Globalization and slums: How do economic, political, and social globalization affect slum prevalence?

This study examines how globalization affects slum prevalence in developing countries. Recognizing that globalization is a multifaceted phenomenon, we disaggregate globalization into three conventional sub-dimensions – economic globalization, political globalization, and social globalization – and propose the hypotheses that economic globalization is likely to increase slum prevalence while political and social globalizations are likely to reduce it. To test the hypotheses, we utilize the cross-national dataset on urban slum population in developing countries assembled by the UN-Habitat and the KOF globalization index, the most commonly used dataset of globalization. We report strong empirical support for our hypotheses: political and social globalizations indeed reduce urban slum populations but economic globalization increases urban slum populations. The findings suggest that diverse aspects of globalization should be considered regarding slum prevalence in developing countries.