UN-HABITAT twenty first session of the Governing Council, 16-20 April 2007, Nairobi, Kenya: today's slums: myths versus reality

If the apathy that has pervaded and impeded slum policy to date is to be overcome, many of the misconceptions and myths about slums and slum dwellers must also be shattered. Some common misperceptions about slums and the people who live in them are explored in the new UN-HABITAT publication The Challenge of Slums: Global Report on Human Settlements, which presents a cogent and comprehensive view of the realities of slum dwelling in the 21st century.
Myth #1: Slums serve no purpose.
Myth #2: All Slums are the same, and all slum-dwellers are poor.
Myth #3: There never used to be slums.
Myth #4: Slums are the fault of slum dwellers who do not want to help themselves.
Myth #5: Slum dwellers are a burden on the economy.
Myth #6: Crime emanates from the slums.
Myth #7: Squatters are just people who don’t want to pay rent.
Myth #8: The poor contribute nothing to society and nothing good ever came out of the slums.