The assessment on the quality of life by the residents living in a slum improvement program area : a case study of Balbala, Djibouti

Abstract

In these recent decades, the world is moving towards urbanization. In today’s increasingly global and interconnected world, urban population have skyrocketed and represents more than the half of the world’s population. The latest United Nations report on human settlements estimate that over one third of the urban population in developing countries live in slums. The proportion is estimated to be much higher in sub-Saharan Africa such as Djibouti. The slum improvement program is considered one of the most successful ways to evaluate and upgrade the quality of life in urban areas. The assessment on the quality of life by the residents living in a slum improvement program area, which is Balbala, was the only way to assess the residents’ perception about their living conditions and improve it. There has been no prior study conducted on the assessment of the quality of life of an urban slum area in Djibouti by analyzing their satisfaction level on housing, transportation, environment, safety, infrastructures, public facilities, employment, economy as well as finance. The main objective of this study is to examine the satisfaction level of Balbala slum dwellers on their living conditions. The target population of the study is Balbala residents who have experience about the living conditions of Balbala inhabitants. This research, using statistical methods, collected data from 207 residents. The result of this study shows that the quality of life in the Balbala slum is very low and that the residents are not satisfied about their living conditions. Based on the findings, the average overall means shows that the inhabitants of Balbala slum are dissatisfied about their living conditions