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A shanty town, squatter area, squatter settlement, or squatter camp is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or , typically made of materials such as mud and wood, or from cheap building materials such as corrugated iron sheets. A typical shanty town is squatted and, at least initially, lacks adequate infrastructure, including proper sanitation, safe water supply, electricity and street drainage. Over time, shanty towns may develop their infrastructure and even change into middle class neighbourhoods. They can be small informal settlements or they can house millions of people.
First used in North America to designate a shack, the term shanty is likely derived from French chantier (construction site and associated low-level workers' quarters), or alternatively from Scottish Gaelic sean () meaning 'old' and taigh () meaning 'household'.
Globally, some of the largest shanty towns are Ciudad Neza in Mexico, Orangi in Pakistan and Dharavi in India. They are known by various names in different places, such as favela in Brazil, villa miseria in Argentina and gecekondu in Turkey. Shanty towns are mostly found in developing nations, but also in the cities of developed nations, such as Athens, Los Angeles and Madrid. Cañada Real is considered the largest informal settlement in Europe, and Skid Row is an infamous shanty town in Los Angeles. Shanty towns are sometimes found on places such as railway sidings, swampland or disputed building projects. In South Africa, squatter camps, often referred to as "plakkerskampe", directly translated from the Afrikaans word for squatter camps, often start and grow rapidly on vacant land or public spaces within or close to cities and towns, where there may be nearby work opportunities, without the cost of transport.
Some Brazilian favelas have also seen improvements in the 21st century, and can even attract tourists. Development occurs over a long period of time, and newer towns—and many older ones—still lack basic services. Nevertheless, there has been a general trend whereby shanties undergo gradual improvements, rather than relocation to even more distant parts of a metropolis.
In Africa, many shanty towns are starting to implement the use of composting toilets and solar panels. In India, people living in slums have access to cell phones and the internet.
Other African shanty towns have even become popular tourist attractions. Soweto (SOuthWEst TOwnship), an old squatter camp from apartheid-era South Africa is now classified as a city within a city, with a population of almost 2 million. The "Soweto Towers" vertical adventure centre is in Soweto, and there are guided excursions, often including a Shisa-nyama.
Pope Francis argued in his 2015 encyclical letter Laudato si' that shanty town settlements should be developed, if possible, rather than people being moved on and their settlements destroyed. He and the Catholic Church's Council for Justice and Peace have emphasised the need for information, involvement and choice being offered to people being moved on.Pope Francis (2015), Laudato si', paragraph 152, accessed 16 February 2024Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (2004), Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, paragraph 482, accessed 16 February 2024
Squatter camps in South Africa typically use cheap, and easily acquired building materials such as corrugated tin sheets to build shacks. Offering very little protection against extreme weather conditions, these squatter camps, often built near streams or rivers due to the steady water supply, are often subjected to flash floods. They are also prone to runaway fires due to the close proximity they are built in. They often cause a great deal of damage to naturally occurring ecosystems, both directly, and indirectly. An example of severe indirect damage is the use of washing detergents, and refuse disposal in the nearby water source, which can often be seen for hundreds of kilometers down stream.
Due to the lack of infrastructure, and the cost of basic services, such as water and electricity, the overall squatted area is often barren, with the ground sweeped and stamped to minimise dust, and where gardening is simply impossible and unaffordable. Illegal and dangerous electricity connections are abundant, another danger for fires, and electrical accidents,
The Joe Slovo squatter camp, in Cape Town, houses an estimated 20,000 people. Shack dwellers in South Africa organise themselves in groups such as Abahlali baseMjondolo and Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign. Originally published in Spanish at Desinformémonos.
In Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, Kibera has between 200,000 and 1 million residents. There is no running water and inhabitants use a flying toilet in which faeces are collected in a plastic bag then thrown away. Mathare is a collection of slums which contain around 500,000 people. In Zambia, the informal housing areas are known as komboni and approximately 80% of the people in the capital Lusaka are living in them.
Thailand has 5,500 informal settlements, one of the largest being a shanty town in the Khlong Toei District of Bangkok. In China, 171 urban villages were demolished before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. As of 2005, there were 346 shanty towns in Beijing, housing 1.5 million people. Author Robert Neuwirth wrote that around six million people, half the population of Istanbul lived in gecekondu areas. (2025). 9780415933193, Routledge. ISBN 9780415933193
In Hong Kong, the Kowloon Walled City housed up to 50,000 people, with Rooftop slum currently providing some additional housing.
Brazil has many favelas. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, it was calculated in 2000 that over 20% of its 6.5 million inhabitants were living in more than 600 favelas. For example, Rocinha is home to an estimated 80,000 inhabitants. It has developed into a densely populated neighbourhood with some buildings reaching six storeys high. There are theatres, schools, nurseries and local newspapers.
In Argentina, shanty towns are known as villas miseria. As of 2011, there were 500,000 people living in 864 informal settlements in the metropolitan Buenos Aires area. In Peru, they are known as pueblos jóvenes ("young towns"), as campamentos in Chile, and as in Guatemala.
Although shanty towns are now generally less common in developed countries in Europe, they still exist. The growing influx of migrants has fuelled shantytowns in cities commonly used as a point of entry into the European Union, including Athens and Patras in Greece. The Calais Jungle in France had grown to over 8,000 people by the time of its clearance in October 2016. Bidonvilles exist in the peripheries of some French cities. The state authorities recorded 16,399 people living in 391 slums across the country in 2012. Of these, 41% lived on the outskirts of Paris. (2025). 9781138942127, Routledge. ISBN 9781138942127
In Madrid, Spain, a shanty town named Cañada Real is considered the largest informal settlement in Europe. It has an estimated 8,628 inhabitants, who are mainly Spanish, Romani and north African, but only one mobile health unit. After 40 years, property developers began to take an interest in the site in 2012. Showdown Looms Over Europe's Largest Shantytown LAUREN FRAYER, National Public Radio (Washington DC), April 27, 2012.
There have been cardboard cities in London and Cardboard city. In some cases, shanty towns can persist in gentrified areas that local governments have yet to redevelop, or in regions of political dispute. A major historical example was the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong.
In Australia and New Zealand, there were many shanty towns before World War II, some of which still exist (for example Wyee, a suburb of the Central Coast).
The 2016 Chinese TV series Housing tells the story of shantytown clearance in Beiliang, Baotou, Inner Mongolia.
A 2023 Nigerian crime thriller titled Shanty Town was released on Netflix on January 20, 2023. It is a six-part series that tells the story of a ruthless leader named Scar (Chidi Mokeme) who handles a lot of dirty business and is popularly regarded as the King of Shanty Town..
Video games such as Max Payne 3 have levels located in fictional shanty towns.
Reggae singer Desmond Dekker sang a song called "007 (Shanty Town)".
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