"Unbuilding"—the Remedy for Modern "Slum Problems"

Abstract

Slums, a distinct social and architectural spatialization, as constantly perceived as squalid, overcrowded regions inhabited by residents widely suffering from economic deprivation, reflect beyond the assumed simple reason of indigence, acting instead as an intricate end-product generated by intertwining societal issues. By proposing the questions of "how do unbuilt (invisible) barriers between climate injustice, race, and social hierarchy inform both the formation and unbuilding of slums?" and "what are the characteristics of slums that determine the regional differences and similarities between slum types?", the paper intends to discuss through the extracted values of the slum presences to foster a direct relation to the city growth. Examining the sophisticated slum dilemma with the method of "unbuilding," the method implies that a genuine scrutinization of the initial causes will be required to discern the phenomenon comprehensively. By cataloging the existing slum into four distinctive categories utilizing the axial determinants of "hope," "despair," "escalator," and "non-escalator," the paper proposed peculiar solutions for the slum formations in Guayaquil, Boston, Chicago, and New Orlean, under the operation of "unbuilding." Thus, throughout the contention over the so-called "Slum Problem" and the pursuit of remedies, the paper purported an elevated understanding of society's natural selection process, racial segregation, and climate injustice that have previously informed the social discordance.