Slum tourism, or “poorism,” as some call it, is catching on. From the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to the townships of Johannesburg to the garbage dumps of Mexico, tourists are forsaking, at least for a while, beaches and museums for crowded, dirty — and in many ways surprising — slums. NYT | related
4 Comments
This reminds me of Malpais in "brave new world."
the idea of romanticizing poverty, or packaging favelas as simply "exotic" pisses me off tremendously - i've seen it recently in movies and lurking underneath architectural themes - the idea of slum tours seem to do just that - but one can hope that it educates rather than entertains -
i just hope a group of tourists won't find themselves lost ina favela when Rio's Military Police decide to go up the "morro"
it doesn't piss me off but, slums should charge more from tourist types who are learning their survival skills at a discount rate. this includes rich architecture students and their teachers as well.
if a student paying tens of thousands of dollars to ivy school of some sort, they should also pay at least that much to slum organizations per semester per student. teachers should be charged double. same goes for tourists. double the traveling budget. slums are not easy to build. it costs money to keep them functioning. no free rides please...
that's how i see it after seeing an explosion of slum studying in the main stream.
pay up or stay in the dark studying dwell homes!
great response orhan...you reminded me to add a link to Lebbeus Woods' recent critique of slum admiration (posted to news by b-funk).
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