According to the United Nations, slums are designated as areas providing shelter for the impoverished, migrants, unemployed, and homeless individuals who lack the means to reside in more favorable conditions.

When slums are mentioned, common associations include complexity, degradation, poverty, and hardships. However, let us momentarily set aside these negative connotations, for both good and bad exist side by side everywhere. By adopting a more empathetic and optimistic perspective, one can discover a multitude of understanding and compassion within these spaces.

Even within these challenging environments, individuals find their own moments of peace and happiness.

India

Dharavi is the largest slum in Asia.

This place was also taken as the setting for the movie “Slumdog Millionaire”.

Philippine

Image of a slum after a fire in Manila.

The houses here are mainly made of waste materials. Each house is only as large as a small room, where the whole family lives.

Hong Kong

Kowloon Walled is an area known for drugs and crime, with a huge population.

The site was demolished in the 90s.

Korea

Gooryong is the largest slum in Seoul, about 30 hectares wide.

A special thing is that Gooryong does not appear on any map.

Cambodia

A famous slum in the center of Phnom Penh.

Indonesia

In Jakarta, the working poor often live at the foot of the bridge or along the two sides of the railway line.

A tailor works at the foot of the bridge.

America

New York.

Brazil

Rocinha Area – Rio de Janeiro.

Sao Paulo.

Venezuela

Kenya

Kibera is the largest slum in East Africa.

About 700,000 people live here – on an area about the size of a park in central New York.

Italia

Vietnam

Bong Hamlet, Nha Trang.