of basic resources and infrastructure and only appears interested in interfering with their source of livelihoods which is usually not legitimate. Most slum dwellers appear to be antiestablishment viewing the authorities’ perspective as a manifestation of spreading the status quo hence their relationship with the authorities is strained. A look into the work of Riis clearly indicates these sentiments among the residents of the tenements in New York. Riis (11) observes that tenants and house owners alike viewed official interference into their activities as infringement on their freedoms and rights and a way of placing hardships on their lives. Due to this, both parties resisted the Board of Health’s efforts to upgrade the tenements from the inhumane conditions they were in. Decades of agitation on the part of the residents had been ignored by the authorities and as a result they had sunk to the life of the tenements and keen to remain that way, viewing the authorities with a great deal of suspicion. The authorities on their part view the residents of slums as individuals primarily concerned to make a living out of illegal avenues as evidenced by the amount of policing undertaken by the authorities in such places. They approach the residents suspiciously with conviction that any one of them could be up to an illegality hence further straining the relationship between the two. This is demonstrated by Riis on the several instances he accompanies enforcement officers into the tenements of New York where we can see the authorities out to make arrests and the residents trying their best to elude this. The approach of the police towards the residents of the tenements is that of dealing with a criminal as evidenced by the view that police consider that nine out of ten cases an individual turns out to be a criminal i.e. thief, burglar or even a murderer. This situation thus necessitated the continuous presence of police surveillance in the tenements. This is the kind of relationship that exists between the slum residents and authorities even today serving to impede any improvements instituted on the slums as the two most important parties in the issue are already in strained relationships. The interaction between slum residents and the authorities is characterized by conflict which hinders any meaningful development form being undertaken in the slums. Riis details several incidents in which health officials and policemen sought to enforce rules on the number of residents in one dwelling unit. At all times, the residents tried to escape and in most cases hid and only returned after the authorities had left (Riis 35). In one incident the house owner gladly indicated cooperation with the regulation on the number of residents per dwelling unit but would later open the houses for more individuals when the law enforcers left. This is an indication of the fact that slum residents do not regard the efforts of the authorities as relevant in slum upgrading. CONCLUSION Although there are several cases in which there is positive relationship between the authorities and slum residents leading to certain improvements, much evidence points to a broken and antagonistic relationship between the two parties leading to a conclusion that this is a major reason behind the failure of meaningful improvement of the slums. Goodwill and positive relationships between the governing bodies and the slum dwellers are integral in finding a solution to the current stalemate in improvement of slums alongside sustainable urbanization in future that will be unaccompanied by development of slums. There is a general lack of agreement on the best methods to undertake the much desired slum improvement with both parties viewing each other with disregard and suspicion hence hampering cooperation that would ultimately result in effective modalities for the improvement of slums. Works Cited Moreno, L. Eduardo. Slums of the World: the Face of Urban Poverty in the New Millennium? : Monitoring the Millennium Development Goal, Target 11--World-wide Slum Dweller Estimation. UN-Habitat, 2003. Print. Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York. USA. Digireads.com Publishing, 2005. Print. Zolberg, R. Aristotle. A Nation by Design: Immigration Policy in the Fashioning of America. USA. Harvard University Press, 2008. Print. Read More