Which term describes slums; extreme poor living conditions caused by rapid urbanization?

• A. Slums
• B. Tenements
• C. Ghettos
• D. Shanties

Answer: (B)

When cities grow rapidly, housing and services often can’t keep up, leading to neighborhoods with extreme poverty, overcrowding, and inadequate sanitation. That situation is described by the term slums. Slums focus on the overall conditions of a neighborhood—the dense, poor housing and lack of infrastructure that arise from quick urban expansion. Tenements refer more to the specific buildings people live in—crowded, multi-family dwellings—rather than the surrounding area as a whole. Ghettos denote segregated communities, often by ethnicity or social exclusion, not necessarily defined by housing quality from urban growth. Shanties are makeshift shelters or informal shelters, usually crude structures, but they describe individual dwellings rather than the broader, impoverished urban district. So the best fit for the scenario is slums because it captures both the extreme conditions and their urban-proliferation context.