Sustainable neighbourhoods for urban poor : a review of living environments of low-income community neighborhoods with special reference to their spatial compatibility for community liwing

Abstract

The concept of community living exists as far as there are things to share in common. It would further be strengthened if the shared elements are bare essential of living and greater in number. An ideal community living therefore could only be experienced where the dwellers are isolated from the rest of the world or extremely poor possessing no alternatives other than live on dependence. Slum and shanty dwellers as described by social scientists, are by-product of over urbanization. Influx of population seeking job opportunities settled down in unauthorized lands in the outskirts of the city has become one of the major problems almost every city faces today. Such communities have developed a sub-culture of their own for the mere existence. Therefore any improvement program should not try to disrupt this pattern but enhance it and when appropriate these positive responses should be utilized by community action programs.