The conditions of deprivation in the LICs are even more grim. The squatters in a developing city like
Mumbai or Nairobi, inhabited by the poorest people, can be found in all parts of the city, but
predominantly they ring the outskirts. The deprived urban population is forced to construct their own
housing, often on land that is undesirable which is prone to either flooding or landslides. A typical
example of poor quality can be found in Kibera, the largest slum in Nairobi. It is home to approximately
250,000. A typical house in the Kibera slum, measuring 12 feet by 12 feet, accommodating up to 8 people
or more as a family, is made up of scrounged materials such as corrugated iron, packing cases, cloth and
disused plastic sheeting. However, quintessential to the dichotomous nature of a city in a developing
country, Nairobi boasts of rich neighbourhoods which act as residences to people with high-status and
cash flow. In cities of both developed and developing economies, those groups with the least means and
choice tend to move into neighbourhoods with poor housing infrastructure with very little freshwater
supply and access to electricity depends on other factors such as illegal connections, tampered metres
and solar power.
Access to education is a relevant manifestation of a government’s ability to provide for its urban
population in both developing and developed nations, however the lack of access to education is more
pervasive and visible in developing countries with the top 20 most illiterate countries being either middle
income or low income. About a third of the population in developing countries live in slums or some form
of shanty settlements in which education is exceedingly inaccessible. Kibera, the largest slum in Africa,
and the 4th largest slum in the world, houses over 2 million children under the age of 15. With no public
schools, about 43% of the girls and 29% of the boys do not attend schools due to high costs or other
social concerns. The long term implications of this mass illiteracy is a majorly unskilled labor force. This
contributes to the vicious cycle of poverty with many falling back into agriculture or the informal sector. I