Slum myths

These are some of the things people come out with about slums which, as far as I can see so far, seem not to be true...

1. Everyone is equally poor in slums - There is enormous variation both between slums in Dhaka, and within each slum. Some people own several dwellings in the slum and rent them out to others. Others have family members sending money from abroad. These people still live in fairly bad conditions but their children's prospects must be much better. Karail Bosti, which seems to be seen by some people here as the city's teeming, flooded heart of darkness, has been described by others as the 'creme de la creme' of Dhaka slums, with better living conditions and richer inhabitants than some of the less well-known slums.
2. Slums are mainly peripheral - some writers on Dhaka slums seem to have the impression that, following evictions of many central Dhaka slums, slum dwellers have moved out to the periphery. In fact there remain several very large slums in the middle of the city, and anyway it is hard to tell what constitutes the centre. Areas like Mohammadpur (for example) seem pretty central to me, and although Mirpur is more suburban it's still very much part of the same urban sprawl.
3. Slum-dwellers are all migrants from rural areas - This is only true if you include as 'migrants' people whose parents or grandparents migrated. Most of the school-age children in the slums seem to have been born there. While there is likely to be some movement between different slums and between slums and villages, many people seem to have settled for the long term, eviction threats notwithstanding.

I also suspect the following to be myths - hope the survey will shed some light:

1. People in slums don't expect much for their children, or don't know what to expect - I reckon most people will have quite realistic expectations about the range of possible futures that their children could have, and will have a keen eye on 'escape routes' out of poverty and the slum.
2. People in slums don't send their children to private schools - There appear to be people paying substantial fees to send children to private schools both inside and outside of their slums. However these will probably be few compared to the number of children.

(Download my bibliography on slums: Zotero RDF | RIS)