DISTRIBUTION AND DEVELPENT PROCESS OF SLUM DISTRICTS IN YANGON

Myanmar has rapidly been urbanized alongside transition to democratization from its military government era which came after the British colonial era in the 19th century. It is important for the government to consider disaster risk reduction strategies for the rapid urban development in big cities in the country. The authors had been working to evaluate urban vulnerabilities of Yangon City in a SATREPS project named “Development of a Comprehensive Disaster Resilience System and Collaboration Platform in Myanmar” for six years since 2014 and estimated future urban risk due to earthquakes. One of the problems for future safety of the city is rapidly increasing slum districts.

As a conclusion, this research clarified as follows: (1) slum settlements in Yangon City were distributed along the central north-south axis of the city before 1988, and they were relocated to three Townships. In recent years, new slums had been formed with the expansion of the city. (2) The sulum “555” was gradually formed after 2008 Cyclone Nargis, consisting of five communities which has own town functions. (3) In the absence of government support, foods and minimum lifelines had been supplied in residential areas and they had been able to spend independent lives in “555”. On the other hand, environmental improvement seems to be necessary in the perspective of sanitation and vulnerability. Regarding the residents’ future intentions, two third of them want to move out of the slum settlement area.