Forced displacement in cities of the Global South is a growing phenomenon driven by various factors, including urban-development policies, armed conflicts, and the effects of climate change. These processes primarily affect the most vulnerable populations, who are forced to abandon their homes and livelihoods in search of safety and opportunity. Authors such as Mike Davis and Teresa Caldeira have studied these forms of displacement and the violence associated with them, providing a critical perspective on how urban and global dynamics contribute to the expulsion of entire communities. In Planet of Slums, Mike Davis examines how uncontrolled urbanization in the Global South has led to the massive growth of informal settlements and slums, where millions of people live in extremely precarious conditions.
Davis argues that, far from resulting from economic progress or modernization, these areas emerge as people are displaced from rural regions by conflict, land-use changes, or economic crises. Urban-development policies intended to attract foreign investment or modernize infrastructure have also played a central role in this displacement, as large urban projects often involve demolishing low-income neighborhoods to make way for more profitable developments. In City of Walls, Teresa Caldeira focuses on how structural violence and insecurity affect cities in the Global South, particularly in Latin America. Caldeira argues that urban displacement occurs not only because of development policies but also as a consequence of the everyday violence faced by the most marginalized communities.
In cities such as São Paulo, the lack of access to security and essential services drives people from their homes, forcing them to relocate to even more peripheral areas where precarity and risk are greater. In this sense, violence is not only physical but also institutional, as public policies frequently perpetuate exclusion and segregation. Another critical factor contributing to displacement in the Global South is climate change. Davis and Caldeira agree that its effects—including rising sea levels, prolonged droughts, and recurrent flooding—are severely affecting urban populations, particularly in coastal areas and regions prone to natural disasters.
In cities such as Dhaka and Lagos, thousands of people have been displaced because of climate vulnerability, exacerbating poverty and precarity in informal settlements. Local governments frequently fail to respond adequately to this environmental displacement, further worsening conditions for those affected. In addition to the physical causes of displacement, both Davis and Caldeira emphasize the role of global economic policies in creating these migration flows. Neoliberalism and the financialization of cities have promoted a model of urbanization that prioritizes capital over citizens’ rights.
The poorest populations are displaced to make way for foreign direct investment projects, including large real-estate developments, shopping centers, and tourism projects. This reconfiguration of urban space in favor of capital has intensified marginalization and precarity in cities across the Global South. Government responses to this forced displacement have often been insufficient or nonexistent. While some states adopt resettlement policies that fail to address the needs of displaced people, others simply ignore the problem, allowing affected communities to relocate to new informal settlements and perpetuating a cycle of exclusion.
Davis and Caldeira emphasize the importance of developing more inclusive, people-centered policies that recognize the rights of displaced populations and pursue lasting solutions. In conclusion, forced displacement in the Global South results from a complex interaction among urban-development policies, structural violence, and climate change. Authors such as Mike Davis and Teresa Caldeira have demonstrated how these processes are intrinsically linked to global and local economic dynamics and how they predominantly affect the most vulnerable populations. The growing precarity of cities in the Global South requires a more inclusive and equitable approach to addressing the challenges of displacement and urban violence.
