What would happen, if there were no slums at all? Would urbanization continue to function as it does?

Urban areas, defined as densely populated areas with a high proportion of non-agricultural workers, are typically characterized by high levels of economic activity and access to amenities and services. Here the living conditions are quite satisfactory and with better job opportunities.

In contrast, slums are often found on the outskirts of cities and are characterized by poor housing, inadequate infrastructure, and limited access to basic services such as clean water and sanitation.

But the question is,

Can The Urban Cities Run Without The Slum Dwellers?

It is unlikely that urban cities can function without the contributions of the individuals and families living in slums. Many slum dwellers work in various sectors including construction, manufacturing, and domestic work, providing essential labour that helps drive the economy of the city.

Slums majorly dominate urban people’s everyday lives, without them, their hectic lives become more tricky. It becomes very difficult for them to make a balance between their working life and their personal life.

Yes, it is common to see slums located near urban cities as a result of rural poor migrating to urban areas in search of better job opportunities and facilities. The high cost of living in urban areas and the lack of affordable housing options often lead to these individuals and families becoming trapped in overcrowded and inadequate housing, such as small, cramped apartments.

The lack of access to basic necessities like clean water and sanitation, coupled with limited economic opportunities, can make life in these slums very difficult. This often leads to a divide between the urban and slum areas, with limited interaction and understanding between the two groups.

However, without the resilience of slum dwellers, the city would crumble.

Life In Urban Cities Without Slums

There is no denying that urban slums have increased the burden on cities. Earlier people used to search for opportunities in the agriculture sector and in rural areas. Now slums act as a magnet for the rural poor to attract them toward city life.

India has a significant problem with urban slums, with 17% of the population living in slums, which accounts for 64 million people. Mumbai, in particular, has a high population of slum dwellers, with 41.3% of the population living in slums.

Dharavi, which is located in Mumbai, is the largest slum in Asia. The shortage of land and a high number of job seekers are major factors contributing to the growth of slums in urban areas.

Slums are indeed a complex challenge for both the government and urban populations. On the one hand, they present a range of social and economic problems such as poverty, overcrowding, inadequate housing and sanitation, and limited access to basic services and opportunities.

While in contrast, slums also play an important role in the functioning of urban areas by providing a source of labour, goods, and services.

Urban life is very busy and hectic, in which the household barely finds time for household things like cooking, house cleaning, etc. This is often due to the demands of work and other responsibilities, which make it difficult for people to manage their time effectively.

Whereas, many slum dwellers are looking for work in order to support their families and make ends meet in the expensive urban environment.

To make life easy for busy urban, slum dwellers enrolled in many works. Some of them are self-employed and pull rickshaws day-night and some of them clean roads which help urban enjoy a fresh morning walk.

Many females from these slum areas work as a babysitter and maids, and do household work like cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, etc. Also, we see many street vendors who sell delicious street foods like Panipuri (water balls), Momos (Dumplings), Vada paw, running Small Dhabas, etc. They also work as a milkman, vegetable sellers, laundry, newspaperman, electricians, plumbers, construction workers, etc.

You may underestimate these slum people but in fact, they are the people behind the smooth functioning of Urban life.

The Daily Challenges of Slum Life

Despite having job opportunities and living a city life, slum dwellers are facing huge problems in day-to-day life. They work day and night to earn good wages and to provide a better life for their children. But then there are also enormous issues like basic healthcare, affordable houses, quality education, water sanitation, etc.

Lack of basic amenities

It’s a huge challenge for them to get drinkable water and proper sanitation. Many a time they face a shortage of electricity and healthcare facilities. They often face the problem of clean roads and drainage systems. Their houses are filled with rainwater during monsoons which create diseases like flu and dengue. It’s an irony that those people who clean roads for others are deprived of these basic things themselves.

Overcrowded rooms and locality

Due to the shortage of land & space in an urban area and high property cost, these slum people are bound to live in low-space areas. Often 5 to 6 members live in a single room where they cook, sleep and live.

