The Slum Upgrading Myth

Abstract

The World Bank's slum upgrading approach, used for the first generation of its urban development projects during the 1970s and 1980s, was considerably influenced by the writing of John F. C. Turner. Turner minimised the role of government, limiting it to providing essential environmental improvements and public services, thereby allowing squatters and/or slum-dwellers to improve gradually their living conditions. While early evaluations of slum upgrading projects in Calcutta, Jakarta and Manila indicated the success of this approach, later evaluations raise doubts about it. The 'minimal state' advocated by Turner is clearly unable to deal with the problems typically emerging from slum upgrading efforts. For these efforts to be sustainable and replicable, more attention must be paid to providing land tenure, requiring a combination of authoritarian and humanistic administration.