Spatial and temporal impacts on socio-economic conditions in the Yangon slums

Informal settlements house millions of poor urban dwellers in developing countries. Although many studies have been conducted on urban poverty in other developing countries, there has been little research conducted in Myanmar. The country was isolated from the rest of the world for many decades and only reopened its doors in 2011, so there is insufficient data for social policy makers. There have been some studies on the informal settlements in Yangon, but these are qualitative and focus on issues in specific settlements; therefore, there is academic space to explore the Yangon slums in their totality to assess their socio-economic conditions quantitatively. This study aimed to provide quantitative analyses of the socio-economic conditions of Yangon informal settlements, particularly regarding their variations in terms of formation according to the timeline of Myanmar's political regimes. The results indicate that the main socio-economic conditions of Yangon's slums differ depending on the time of settlement.