''Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World'' is a 2004 book by Robert Neuwirth. He wrote it after visiting

informal settlements Informal housing or informal settlement can include any form of housing, shelter, or settlement (or lack thereof) which is illegal, falls outside of government control or regulation, or is not afforded protection by the state. As such, the inf ...

such as

Dharavi Dharavi is a locality in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, considered to be one of the world's largest slums. Dharavi has an area of just over and a population of about 1,000,000. With a population density of over , Dharavi is one of the most den ...

Kibera Kibera (Kinubi: ''Forest'' or ''Jungle'') is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the largest urban slum in Africa.http://www.dominionp ...

and

Rocinha Rocinha (, ''little farm'') is the largest favela in Brazil, located in Rio de Janeiro's South Zone between the districts of São Conrado and Gávea. Rocinha is built on a steep hillside overlooking Rio de Janeiro, and is located about on ...

Overview

US-based journalist Robert Neuwirth spent two years visiting in

across the globe, including

slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily in ...

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city prope ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of working-class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term was first used in the Providência neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was built by soldiers who had ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

, Brazil), a gecekondu bölgesi zone in Sultanbeyli,

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey and

and Sanjay Gandhi Nagar (two

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

areas in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, India). In the book Neuwirth draws on his experiences to argue that much can be learnt from the self-organization and adaptability of squatters worldwide. He also gives a partial history of slums in such places as London, New York and Paris, suggesting that informal settlements are an integral part of urbanization and concluding on an optimistic note that there are so many squatters that their needs cannot be ignored.

Critical reception

Mumbai 03-2016 52 Dharavi near Mahim Junction

Reviewers welcomed the book as a general overview whilst pointing out defects for the specialist reader. Writing in ''

Forum Qualitative Social Research The ''Forum: Qualitative Social Research'' (German: ''Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung'') is a triannual peer-reviewed online academic journal covering the theory, methodology, and application of qualitative research. The editor-in-chief has b ...

'', Brian Christens said the book was "rich with insights" whilst also criticising Neuwirth's methodology. David Satterthwaite reviewed the book twice. In '' Environment & Urbanization'' he takes exception to Neuwirth's dismissal of the National Slum Dwellers Federation in Mumbai as "'feel-good' organizing", arguing that the federation, allied with groups such as

SPARC SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture originally developed by Sun Microsystems. Its design was strongly influenced by the experimental Berkeley RISC system developed ...

and Mahila Milan, provides a concrete means for slum dwellers to better their conditions. In ''

International Journal of Urban and Regional Research International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

'', he criticises Neuwirth for writing about specific places whilst ignoring the extensive research already carried out on them; he also praises how the book "captures the vibrancy evident in many squatter settlements". In

Harvard Design Magazine ''Harvard Design Magazine'' (ISSN 1093-4421) is a biannual publication of the Harvard Graduate School of Design. It is indexed by the standard subject bibliographies, including Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, Bibliography of the History ...

, John Beardsley commented what the "book lacks in trenchant social analysis or substantive policy understanding it more than makes up for in a close reading of what life is like in four settlements around the world".

References

{{Authority control 2004 books Squatting in Brazil Squatting in India Squatting in Turkey Housing in Nigeria Housing in Turkey Housing in Brazil Informal economy in Africa Housing in India Informal economy in Asia Informal economy in South America