Cause
Problems
Consequences
Solutions

Cause

People like to live in metropolises because they are attracted by the concentration of activities and services. They are also attracted by the jobs created in the city’s service sector. This creates an increase in the city’s population and leads to various housing-related problems.

Definition

Concentration refers to a grouping of several elements on the same territory.

Problems

In many metropolises, population growth leads to a lack of housing because the number of inhabitants grows too quickly in relation to available housing. Lack of housing is a problem that leads to two sub-problems: an increase in housing costs and, sometimes, poor housing maintenance.

	Since there are more people in need of housing than what is available, people end up renting housing that is too expensive.
	Some buildings are poorly maintained or unsanitary but people rent them anyway because they need somewhere to live.

Definition

Unsanitary refers to something that is a health risk. A place is considered unsanitary when it is dirty and a health hazard (presence of mould, pest infestation, etc.).

Consequences

Here are some of the consequences of these problems:

People living in unsanitary housing can develop health problems. For example, if there is mould in an apartment, the tenants could develop respiratory problems.
Some people are forced to use too much of their income on housing, which means that they do not have enough money to meet their other needs.
In developing countries, disadvantaged people who settle in metropolises often end up living in slums with few or no services.
As a direct consequence of housing problems, many people have to move away from the centre of the city and live in the suburbs. This has other consequences.

The consequences of moving away from the centre of the metropolis
Consequence	Explanation
Urban sprawl	People moving away from the centre of the city to live in the suburbs contributes to urban sprawl. This has negative consequences for natural environments and farmland because housing is built on these lands.
Increased travel time	By settling further from the centre of the metropolis, many people also end up further from where they work, and this increases travel time.
Increased car use	Living further from the city reduces the possibility of using public transit and leads to the increased use of cars. This is directly related to transportation problems in metropolises.

Definitions

A slum is a living area close to a metropolis where very disadvantaged people live. Slums have few or no basic services (water, sewers, electricity, etc.).
The term disadvantaged refers to someone or something lacking in the economic, social or cultural sphere.
A developing country is a country where the population generally has a low standard of living.

Suburb or Slum?

In developed countries, when people leave the centre of the metropolis, they move to the suburbs. In these countries, governments have the resources and capacity to build adequate and sufficient housing around the metropolis.

In developing countries, people who want to move to a metropolis often have less money. Since housing prices are too high, most of them do not have enough income to cover the cost of living. Furthermore, cities do not have the resources and capacity to build enough housing for newcomers. Consequently, many of these people end up living in slums.

American Suburb

Source: Alena Mozhjer, Shutterstock.com

Brazilian Slum

In Brazil, a slum is called a favela.

Source: Elena Odareeva, Shutterstock.com

Definitions

A suburb is an urban area on the outskirts of a metropolis or a city.
Urban sprawl is the progressive spreading of a city over a greater area.
A developed country is an industrialized country where the population generally has a high standard of living.

Solutions

Here are a few examples of solutions to these problems:

Problem	Possible solutions
Lack of housing	Construction of multi-storey buildings (construction of more housing units in a smaller space)
High price of housing	Implementation of laws and regulations on housing prices Construction of social housing (for low-income people)
Unsanitary housing	Implementation of sanitary standards and imposition of fines on landlords who do not respect them

The Housing Issue in Metropolises