Jakarta suffers from major urbanization problems. The population has risen sharply from 2.7 million in 1960 to 8.3 million in 2000. The rapid population growth has outgrown the government's ability to provide basic needs. A slum is an overcrowded and squalid district of a city or town usually inhabited by the very poor. Due to poverty and unemployment, slums are breeding centers for many social problems such as crime, drug addiction, alcoholism, and despair. Picture credit: Jonathan McIntosh |