The Fear Of Population In Mike Davis's 'Planet Of Slums'

In the book, “Planet of Slums” Mike Davis mentions, why there are vast migration from the rural villages to the megacities of the Third World. What megacities are is a city when the total population in it, exceed over eight million. He also mentioned how the treason of the state, international banks and idea thinker like Hernando de Soto makes the lives of people in the urban south much worse. Urban south are cities like Mexico City, Delhi, Dhaka, Cairo, Beijing, Lima and etc (Davis 4) that experience in major increase in population by more than ten times its size from 1950 to 2004, it is cities in the third world. Mike Davis believed that, the government, international banks and thinkers such as Hernando de Soto are the one responsible for

When the economic situation change they no longer prevent people from going into the city. Some examples happened in South Africa, China, and Latin America ( Davis 59-60). However, even though the government encourages people to moved into the city, it does not mean they were taken care of. When Mike Davis mentioned the “treason of state” it means that the government betrayed what the people expected of them. The government is mainly expected domestically to help the poor, and make lives easier for all people. However, Mike Davis is saying are that, the government in the third world countries is helping the rich, and make the lives of the rich only instead. “In Mexico, where during the 1 980s the formal home market provided for little more than one-third of demand, housing is heavily subsidized for military families, civil servants, and members of a few powerful unions such as the oil workers, but the very poor receive only a trickle of state aid. Thus FOVI, the government trust fund serving the middle segment of the housing market (up to ten times minimum wage), mobilizes 50 percent of federal housing resources, while FONHAPO, serving the poorest segment, receives a mere 4 percent” (Davis