without serious and concerted action on the part of municipal authorities national governments civil society actors and the international community the numbers of slum dwellers are likely to increase in most developing countries a number of accounts of the appalling living conditions in slums and informal settlements were published during this period a recent analysis examines the history and planning architecture behind various stalled attempts to redevelop the dharavi district in mumbai a vast area with nearly people if the grand visions of master planners referred to by many in mumbai as hallucinations were realized then the social dislocations they would bring about would be unimaginable