SLUMDOG TOURISM

Back in the 1800's, rich New Yorkers would sometimes go and visit the slums of the city to see "how the other half lives". This is known as slum tourism. With urbanization increasing in the developing world, the time for slum tourism is now. Some believe that visitors to these poor areas will bring awareness to those in such conditions and more money to the economy in need. However, those living in these conditions feel that touring the way they live makes it seem like entertainment instead of a way of life. Kennedy Odede, of Nairobi, Kenya, compared seeing tourists snapping photos of him to him feeling like a caged animal. Tourists rarely interact or speak with the people they leave the comfort of their own homes to see. The residents of the slums hope that the tourists will go back home and do something about their conditions of extreme poverty, but many know that just seeing such conditions is enough for them. Slum tourism is described as a "one way street: they get photos; we lose a piece of our dignity", Odede.
This article is kind of a left turn on urbanization. It's basically the opposite, in which people of the cities go to poor, rural areas. I guess it's about temporary "ruralization". This article really stuck out to me because, honestly, I had no idea about slum tourism and I thought it would be nice to take a look at the reverse of urbanization for once. Getting to the topics in the article, I think I'm on the side with the residents of the slums. If I had to scrim and scrape for everything I had, the last thing I would want would be someone way more fortunate than I am taking pictures of my living conditions just so they could feel like they understand what I go through on a day to day basis. On the flip side, if I were a tourist, I honestly do not know for sure that I would come back and actually raise awareness outside of friends and family, which would probably be the only ones I would share my photos with.



http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/opinion/10odede.html?_r=2