Final answer:
Slums or squatter settlements are areas lacking basic necessities such as clean water, sanitation, and housing, exemplifying extreme poverty. They arise in rapidly expanding cities with inadequate infrastructure, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and environmental degradation.
Step-by-step explanation:
A place that lacks basic living conditions necessary for its inhabitants to be safe and healthy is often referred to as a slum or squatter settlement. These areas are typically characterized by inadequate sanitation, crowded living conditions, and a lack of essential services like clean water, healthcare, and education. Self-constructed slums usually emerge on the outskirts of large cities in developing countries, marked by rapid urban expansion without corresponding growth in infrastructure. In these settings, residents might face severe challenges, such as poor access to clean water, making it difficult to maintain hygiene and posing a threat to community health.
Historically, during periods of industrialization and urban migration, cities struggled to provide suitable housing, leading to the formation of tenements and slums. Today, slums continue to illustrate extreme poverty, where residents live on less than $1.90 a day and struggle to access even the most basic necessities like adequate food and safe housing. This situation contributes to a cycle of poverty, where the lack of infrastructure and services impedes the residents’ ability to improve their living conditions.
In cities unprepared for rapid population influx, the combination of inadequate housing, sanitation, and transportation often contributes to environmental degradation and psychological stress. This in turn leads to heightened urban challenges, including air pollution, traffic congestion, and health problems. Such environments fall far short of being cities of excellence due to their lack of philosophical understanding of well-being in a more holistic sense.