Slum Dwellers International

Slum Dwellers International (SDI), also known as Slum/Shack Dwellers International, is a transnational social movement and network of community-based organizations representing the urban poor. It emerged in 1996 from earlier exchanges among organized residents of informal settlements in South Africa and pavement dwellers in Mumbai, India. Rather than operating as a conventional charity or development company, SDI connects local federations of low-income households and supports them in building collective savings groups, documenting their settlements, negotiating with public authorities, and developing practical housing and infrastructure responses. The network is composed primarily of poor urban households living in informal settlements or other insecure conditions on the edges of cities. Many members are seeking access to employment, land, housing, water, sanitation, transport, and other urban services. SDI’s organizing model places women-led savings collectives at the center of community activity. Regular savings, household enumeration, settlement profiling, and peer-to-peer exchanges are used to strengthen local organization and generate information that communities can use in negotiations with municipalities and national governments. A defining feature of SDI is its emphasis on direct, face-to-face learning between organized communities. Representatives from different countries visit one another to exchange methods, compare settlement conditions, and develop locally appropriate responses. The network links activity at household, settlement, city, national, and international levels. Its objective is to ensure that the needs and knowledge of informal-settlement residents are incorporated into urban planning rather than treated as marginal or merely as obstacles to development. SDI also works with formal institutions. Its relationships have included UN-Habitat, Cities Alliance, United Cities and Local Governments, the Santa Fe Institute, Habitat for Humanity, the Association of African Planning Schools, WIEGO, and the Huairou Commission. Through these relationships, SDI has participated in urban policy, land and housing discussions, community-data initiatives, and international advocacy. Its approach is sometimes described as “militant negotiations”: organized communities retain their collective pressure while engaging directly with governments and development agencies to secure concrete improvements. The Know Your City campaign is one of SDI’s most visible international initiatives. It brings together community residents and local governments to map and profile informal settlements, producing community-generated information for planning and service delivery. Campaign materials have described activity in more than 100 cities and over 1,200 settlements across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The network also supports the Urban Poor Fund International, which helps channel community savings and donor resources toward projects, exchanges, and urban-poor-led development. SDI is not a listed company and does not sell conventional consumer products. Its principal offerings are organizational methods, community data, peer-learning exchanges, advocacy, and support for locally managed housing and infrastructure initiatives. Funding has included member savings and grants from international foundations and bilateral or multilateral donors. The organization remains active as a global network, with its secretariat in Cape Town and affiliated federations operating across more than 30 countries.

Slum Dwellers International developed from grassroots exchanges among organized residents of informal settlements. In the early 1990s, shack dwellers from South Africa visited pavement dwellers in Mumbai, creating a practical channel for communities facing different versions of insecure housing and exclusion from formal urban systems to learn from one another. These exchanges helped establish the principle that low-income communities should generate and share their own knowledge, rather than rely exclusively on outside experts. The network formally began in 1996 and expanded by linking national and city-level federations across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Its organizing method centered on women-led savings groups. Small, regular contributions created financial discipline and collective resources while also providing a platform for discussing land, eviction, housing, sanitation, and access to services. Community enumeration and settlement mapping became equally important: by documenting households and physical conditions, residents could produce evidence for negotiations with municipal officials and demonstrate that informal settlements were organized communities rather than anonymous areas of deprivation. SDI’s approach has combined grassroots mobilization with engagement with formal institutions. The network has worked with local and national governments, UN-Habitat, Cities Alliance, United Cities and Local Governments, and other international organizations. It describes this method as militant negotiation, meaning that organized communities maintain their collective demands while entering practical discussions with officials who control land, infrastructure, and public budgets. The approach seeks incremental but scalable improvements, including upgrading, housing projects, service connections, and recognition in urban plans. The network’s international role has also been supported by exchanges among member federations. Community representatives travel to other settlements to observe savings systems, data collection, housing projects, and negotiation strategies. This transnational learning model is intended to make local experience a source of policy innovation. SDI has additionally supported the Urban Poor Fund International, using community savings and external donor contributions for projects, learning, advocacy, and related activities. Know Your City became a major expression of this model. Developed with United Cities and Local Governments and Cities Alliance, the campaign enables residents and local authorities to collaborate on settlement profiling and mapping. Reported campaign coverage has included 103 cities and 1,238 settlements in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Academic and scientific collaborators have helped analyze the resulting information, while the campaign has emphasized that residents possess detailed knowledge and resources that can improve urban decision-making. SDI’s relationships with governments and international agencies have also generated criticism. Some observers have argued that participation in formal development institutions risks weakening more radical housing-rights movements or shifting attention from structural injustice toward technocratic management. The network’s partnership with authorities in KwaZulu-Natal was particularly contentious because it was interpreted by critics as possible support for the province’s 2007 legislation on the elimination and prevention of slums. SDI rejected the implication that cooperation with the provincial government and housing department meant endorsement of the legislation. Its supporters argue that direct engagement is essential if community priorities are to influence policy at meaningful scale. SDI affiliates and leaders have received recognition from UN-Habitat and other international award programs. Individuals associated with the movement, including Jockin Arputham, Sheela Patel, Rose Molokoane, Jane Weru, Joel Bolnick, Anaclaudia Rossbach, and others, have received or been shortlisted for awards related to housing, social entrepreneurship, community leadership, and urban development. The organization continues to operate as a global network, coordinated by a secretariat in Cape Town and supported by national and local federations.

