Read the following passage and answer the questions on it.
The number of people living in slums worldwide is estimated to be more than a billion. Experts in urbanization fear that the ever-growing slums in the world will soon become more populous than the cities. Findings like these, however, do not show clearly the devastating effect which substandard living conditions have on the poor. The situation is more serious in developing countries, where many people lack basic amenities, adequate housing and modern health care services.
It is an irony that while some of the richest nations want to build colonies on the moon and explore Mars, growing numbers of their poorest citizens cannot afford a decent place to live here on earth. It might be easy to conclude that the poor could remedy their situation if they showed more initiative, but factors involved in the housing crisis are beyond their control. The world’s population is increasing at an alarming rate, such that millions of houses are needed to keep pace with this development.
It is a fact that cities provide more facilities than the rural areas. It is easier to get electricity and good water supply, pursue one’s education and secure well-paid jobs in cities than villages. Very often those in the villages banker for such opportunities. One cannot therefore blame them when they seize the first opportunity to reside in the cities. They do not mind going away from the villages to reside in congested cities, thereby contributing to overpopulation in the cities.
In troubled areas of the world, political disasters, civil wars and suicide bombing are common. Poor people, women and children run away from such troubled areas to preserve their lives. They seek refuge in whatever shelter they can find when existing buildings are completely destroyed. The relationship between housing and poverty cannot be ignored. People who cannot afford basic necessities as food and clothing, may not be able to rent or build decent houses. These and other factors have forced millions of people to settle for substandard housing. They live in abandoned buses, shipping containers, cardboard boxes and other unthinkable places.
The housing problems, just like many other problems facing the world, should be tackled with urgency. However, the cost of land for the erection of houses is high. Even when land is secured, the high cost of building materials is another problem to contend with. One must not therefore blame building agencies which employ methods that enable them to build inexpensive houses.
Questions
(a) In five sentences, one for each, state the causes of the worldwide housing problems
(b) In one sentence, summarize the measures that poor people have adopted to solve their housing problem.
