Maybe it worked that way in some other countries, but in a lot of places in Latin America, that is not how it works. Most slums just get more crowded, larger,

Maybe it worked that way in some other countries, but in a lot of places in Latin America, that is not how it works. Most slums just get more crowded, larger, and managed by thugs (lately, drug dealing foreign cartels are taking over) over time. For example, take a look at Villa 31, a slum near Buenos Aires's downtown, in 1935 [1], around the time it first appeared, and now [2]. After almost a century, the precarious buildings are just getting higher, and more densely populated. Several attempts where made to relocate the people along the years, but having a high percentage of the population being illegal immigrants, it becomes highly unpopular to just give those people a new apartment, while there's a housing deficit. Lately, there's been more efforts in providing them a housing solution, because a judicial ruling forced the government to do it. But even then, there's no sign of the population in the slum being reduced (probably because they are replaced by newcomers, mostly illegal immigrants, that need a "first place to live" close to the downtown). [1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Villa_Desocupaci%C3%B3n_%28Villa_31%29%2C_Buenos_Aires%2C_1935.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Villa_De... [2] https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_31#/media/Archivo:Villamiseria5.JPG https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_31#/media/Archivo:Villam...