• 2018

  Know Your City campaign expands its evidence base

  [1]Slum Dwellers Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  The campaign reports community-led profiling and mapping across more than 100 cities and over 1,200 informal settlements in several world regions.

• 2014

  Nobel Peace Prize nomination

  [1]Slum Dwellers Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  SDI and Jockin Arputham are reported as nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize.

• 2009

  Solidarity with Abahlali baseMjondolo

  [1]Slum Dwellers Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  SDI issues a statement supporting Abahlali baseMjondolo after violence at the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Durban.

• 1996

  SDI is established

  [1]Slum Dwellers Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  Slum Dwellers International begins as a transnational network of community organizations representing residents of informal settlements and other urban-poor communities.

A community-led urban development network that combines grassroots savings, resident-generated data, transnational solidarity, and negotiation with public institutions.

• Community data and urban planning

  Know Your City

  A campaign through which residents of informal settlements work with local authorities and research partners to collect, map, and publish information about settlements, households, services, and infrastructure. Its purpose is to make community knowledge visible in urban planning and to support negotiations over upgrading, land, housing, and public services.

• Community finance and development support

  Urban Poor Fund International

  A fund associated with the SDI network that supports projects, exchanges, advocacy, and initiatives led by organized urban-poor communities. Its resource base combines community savings with support from external donors and development partners.

• Community organizing

  Savings federations

  Women-centered savings collectives form the core organizing mechanism of many SDI affiliates. Members save regularly, build trust and collective capacity, and use their organizations to address housing, land, infrastructure, and service-delivery priorities.

• 2007

  Controversy over KwaZulu-Natal slum legislation

  SDI was criticized for allegedly supporting the KwaZulu-Natal Elimination and Prevention of Re-emergence of Slums Act. The organization responded that its working relationship with the provincial government and housing department did not constitute support for the legislation.

  Source

• Debate over institutional collaboration and co-optation

  Some academics and rights activists have argued that SDI’s engagement with governments, Cities Alliance, and international development agencies can moderate or co-opt more radical urban-poor movements. SDI presents collaboration as a negotiating strategy intended to secure practical change for communities.

  Source

Read more

• Know Your City

  Africa · Asia · Latin America

  SDI, United Cities and Local Governments, and Cities Alliance support community-led profiling and mapping of informal settlements. The campaign treats residents as producers of urban data and seeks to connect that information with municipal planning and service delivery.

  Outcome. The campaign reported activity in 103 cities and 1,238 settlements, with research contributions from universities and scientific institutions.

  Source

• 1996

  Create a transnational network of urban-poor federationsStrategy

  Background

  Local movements in informal settlements faced common problems of insecure tenure, inadequate services, eviction threats, and exclusion from formal planning.

  Action taken

  SDI formed a network linking community organizations across countries, with savings, peer learning, and community-generated information as shared practices.

  Aftermath

  The network expanded across more than 30 countries and developed a global platform for urban-poor advocacy and learning.

  Source

• Adopt militant negotiation with public institutionsStrategy

  Background

  Large-scale improvements in land, housing, and infrastructure generally require decisions by municipalities, national governments, and development agencies.

  Action taken

  SDI combined grassroots pressure and community organizing with direct collaboration and negotiation with formal authorities.

  Aftermath

  The strategy enabled partnerships with organizations including UN-Habitat, Cities Alliance, and local governments, while also prompting criticism from observers who favored more confrontational rights-based approaches.

  Source

1. 1Slum Dwellers Internationalen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Slum Dwellers International official websitesdinet.org