squatter settlements, with some estimates running as high as one billion, and in
some cities the residents living in such conditions may approach one-quarter of
thepopulation, although exact figures for the number of people living in local
squatter neighborhoods are frequently difficult to obtain. In the Spanish-speaking
countries of Latin America squatter settlements are locally referred to asbarrios,
while in Brazil a community of illegal residents is called afavela. The city of Sao
Paulo, Brazil’s most populous city, has more than 600 of these settlements, and
the United Nations estimates that about 26 percent of Brazil’s total population lives
as squatters. In South Africa the local squatter settlements are called shanty towns.
The shanty towns found around South African cities have expanded exponentially
over the past 20 years, due to the elimination of the laws that prohibited blacks from
settling in many urban areas. Under the system of apartheid, the white-dominated
government had created some squatter communities by forcefully relocating illegal
residents to maintain racialsegregationin urban areas; but as apartheid was dis-
mantled, many rural blacks migrated to the cities and established new shanty towns.
Regardless of where the squatter settlement is located, all such developments
share some basic characteristics. Housing is inferior, often built haphazardly on
unstable ground like the sides of hills and ravines. Building materials are usually
scrap wood and sheet metal, cardboard and plastic. Most of the structures lack floor-
ing, and frequently thousands of shacks, perhaps homes to ten thousand people, are
constructed without any plumbing. Because the settlement is illegal and unplanned,
in most cases streets are unpaved, narrow, and lack any naming system or other
means of identification, just as individual residences have no numeral system of
location. Running water is often available only at some distance, because water
lines are usually not supplied to squatter settlements by municipal governments,
and communal spigots are frequently the only source of water.
The lack of sanitation is a major problemin squatter settlements. Trash and
debris may accumulate in large piles, attracting rats, and residents who attempt
to burn such refuse risk burning the entire community down, because fire protec-
tion is seldom provided to the squatter areas in many cities. The most serious
threat to public health is the lack of proper sewage disposal. Outdoor toilets that
are improperly situated and may contaminate the local water supply are sometimes
the source of epidemics that may then spread to other parts of the city. Outbreaks
of cholera have occurred in many squatter settlements in tropicalregions,and
because most residents of the squatter neighborhoods cannot afford medical care,
and in fact local clinics or other health care facilities are rare there, almost any dis-
ease tends to spread rapidly in such congested, unsanitary conditions.
High crime rates, fire, andnatural hazardslikeearthquakesrepresent other
challenges to residents of the squatter settlements. Earthquakes and landslides
are a constant threat to many residents of squatter settlements, especially in Latin
Squatter Settlements 321