ABSTRACT
The prevalence of slum households varies dramatically across cities of the developing world. In some cities, a relatively small percentage of households experience shelter deprivations, or many experience only one barrier to adequate housing. In other cities, a majority of dwellings suffer from two or more shelter deprivations, threatening the health, safety and wellbeing of their inhabitants. This section magnifies the impact of slums on cities, focusing on the spatial component of slum prevalence. It reveals the existence of entire “slum cities”, where urban services are either inadequate for rich and poor alike, or where slum households comprise a significantly large majority of households in the city.