Poor Education

Most of the slum dwellers are not in a position to send their children to a good school. And due to the high living costs in urban cities, many of them don’t send their children to schooling. We can see small children working in a house as a sweeper or a waiter in hotels which also contributes to child labour issues in developing countries.

Inadequate healthcare system

Slum dwellers often suffer from various health issues such as HIV, cancer, flu, and tuberculosis, due to cramped and unsanitary living conditions. They lack access to proper and affordable healthcare to address these issues.

Despite facing many challenges, slum dwellers consistently strive to improve their living conditions and make their lives better.

There is a clear intersection between these two scenarios, where busy urban people need help with household chores and slum dwellers are looking for jobs to support their families.

There is a win-win situation for both of them by creating employment opportunities for slum dwellers to work as domestic helpers for urban households, thus providing a source of income for slum dwellers and helping to ease the burden of household tasks for urban residents.

In the midst of chaos, the slums stand strong, the unsung heroes of the urban jungle

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They invented light, cement, gadgets, and some unimaginable things that become the necessity of life. Then there comes modernization that increased the perfection of the lifestyle we are living in.

In 1879 Edison filed a patent for an electric lamp, in 1796 the first vaccine came, then transportation and it took only two decades for immense modernization. It has both pros and cons but we will discuss it at the end. Before it let’s date back to the ’70s and let’s see how long we came.

Learn more about the inception of gadgets and events like the first refrigerator, first photo, first camera, first accident, first car, and many more. You can read it here.

Within these transit we’ve seen a change in lifestyle, change in behavior, change in thinking, change in mindset, change in perspective, and a lot of other changes that your parents or grandparents can tell you more accurately.

Modernization Definition

Modernization is a process of the transformation of democratic, socio-economic, scientific perfection. It requires both constructional and functional changes. It improves life by technical changes, socio-economical changes, etc.

5 Things Describes How Modernization Has Changed Life Since the ’70s

1. Social Change

Yesterday, I was playing with my grandma’s hair, because that is what I do when I get my free time. Just kidding. But I noticed that her hair is still strong and silky even at this age. Out of curiosity, I asked her the same. She replied that they used Reetha (soapnut) as a shampoo for hairs back in her old days. That makes me curious to know more about their era. And we really had a long conversation about the changes she has seen since she was young. I’ll try to tell you in a short.

Back in her days, there were no chemicals or gadgets for daily works and beauty products. People at that time used nature for their basic needs rather than chemicals from money-making enterprises.

Ash with lemon for washing utensils because of no soap detergent, POKHARA (a kind of water purifier) they used to dump earthenware pot on land and it works as a water purifier and refrigerator, Charcoal & Neem tree for brushing their teeth, Cow Dunk as a mosquito killer also work as fire fuel. These things hardly come back but their values are long-lasting.

2. Modernization in Marriages

It looks vague about modernization in marriages but if you look closely, the way has changed a lot from an Indian perspective. Before if there was restriction then there had innocence too. There was no concept of love marriages, it was just a childish notion. There were child marriages. Women had to compromise the most, expected to adjust, leave their families, give up their careers.

The restriction was there in the dating. Arranged marriage was the only concept that couples were bound to follow. No showoff, very Simple decoration, no costly banquet halls, no DJ night, nothing. Only traditional ways and songs fill up anyone into extreme happiness rather than worrying about money.

A glimpse can be seen in this pandemic whether it’s by law but people are following it.

Now online dating overpasses the restriction, the couples have enough time to know each other better. The Dowry system is now losing its grip. Now women are considered to have equal status as her husband rather than being ‘Property‘. A positive mindset and education make a strong transformation, but still, there is so much to do.

3. Education

Education is paramount, helps in building a strong nation, and requires graduation sporadically. A lot of transformation has been observed since the ’90s. The way of teaching has changed. With technological advancement in education, knowledge becomes easier to learn as well as teach.

Blackboard with chalk was the tool teachers used until the whiteboards came as a successor and now with the involvement of technology smart classes are taking over the old ways of teaching. Hand gestures replaced the dusters. Fingers replaced the chalk.

