Slums in Metro Manila

Almost 1 billion people live in slums worldwide and the highest number is in Asia. That is about 1 in 7 people. About 20 million people live in the slums in the Philippines alone, and 1/10 of them live in Metro Manila.

Most of these people who end up in slum areas were once village people (poor farmers) who sought better jobs in the city.

I've read something more in detail why it all happened.

The reasons why squatter settlements occur in the third world cities can be broken down into two main reasons:

Pull factors and Push factors.

"Pull factors" are the reasons why people are attracted to move TO a particular area, and "Push factors" are what make them go FROM where they are at the moment.

Push factors might include:

Farming is not invested in - without investment, people who live in rural areas (who mostly farm) cannot improve yields and so have little to eat/sell.

Extreme physical conditions such as aridity, mountains - these can make life difficult, from simple points as the daily weather to growing crops.

Overpopulation - too many people and not enough resources.

Mechanization causes a reduction in the number of jobs - this means people are forced to look elsewhere for jobs.

Pressure on the land.

Natural disasters kill crops, people and livestock - the more that is lost, the less people have.

Starvation - this could be caused by famine, and so people are forced to move to where there is a food supply.

Overgrazing - this causes soil erosion and loss of yields.

Local communities forced to move - war, famine, etc... can force people to go to safer places.

Lack of services (such as hospitals and schools) - people would want to find a better education and level of health care for themselves and their families.

Families do not own land - this means landowners can evict people whenever they want.

Pull factors might include:

Looking for better paid jobs - urban areas are larger and have more and a larger variety of paid work.

Better chance of putting children through school - urban areas hav schools.

Expect more comfortable housing - with services such as electricity and water available, this should improve quality of life.

Religious and political activities can be carried out more safely in cities.

Have a higher quality of life.

Attracted to the 'bright lights' of opportunity - urban areas are perceived as having greater chances for so many different reasons.

Better chance of access to services - a higher concentration of them in urban areas, should increase chances of access, as there are little (if any) in many rural areas.

More reliable food sources - instead of relying on growing own crops, buy it with wages instead.

No bureaucracy and zero property taxes.

Once these people get to the city, they realize that jobs are difficult to find and that they cannot afford housing, with the little money they brought with them, so they build their own homes on land that no one owns (or is owned by the government) called favelas. While the favelas have drug traffickers, most people who live in the favelas are honest people, and many have jobs that are not well paid but do provide some income for their families.

This is true in many third, second and sometimes first world countries. The problem is that people often 'give up' all they have in their home town in order to travel to the 'big city' to make their fortune. They arrive in the city with little money they have left runs out, and they are left with no means to travel back to their hometown (assuming they had something to go back to) and so they have to make the best of life in the big city i.e. no jobs, no income, no permanent/safe home. Usually the slums have a community, and these communities have a positive and negative side. Because people are sometimes desperate for money, they might turn to drug dealing, theft, prostitution, etc... on the other hand, many of these communities have their own 'welfare' systems. Charitable organizations often work in these communities providing food and water, health care, sanitation and sometimes education. in other words, even though people might not have any income, their lives can still be better than in their home towns.