Slums, slum dwellers and multilevel governance

The continuing existence of slums, which represent a severe threat to achieving development objectives, is officially deplored by almost everyone. Cities in the South today have to contend with spatial fragmentation and growing economic inequalities. In spite of significant international funding, public policies that have been implemented in this area, such as clearance, upgrading or resettlement, have not met with the expected success. Via the major international conferences, efforts have been made to reach a consensus on this issue and to implement institutional instruments involving alliances between urban stakeholders. The international community is trying to create a corpus of norms that would be negotiated and implemented in partnership with local authorities and urban citizens at the city and slum level. But this paper suggests that these norms and projects do not correspond to the present balance of power within the city.