Poverty, Living Conditions, and Infrastructure Access : A Comparison of Slums in Dakar, Johannesburg, and Nairobi

Gulyani, Sumila ; Talukdar, Debabrata ; Jack, Darby

关键词: ACCESS ROADS;    ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURE;    ACCESS TO SERVICES;    BASIC SERVICES;    BOTTLENECKS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5388
RP-ID  :  WPS5388

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

In this paper the authors compareindicators of development, infrastructure, and livingconditions in the slums of Dakar, Nairobi, and Johannesburgusing data from 2004 World Bank surveys. Contrary to thenotion that most African cities face similar slum problems,find that slums in the three cities differ dramatically fromeach other on nearly every indicator examined. Particularlystriking is the weak correlation of measures of income andhuman capital with infrastructure access and quality ofliving conditions. For example, residents of Dakar'sslums have low levels of education and high levels ofpoverty but fairly decent living conditions. By contrast,most of Nairobi's slum residents have jobs andcomparatively high levels of education, but livingconditions are but extremely bad . And in Johannesburg,education and unemployment levels are high, but livingconditions are not as bad as in Nairobi. These findingssuggest that reduction in income poverty and improvements inhuman development do not automatically translate intoimproved infrastructure access or living conditions. Sincenot all slum residents are poor, living conditions also varywithin slums depending on poverty status. Compared to theirnon-poor neighbors, the poorest residents of Nairobi orDakar are less likely to use water (although connectionrates are similar) or have access to basic infrastructure(such as electricity or a mobile phone). Neighborhoodlocation is also a powerful explanatory variable forelectricity and water connections, even after controllingfor household characteristics and poverty. Finally, tenantsare less likely than homeowners to have water andelectricity connections.