Page 492 - Essencials of Sociology

City Life 465

Cultural Diversity around the World

Why City Slums Are Better Than the

Country: Urbanization in the Least
Industrialized Nations

At the bottom of a ravine near Mexico City is a bunch of
shacks. Some of the parents have 14 children. “We used to
live up there,” Señora Gonzalez gestured toward the moun-
tain, “in those caves. Our only hope was one day to have a
place to live. And now we do.” She smiled with pride at the
jerry-built shacks . . . each one had a collection of flowers
planted in tin cans. “One day, we hope to extend the water
pipes and drainage—perhaps even pave. . . .” Why this rush to live in
And what was the the city under such miser-
name of her commu- able conditions? On the
nity? Señora Gonzalez one hand are the “push”
beamed. “Esperanza!” factors that come from the
(McDowell 1984:172) breakdown of traditional
rural life. More children are
Esperanza means hope in surviving because of a safer
Spanish. water supply and modern
What started as a trickle medicine. As rural popula-
has become a torrent. In tions multiply, the parents
1930, only one Latin Ameri- no longer have enough
can city had over a million land to divide among their
people—now fifty do. The children. With neither land
world’s cities are growing nor jobs, there is hunger
by more than one million and despair. On the other
people each week (Moreno hand are the “pull” fac-
et al. 2012). The rural poor tors that draw people to
are flocking to the cities at the cities—jobs, schools,
such a rate that, as you saw It is difficult for Americans to grasp the depth of the poverty that is the housing, and even a more
in Figure 14.12 on page everyday life of hundreds of millions of people across the globe. This man stimulating life.
459, the Least Industrialized in Cambodia lives in this unused concrete drain pipe. How will the Least
Nations now contain most Industrialized Nations ad-
of the world’s largest cities. just to this vast migration? Removing the migrants by force
When migrants move to U.S. cities, they usually settle in doesn’t work. Authorities in Brazil, Guatemala, Venezuela,
rundown housing near the city’s center. The wealthy live in and other countries have sent in the police and even the
suburbs and luxurious city enclaves. Migrants to cities of the army to evict the settlers. After a violent dispersal, the settlers
Least Industrialized Nations, in contrast, establish illegal squat- return—and others stream in. The roads, water and sewer
ter settlements outside the city. There, they build shacks from lines, electricity, schools, and public facilities must be built.
scrap boards, cardboard, and bits of corrugated metal. Even But these poor countries don’t have the resources to build
flattened tin cans are scavenged for building material. The them. As wrenching as the adjustment will be, these countries
squatters enjoy no city facilities—roads, public transportation, must—and somehow will—make the transition. They have no
water, sewers, or garbage pickup. After thousands of squatters choice.
have settled an area, the city reluctantly acknowledges their
right to live there and adds bus service and minimal water
lines. Hundreds of people use a single spigot. About 5 million For Your Consideration
of Mexico City’s residents live in such squalid conditions, with ↑ What solutions do you see for this river of migration to the
hundreds of thousands more pouring in each year. cities of the Least Industrialized Nations?

Alienation takes many forms, such as the “road rage” that makes the evening news.
You can be following your usual routine, such as driving home from work, when the
unexpected erupts, changing your life forever.

In crowded traffic on a bridge going into Detroit, Deletha Word bumped the car ahead
of her. The damage was minor, but the driver, Martell Welch, jumped out. Cursing, he