Chapter 1

1.0. INTRODUCTION

Introduction to the “Slum Initiative”.

This “slum initiative”, promoted by The World Bank, has been initially funded by Cities
Alliance, and is in line with target 11 of the objectives of The Milenium Declaration “to
improve the living conditions of at least 2 million slum dwellers by 2024”.
This report aims to provide a framework that identifies systemic issues in the development
and degradation of slums in Monrovia, in particular the 5 main slum settlements identified in
the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) document. It also explores measures that can
be taken to avoid the further development of slums in Monrovia and to ensure that conditions
in the five slums settlements already referred to above are improved. A needs assessment
study was done in all five settlements with all relevant stakeholders. The study focuses on
priority needs, capacity gaps and examines how existing institutions at both national and
local levels deal with slum-related issues. The goal of this exercise does not stop at the
making of recommendations as to how conditions can be improved but also at the
identification of a possible NGO that can take a lead role in championing the realization of at
least some, if not all, of the recommendations of this report.
Many residential areas in the Monrovia have typical slum characteristics: - occupation by a
high proportion of low-income earners, lack of basic infrastructures, ambiguous or insecure
land tenure rights, high population density, poor environmental conditions, poor or very poor
building quality, absence of an urban culture, high levels of criminality and delinquency,
among others. It important to note that the general consensus amongst slum dwellers in
relation to crime is that criminal activities are very common and most of such crimes are
perpetrated by those living outside their communities.

1.1 BACKGROUND

Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, was founded in 1822 by freed slaves from the United States
of America and was named after the US president James Monroe. It is located on a hilly
peninsular between the Mesurado river and the Atlantic ocean on the West Coast of Africa.
The Mesurado River separates the mainland from Bushrod and Balli islands. Bushrod Island is
occupied by mangrove swamps. This geographical feature considerably reduces the amount
of land readily available for human settlement and other related activities.
Monrovia is the political, financial, commercial and international centre of Liberia. The Free
Port of Monrovia, the Roberts International Airport and a road network to neighbouring
countries connects Liberia to the rest of the world. The James Spriggs Payne Airport mainly
handles domestic flights.
In 1986, the population of Monrovia was estimated at around 572,000 inhabitants. This
number peaked at the height of the civil war; between 1990 – 2004 the population of
Monrovia was reported to have doubled to over 1,000,000. It is hardly surprising as there is a
tendency for movements into cities during wars as these are considered to be safer living
areas. Urban centres in Liberia either have inadequate services or lack basic services and
infrastructure. Notwithstanding this, a high number of economically active members of the
population migrate to urban centres in search of better opportunities and jobs. (UNHABITAT,
2006, Liberia Urban Sector Profile).
Liberia faces a huge developmental challenge after experiencing more than 15 years of civil
war that caused a widespread political, social and economic decline. One of the major
aspects of such challenges is the low person-to-land ratio, land, unlike many other
resources, cannot easily be increased. There are very limited means by which this can be
done and such methods are very expensive and labor intensive. Lack of access to land by the
urban poor is one of the key contributory factors responsible for the growth of slum
settlements in Monrovia. It has often been said that the issue of land is one which is likely to
cause another war in Liberia if not reformed effectively and efficiently.

