MEGA URBAN PROJECTS NO PANACEA TO POVERTY

There are two widely-held schools of thought on urbanisation and poverty. The first is premised on the belief that mega projects attract investments and hence a sure way to fight poverty. The second is grounded on the philosophy of curing social ailments and therefore, creating an ideal environment for all to better their lives.

The former gravitates on the creation of new cities equipped with modern facilities such as malls, education centers, water lines e.t.c while the latter seeks to provide solutions to the needs of the man and woman in the slum and villages. It pushes for the provision of clean drinking water and sewerage services .

Both of them seek to cut down the human suffering by creating an independent citizen. I agree and disagree with this. I'm of the second school of thought. This is why.

There exists a notion that slums are a nuisance to any city development. Governments and individual citizens have often sited this to justify their actions when dealing with slums vis-à-vis mega urban projects. They have demolished shanties  to pave way for what they term as 'engines of economy'. 

They visualize cities without tin structures and streets devoid of beggars. There is nothing wrong with this. But my fear is that this is impossible to achieve. 

Slums form an integral part of the urban landscape. They give life to cities. It's said if you want to get the latest 'discoveries' you need to take a walk to those rundown settlements. Chaps there are so sharp and have solutions for everything.

They are a source of cheap and affordable labour highly needed in industries and homes. They symbolize the urbanized-rural setting - the countryside in the city. 

Which takes me to where I began. How can we breath life into these neglected settlements? The answer is simple. Provide them with the basics: water, electricity, schools, health facilities, security and more importantly sewerage services. With these in place, governments will rest assured that their 'engines of economy' will run without any hitches.