Sleep and Quality of Life in Urban Poverty: Effect of a Housing Upgrade

1669 Sleep and Urban Poverty—Simonelli et al INTRODUCTION The unprecedented urban growth in the face of increasing poverty and social inequity in developing countries is posing an immense challenge for governments at all levels. Urbanization of poverty is shown mainly by the proliferation and expansion of slums.1 Such places often contain houses built using plywood, wood boards, cardboard, corrugated metal, and sheets of plastic. More than one billion people, approximately 14% of the global population, are slum dwellers.2 According to United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) predictions, the number of slum dwellers could double by the year 2030, due to the increase in poverty and social inequality in the context of extraordinary urban growth.3 In Latin America and the Caribbean, despite the significant economic progress over the past two decades, many of the region’s city inhabitants are poorly housed. Of the 130 million urban families in the region, five million rely on another family SLEEP AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN URBAN POVERTY: EFFECT OF A HOUSING UPGRADE