Final answer:
Slum areas, also known as squatter settlements, are impoverished urban neighborhoods characterized by overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions. These areas lack basic public services and often have high crime rates and health problems. Slums can be found in both developed and developing countries.
Step-by-step explanation:
Slum areas, also known as squatter settlements, are impoverished urban neighborhoods characterized by overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions. These areas lack basic public services such as electricity, running water, sewage disposal, and transportation systems. Slums often have high crime rates, health problems, air pollution, and trash buildup. Examples of slums include barrios in South America, favelas in Brazil, and self-constructed slums in Africa.
Slums can be found in both developed and developing countries. In the past, poor workers in cities like New York lived in tenements, which were rundown and overcrowded buildings that often lacked proper sanitation and hygiene. Slums and tenements are similar in that they are densely populated, dirty, and unsanitary areas.
In Latin American cities, the poorest of the poor often live in the far suburbs or squatter zones. These areas are characterized by a lack of public infrastructure such as highways, bus lines, sewers, freshwater, and electrical networks. It may take many years for governments to develop these services in squatter zones, leading to a persistence of poverty and inadequate living conditions.