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Proposed merge of Shantytown

A merge-tag was added 13Sep09, to discuss merging the article "Shantytown" into Slum. However, the term "slum" refers to any derelict section of a town, whereas a shantytown is composed of shanties, rather than old houses needing extensive repairs. In the USA, many American cities contain slum areas, in need of numerous repairs and landscape work to remove tall weeds or bushes from homes, businesses or sidewalks, but those slums have buildings made of brick or wooden-frame structures, with few at a shanty level. Similarly, a "tent" is very different from "log cabin". For those reasons, I am closing this 3-week topic, with the logical conclusion that slums are different from shantytowns, so: Don't merge. -Wikid77 (talk) 02:30, 4 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with this distinction, but the articles should make it clear (they don't now) and utilize WP:summary style. MakeBelieveMonster (talk) 01:22, 30 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Brazil has 6% of its population living in slums, not 40%

A recent research of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics indicated that 6% of the population in Brazil live in slums (IBGE:2011). The map is outdated and wrong, since it shows that 30% - 40% of the population would be living in these conditions. The correct information can be found in another article of wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favela

Other Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favela http://gazetaonline.globo.com/_conteudo/2011/12/noticias/minuto_a_minuto/nacional/1066412-favelas-concentram-6-da-populacao-brasileira-com-11-mi-de-habitantes.html http://tribunadonorte.com.br/noticia/ibge-6-da-populacao-brasileira-vivia-em-favelas-em-2010/206602 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.55.62.247 (talk) 20:48, 2 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The Map refers to the percentage of the urban population, not the percentage of the total population. 124.123.207.35 (talk) 13:21, 23 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Merge with shanty town

It seems to me that the concepts of slum and shanty town are nearly identical. As a sociologist, I don't recall ever reading any study which differentiated between those terms, which seem to be used as synonyms (nor was I able to find such a work in my search right now). Our articles seem to use those words in the same context (the article about slums talks about shanty towns, and vice versa). This very article (slum) even states "Numerous other terms are often used interchangeably with slum: shanty town, ...". It seems to me those articles should be merged. As to which article should be the target, I think the word slum is more popular (has almost three millions of hits on Google, compared to 70-80k for "shanty town"/"shantytown"). --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 03:16, 19 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

See Talk:Slum#Proposed merge of Shantytown for previous discussion in 2011. Slums have a clear yet broad UN definition. Shantytown as I understand it mainly refers to the quality of building materials. Even if most shantytowns are slums, a separate article still makes sense, given that this is a very broad subject. Rather than merging I think it is cleanup that's needed. --ELEKHH^T 03:06, 3 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Piotrus, I can see why this suggestion might make sense, but agree with User:Elekhh and others in prior discussions that the two terms, while overlapping, are distinctly different. All shantytowns may be slums, but not vice versa, viz. the decayed urban cores of many northeastern 'Rust Belt' cities in the US. DA Sonnenfeld (talk) 09:43, 3 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Elekhh and DASonnenfeld: First, we need reliable sources to show that such differently defined entities exist. In my review of sources, I see those terms used interexchanginly, and this confusion continues in our articles (the two here, usage of those words on Wikipedia, and images on Commons). I think that while a minority of people distinguishes between those terms, majority uses them as synonyms. I think that, in the absence of sources that will allow us to distinguish between those words, we have no choice but to merge them. Again, I'd invite anyone to show me sources with clearly distinguish between those terms. Just to start, here is a source that uses the UN definitions, as well as the word shantytown as a synonym for slum: Donald C. Williams (2012). Global Urban Growth: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-59884-441-2. . And from [1]: "A shantytown, also commonly referred to as a slum, is defined by the United Nations as..."; this is from Habitat for Humanity publication. I contend that vast majority of sources see those terms as synonymous, and we should reflect that.--_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 10:06, 3 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose merge. See p. 1374, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean Cultures, ISBN 978-0415131889: "Shanty town and slum denote different urban phenomena". Or see, p. 136, Key Concepts in Urban Studies, ISBN 978-0761940982: "Shanty towns can be slums, but they are also different". IOW, the terms are sometimes used synonymously, but many scholars consider slums more established, large settlements, while shanty towns are often smaller, newer, temporary squatting clusters. As Elekhh and DAS note, shantytowns may be slums, not vice versa. Instead of merge, add a section explaining the similarities and differences. ThomasJessica (talk) 04:24, 9 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@ThomasJessica: Thank you for finding quality sources to shed light onto that. Would you mind drafting a section on differences, using them? --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 06:04, 9 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Urban population living in slums, as of 2001.

Hi All, Don't you think it's about time this data and map is updated? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.74.186.109 (talk) 13:15, May 16, 2016‎ (UTC)

Of course it should. Do you know where we can find up to date data and a person who could create a map for Wikipedia? See also here. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 08:36, 16 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]