A major reform can also be seen in this pandemic where online classes have shown us how much education depends on technology. Technology holds the future of education.

I remember, my father once shared his experience of writing on a slate board and having to wash that board again and again and then have to wait for a while till it becomes dry to write again, it’s very admirable and unique. Kindle, tablets, or E-books are now taking the place of books. Students are now learning coding from primary classes.

4. Entertainment

The first movie ever made was “Round Garden Scene” in 1888 then transformed to the First color movie “Cupid Angling” in 1918. Entertainment exhibited an exponential variation. CRT television and Big Cinema hall to Multiplex, and LED television our experience also changed from the ’70s onwards towards more realistic.

Earlier people either had to go to theatres miles away or waited to come out in tape to rent it or sometimes waited even longer for the movie to come out on television. There was only one television in the village mostly the landlord owned and the whole villagers waited for one single famous series “Mahabharat”. Modernization can change our life but not that fond memories.

I think that entertainment has gone through a major advancement from the ’70s than anything else. Just think, now in 2020 everyone has their own personal theatres at their home. The first smartphone was made by Rob Stothard/Getty in 1992, named “Simon” then tech modernization never turns back.

We have Netflix, Amazon, and other entertainment platforms. We are just 2 clicks away from watching the latest movie. 10 years back Apple launched and it changed the market completely. 1.52 billion smartphones sold in 2019 the data will increase in the future for sure.

5. Banking Modernizations

Money Isn’t everything ,

But Everything Needs Money.

Earl Wilson

It’s true that everything needs money. It’s how every man-made thing is in function, it works as a medium of exchange. As we know, the early period Barter system was the only medium of exchange i.e., goods for goods. From the barter system to the digital payment monetary system turned into something that was considered unimaginable.

First Bank “Banca Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena” in 1472 came into force. King Alyattes of Lynda was the creator of the First known currency. The evolvement of the banking sector is huge. The monetary system has shown immense diversification like any other sector from Currency notes to Currency less ( digital payment) to Bitcoin.

Digitization is safe for monetary transactions because of easy to use, reliable, and quickest method but also has some disadvantages of hacking and of cyber-attacks.

My Grandma still doesn’t believe that I pay all the bills online.

Pros and Cons of Modernization

Pros:-

• Increase In Literacy:- Through better education and by the adoption of new technology learning has become easier and education is on the doorstep.
• Rise in National and per capita income:– Better technological advancement and mechanization helps in Developing nations and creates employment. This encourages more money flow and an increase in individuals’ wealth.
• Social mobility:- With the modern advancement and in search of better facilities, education rural areas are turning to bare. Migrants are moving towards Urban Area for Employment and these are increasing the value of metro cities.

CONS:-

• Financial mischief:- Modernization could cause financial mischief as the advancement of technology and hardware may reduce human work. This is a world of machines and artificial intelligence.
• Cultural Loss:- Well it has mixed views some argue that immense modernization can turn religious activities to modernize but some contradict with having so many changes that can be a threat to religion. People may forget traditional pursuit, alteration on the norms, etc.
• Pollution:- This might be the most discussed topic ever and still need discussion. Urbanization, Automobilization, technical advancement all works as a life support system but it has affected our ecosystem also. Natural habitats are at threat, wildlife is on extinction.

Final Thoughts

As a result, Modernization has mixed reviews. On one side it provides financial stability and technical advancement to Increase literacy rate and comfort in life, but on the other side threats of cyber attacks and bullying, increase in Environment pollution by industrial revolution and development.

What we need is strong law against the mischiefs and wrong conduct and awareness about ecological changes. It is effective only up to mark when it doesn’t harm our resources.

There are so many other things to describe modernization and how it has changed our lives. About shopping, food delivery, transportation, smart devices, and so many things have a strong impact on lifestyle.

Modernization is an ongoing process, things that seem impossible today might be the perpetual habit for future generations.

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Edited By:- Ritish Sharma

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