1.2 STATEMENT of THE PROBLEM

The rapid process of urbanization has created extreme pressures on different governments,
especially in developing nations of the world where public institutions are not prepared to
handle the rising change that come with such pressure (Arcila, 2008). Very few local and
national governments have acknowledged this phenomenon, considering their little provision
of labour- planning for land, housing and other services which newcomers want (UN-
HABITAT, 2003b). However, a rapid urbanization process, lack of good national and urban
policies, inadequate housing policies, legislation and delivery systems, have led to the
creation of slums and informal settlements in urban areas (Chang, 2009; UN-HABITAT,
2003b). The UN Millennium Project (2005) identified 3 alternatives determining the
characteristics and location of a slum. The first option is to find shelter in existing inner city
slums and informal settlements. A second alternative is to occupy vacant land in areas that
are risky to inhabit or lacking in environmental protection for example wetland, near rivers
and streams. A third and final option is to move to semi-legal settlements, where self-
proclaimed landlords illegally sub divide existing plots of land lacking basic infrastructure
and services. UN- HABITAT (2007) argued that a slum represents a group of persons living
under a single roof in an urban area and lack one or more of the following; “a durable housing
of a permanent nature that protects against extreme climate conditions; sufficient living
space which means not more than three people sharing the same room; easy access to safe
water in sufficient amounts at an affordable price; access to adequate sanitation in the form
of a private or public toilet shared by a reasonable number of people and security of tenure
that prevents forced evictions”.
Slums are characterized by inadequate housing conditions and risks associated with
sometimes having to build houses on top of lagoons and near explosive power lines (Davies,
2004); deficient urban services such as sanitation, water supply, sewage system, drainage,
and roads; unhealthy and dehumanizing living conditions; long travel distance to a place of
job opportunity; and, high densities of people and dwellings (Majale, 2008). However, slum
conditions may differ in different developing nations since problems found in one slum area
may not be present in another. It could be suggested that lack of infrastructural facilities in
slums are due to the fact that most of these slum areas and informal settlements are not
recognized by relevant authorities, as they are not planned for and maybe occupied illegally
by residents. Hence, sufficient effort may not be taken to improve living conditions in them.
The lack of infrastructural facilities present in slums has led to untold hardship amongst slum
dwellers, especially amongst women
and children. For example chronic diarrhoea kills up to 2 million babes in cities every year,
caused by consumption of stream water contaminated by animal and human waste. People
defecate into plastic bags and dump them into the lagoon or nearby open pieces of land, due
to the absence of good sewage facilities. To get fresh water, women have to trek up to 10
kilometres in a day. People even rent roof tops to create slums in the air due to inadequate
housing in these areas (Davies, 2004; Chang, 2009).

1.3 AIMS And OBJECTIVES

One of the key objectives of the initiative is the production of an analysis of the situation in
the five slum settlements identified as the focus of this study. These are West Point, Clara
Town, Randell Street, Sonewein and Logan town.

2. To make recommendations as to how conditions can be improved but also at the

identification of a possible NGO that can take a lead role in championing the realization of at
least some, if not all, of the recommendations of this report.

1.4 Research Questions

1. Did community-based institutions participate in identification of slum challenges, design

action plans on how to curb the challenges and implement and monitor the plans in
Monrovia?

2. How does implementation or the lack of implementation in the Monrovia case relate to
power structure and political culture factors in participatory slum upgrading?

3. What factors hinder the successful implementation or lack of implementation of

participatory processes in slum upgrading effort in Monrovia?
4. How can participatory approaches to slum upgrading practices be developed in
subsequent efforts in Monrovia ?

The research questions guides the review of theories and serve as a useful tool in analysing
the slum initiative .

1.5 Importance of the Research

In order to explore the importance of slum initiatives,it is necessary to review the literature in
these areas. This study will contribute to the understanding of how slum initiative factors
contribute to participatory development in slum upgrading in Monrovia , and to the more
general question of how these factors affect slum upgrading.

1.6 Limitations & Delimitations

While this study aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation on the Monrovia City
Cooperation Slum Initiative in Monrovia,certain limitations and delimitations are
acknowledged.
Limited resources,time constraints,and access constraints may impact the scope and depth
of the study.
Additionally,the findings may be content-specific to Monrovia and may not be generalized to
all city in Liberia

1.7 Organization of the study

The research contents Will be organized as follows:

Chapter one will discuss the introduction,the background of the study,the statement of the
problem,the objective of the study,the research question,significance of the
study,organization of the study and t he definition of [Link] two will deal with the
literature review related to the study:definition of slum, Characteristics of Slums,
Urban Growth in Monrovia, Water and Sanitation in Monrovia, Needs Assessment,
Interventions, Reason for the development of slum Monrovia ,Recommendation and
[Link] 3 will focus on the research methodology,which includes:the research
design,population of the study,the sample size,data collection instruments,and sampling
techniques.

1.8 Definition of terms

. Slum-a thickly populated especially of a city marked by crowding,dirty run-down

housing,and generally poor living conditions.
. Slum initiatives-improving the living conditions of those who live in slum.
. Development-the process of developing or being developed.
. Urbanization-the process of making an area more urban.
. Settlement-a place,typically one where people establish a community.
. Evaluation- the making of a judgement about the amount,number,or value of
something.
. Analysis- detailed examination of the elements or structure of something