From failed states to failed cities? Slums and stability in urbanizing world

Abstract

This text aims to examine the relation between booming urbanization in the developing world on the one hand and the issue of state stability and global security on the other hand. More concretely, it tests a hypothesis that overcrowded slums inhabited by millions of slum-dwellers deprived of basic needs constitute a serious destabilizing factor for states and regions they live in. To test this hypothesis, the failed state concept is used. Both the hypotheses and the theoretical background used to test it necessitate that the whole problematic is simplified in two major ways. First, it might appear strange that the failed state concept is applied on cities. As written above, this text tests a hypothesis that slums in the developing world threaten state stability. This assumption is based on the fact that social factors typical for failed states, such as demographic pressure, unemployment, economic inequality, poverty, or poor public services are at the same time typical for social environment of slums. The text presupposes that factors proved to have destabilizing effects on a state-level should have similar effect on a city-level too. Second, regional differences need to be omitted in order to enable comparison of mega cities in different parts of the developing world. The main aim of this article is to...