Why? Slums always exist with a reason
When looking beyond first appearances, slums mainly offer a very pragmatic response of it’s people and community to whatever need. Often the need encompasses affordable housing, but can also be: employment opportunities, commercial or industrial space, health services, education, culture, need to escape. The answer is evident in the sub-standard shacks where people live, the various forms of labor, countless workshops and shopping streets, illegal dentists or abortion clinics, informal community schools, musical events, or drugs and alcohol production and trafficking.
We believe that everybody counts, but nobody is the same. Everyone deserves to have freedom, be treated with justice and get opportunities to succeed in life. We believe we can empower slum inhabitants to take control and proactively pursue access a safe home, health care, education, employment, culture, recreation and feel connected. And we believe that their pursuit to succeed in life will benefit both the city and therefore the society as a whole.
We aim to urbanize existing slums into safe, healthy and sustainable neighborhoods, improving the lives of the 1 billion informal inhabitants, with respect and recognition for all stakeholders, no extra cost for inhabitants and government and optimal profit for the official owner. We look to understand the status quo first and all its delicate dynamics from every different angle. We negotiate both bottom-up and top-down interests towards an all-in strategy that aims at the optimal balance of mutual benefits. Slumfighters will set the urbanization of the slum in motion by developing generic knowledge products, turning informal settlements into informed settlements. Next we take the responsibility of supporting the current victims of the unacceptable worldwide situations until implementation and completion.
Goals
Social… ensure social integration and social justice
Legal… comply with building regulations and secure land tenure
Urban agenda… optimal use of (scarce) space
Moneywise… be market conform and affordable
Form follows function… an optimal physical shape that reflects demand
Integrated… the whole is more than the sum of its parts
Game tested… embrace complexity and empower
Helpful… to help all 1 billion slum inhabitants worldwide is our goal
Transparent… the data we generate is open and available
Exchange knowledge… transfer knowledge,expertise and insights
Respectful… true teamwork and mutual understanding
Sustainable… our results are sustainable for generations to come