slums
Overcrowded poor neighborhoods
Slums is the plural of slum—an overcrowded urban area marked by poverty and deteriorating housing.
The word often implies neglect by authorities and lack of basic services.
To slum or go slumming is to visit places considered beneath one's social station, often for entertainment or curiosity: rich kids slumming in dive bars.
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- squalorDirty, degraded living conditions
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
- deprivationState of lacking necessities
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
penury · indigence · privation · want · neediness · hand-to-mouth · subsistence · pauperism
Ramshackle dwelling
- favelaBrazilian informal settlement
- tenementMulti-unit urban dwelling
- shackCrudely built hut
- hovelWretched small dwelling
squatter · ramshackle · makeshift · corrugated · lean-to · jerry-built · tarpaulin · plywood
Uncomfortably lacking space
- congestionExcessive accumulation causing blockage
- teemingAbundantly full of
- denselyIn concentrated manner
- packedFilled to capacity
swarming · clustered · crammed · overflowing · inhabitants · crowded · narrow · airless
Population shift toward cities
- migrationMovement to new territory
- inner-cityCentral part of metropolis
- outskirtsOuter parts of town
- peripheryBoundary or outer region
blight · redevelopment · gentrification · clearance · relocation · demolition · rezoning · encroachment
Skilled at solving problems
- ingenuityClever, original thinking
- survivalRemaining alive against odds
- self-sufficiencyIndependence from outside aid
- adaptiveAble to change accordingly
community · solidarity · perseverance · makeshift · improvised · hustle · entrepreneurship · cooperative
Forcibly kept separate
- ghettoizedIsolated into restricted zones
- excludedShut out, denied entry
- disenfranchisedDeprived of voting rights
- voicelessHaving no voice
powerless · neglected · dispossessed · stigmatized · vulnerable · outcasts · discriminated · alienated
destitution
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- squalorDirty, degraded living conditions
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
- deprivationState of lacking necessities
hardship · penury · indigence · privation · want · neediness · hand-to-mouth · subsistence · pauperism · beggarly
shanty
Ramshackle dwelling
hovel · squatter · ramshackle · makeshift · corrugated · lean-to · jerry-built · tarpaulin · plywood · improvised
cramped
Uncomfortably lacking space
- congestionExcessive accumulation causing blockage
- teemingAbundantly full of
- denselyIn concentrated manner
packed · swarming · clustered · crammed · overflowing · inhabitants · crowded · narrow · airless · stifling
urbanization
Population shift toward cities
- migrationMovement to new territory
- inner-cityCentral part of metropolis
- outskirtsOuter parts of town
periphery · blight · redevelopment · gentrification · clearance · relocation · demolition · rezoning · encroachment · sprawl
resourceful
Skilled at solving problems
- ingenuityClever, original thinking
- survivalRemaining alive against odds
- self-sufficiencyIndependence from outside aid
adaptive · community · solidarity · perseverance · makeshift · improvised · hustle · entrepreneurship · cooperative · grassroots
segregated
Forcibly kept separate
- ghettoizedIsolated into restricted zones
- excludedShut out, denied entry
- disenfranchisedDeprived of voting rights
voiceless · powerless · neglected · dispossessed · stigmatized · vulnerable · outcasts · discriminated · alienated · oppressed
- Dystopia1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, dystopian fiction, totalitarianism, Brave New World
- Edwardian BritainEdward VII, Queen Victoria, country houses, manor houses, servants
- slumsshanty, shanties, shack, shacks, hovel
- urban historycity walls, urban renewal, ancient cities, landmarks, city gates
- rough neighborhoodsghettos, ghetto, inner city, projects, housing projects
- Victorian LondonLondon, Thames, Big Ben, Westminster, East End
Prosperous residential districts
upscale neighborhoods · gated communities · Beverly Hills · Park Avenue · mansions
- slum lordOwner neglecting rental properties
- slum landlord
- slum itAccept lesser accommodations
- slum dwellersResidents of impoverished neighborhoods
- slum clearanceDemolition of substandard housing
- urban slumsDeprived inner-city zones