Kiberia Slum - an urban crisis

Cities in Africa are exploding in size at an alarming rate. In one such city Nairobi, Kenya, the population increased from 119,000 in 1948 to 3.1 million today. Many people live in some 200 slum settlements spread across the city and have limited access to safe water and sanitation.
Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa.
The neighborhood is divided into a number of villages. Conditions in Kibera are extremely poor, and most of its residents lack access to basic services, including electricity and running water.

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In 2008 an independent team of researchers began a door-by-door survey with the aim to map physical and socio-demographic features of the slum. A trained team of locals gathered census data of over 15,000 people and completed the mapping of 5000 structures, services (public toilets, schools), and infrastructures (drainage system, water and electricity supply) in the village of Kianda. Population of the whole Kibera slum can be estimated between 235,000 and 270,000 people.

Kianda - one of the 'villages' of the Kiberia slum.

The Uganda Railway Line passes through the center of the neighborhood, providing passengers aboard the train a firsthand view of the slum. Kibera has a railway station, but most residents use buses and matatus to reach the city center; carjacking, irresponsible driving, and poor traffic law enforcement are chronic issues.

Kibera is heavily polluted by human refuse, garbage, soot, dust, and other wastes. The lack of sanitation combined with poor nutrition among residents accounts for many illnesses and diseases. The slum is contaminated with human and animal feces, thanks to the open sewage system and the frequent use of "flying toilets". 
(A flying toilet is a facetious name for the use of plastic bags for defecation, which are then thrown into ditches, on the roadside, or simply as far away as possible.)

The ground in much of Kibera is literally composed of refuse and rubbish. Dwellings are often constructed atop this unstable ground, and therefore many structures collapse whenever the slum experiences flooding, which it does regularly. This means that even well-constructed buildings are often damaged by the collapse of nearby poorly constructed ones.

Currently the least urbanized region in the world, but changing fast. Urban dwellers without access to safe drinking water jumped from 30 million in 1990 to over 55 million in 2008. Over the same period, the number of people without reasonable sanitation services doubled to around 175 million.
Africa is now the fastest urbanizing continent on the planet, and the demand for water and sanitation is far outstripping supply in its' cities.

Note:
A reality show-cum-documentary called Famous, Rich and in the Slums, which has been shot in Kibera, has been airing on a British TV in the last few days.
'Slum Tourism' is one of the fastest growing trends in Kenya, particularly since the films, The Constant Gardener (partially shot in Kibera), and Slumdog Millionaire won Oscars.
For many Kenyans, film is the worst form of slum tourism exploitation because it turns poverty into entertainment in the name of charity. What has this kind of tourism done to the residents of Kibera, except to  erode their self-respect further and make them objects of foreigners' pity.

There may be slightly more sanitation facilities in the slums now, but living conditions have become only slightly less appalling, they have not improved dramatically. And the slum continues to grow.