Living on the edge: succeeding in the slums

Cities exist in a state of constant flux: not always 'smart' and successful, they can be vulnerable, chaotic and seem on the edge of failure. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the shanty towns and slums. How can these informal settlements, and the wider city, be helped to succeed? -   There is a need for international policy on poverty reduction to stop romanticising slums and to get behind the 'capabilities' of the poor in underserved cities left to fend for themselves - Ash Amin Dr Felipe Hernández was born and raised in Cali, Colombia's third biggest city and one of the country's most dangerous - riven by fighting between drug trafficking gangs and the grinding poverty of its shanty towns. One of the most violent neighbourhoods is Potrero Grande along the Cauca River. "When I was a child I never went to the settlements along the bank, although they were only nine or ten miles away. They had a reputation for being dangerous. It took several years and some geographical distance for me to see how deeply divided Cali was then and remains today. As recently as 1997, the city's most prestigious club denied membership to Black people." Various schemes have been initiated to regulate the development of Cali and address the levels of violence in its notorious poorer districts. Although these schemes have commendable objectives, and valuable aspects, they fail to take people's lived experiences, especially their social networks and productive capacity, into account As Hernández says: "Teaching music to poor children is useful because it gets them off the streets. But what happens when they grow up and need to earn a living?