Social exclusion and poor infrastructure forces the poor to adapt to conditions beyond his or her control. Poor families that cannot afford transportation, or those who simply lack any form of affordable public transportation, generally end up in squat settlements within walking distance or close enough to the place of their formal or informal employment. Ben Arimah cites this social exclusion and poor infrastructure as a cause for numerous slums in African cities.Slums as Expressions of Social Exclusion: Explaining the Prevalence of Slums in African Countries Ben Arimah, United Nations Human Settlements Programme, Nairobi, Kenya Poor quality, unpaved streets encourage slums; a 1% increase in paved all-season roads, claims Arimah, reduces slum incidence rate by about 0.35%. Affordable public transport and economic infrastructure empowers poor people to move and consider housing options other than their current slums.Africa: Improved infrastructure key to slum upgrading – UN Official IRIN, United Nations News Service (11 June 2009)LATIN AMERICAN SLUM UPGRADING EFFORTS Elisa Silva, Arthur Wheelwright Traveling Fellowship 2011, Harvard University
