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squatters and squatter cities around the world
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2005
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December
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- Fire in Mukuru
- Squatter sanitation
- Cop is killed when squatters are evicted
- Abahlali Base Mjondolo
- Christmas tragedy
- Mombasa Squatters fighting for land
- Shantytown Dwellers in South Africa Protest Sluggi...
- Squatters Relocated in Manila
- Police Kill 3 a Day
- AK-47s and AfroReggae
- Next year, next year
- Blame the developers
- Adopt a Light
- Temporary victory for Ahmedabad squatters
- A class difference among squatters
- Inefficient leadership
- Blaze Leaves 1 200 Squatters Homeless
- No Refuge
- 'Spit back by the sea'
- Refugees or Squatters?
- Cambodia rocks on, with Dengue Fever
- eviction sad but peaceful
- Typical
- Day of Dread
- In Abuja, planning outweighs people's right to a home
- Squatter doings in India
- Legalizing Squatters in Tanzania
- Even under the ANC
- Oh, those communists
- Situation NURMal
- Squatter Nation
- Follow the money in New Orleans
- Angola tries its hand at demolition
- More name calling from Mugabe
- 10 acres
- Six Days to Hit the Road
- Fallout Squatters
- The World's Worst Housing Rights Violator
- We're not moving
- Rising Rio violence
- Problems of Property
- 'A war that never ends' in Rio's Favelas leaves 4,...
- Blocking the 'Yellow Monsters'
- Squatters have lives, too
- A tale of two Manilas
- Most tsunami victims still homeless
- Kolkata update
- The end of London's oldest squat
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December
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About Me
- rn
- --news from Robert Neuwirth-- I recently (January 2020) signed a contract with Beacon Press for a new book of reportage on the economics of community. I'm also working on a collection of short stories about economics called The Book of Derivatives. Backstory: I've written two previous books: Stealth of Nations (on the global growth of the informal economy) & Shadow Cities (on the global growth of squatter communities). I live in New York City and do most of my writing on manual typewriters.
2 comments:
That is just so sad. How does this happen...
I'm sure you can imagine all the reasons:
Fires happen because:
1. electric service in these communities is generally purchased illegally, so wires are not strong enough to handle the load.
2. Residents have to burn garbage because there's not sanitation pickup.
3. residents often cook with charcoal or kerosene. A small spill or misplaced ember and the wood framing of a house can start burning.
Fires spread rapidly because the community has no piped in water.
The fire department is late because:
1. there are no fire alarm boxes, so until someone calls the fire department, it may not know about a fire.
2. there are no roads, so fire trucks can't get into the squatter community, and there are no hydrants anyway.
But all of these are a subset of another issue: the government, the powers that be, the economic interests simply don't care about the squatter communities. So they continue to burn.
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