Slum Clearance Collection

Burnley DES01_01_0492
Looking north down Healey Wood Road, Burnley, Lancashire, showing partially demolished terraces in the foreground and Healey Wood Mill in the distance

Burnley housing DES01_01_0491
Looking north along Healey Wood Road, Burnley, Lancashire, from the railway line showing abandoned houses awaiting demolition. Photographed by Eileen Deste between 1966 and 1974

Burnley DES01_01_0539
The terrace on the east side of Ashworth Street, Fulledge, Burnley, Lancashire, viewed from the junction of Richard Street showing boarded up and broken windows in some houses

Leeds DES01_01_0534
Looking along St Marys Street towards St Marys Church, Quarry Hill, Leeds, West Yorkshire, with an elderly man standing in the demolished street

Replacement housing JLP01_08_069312
St Marys Estate, Oldham. A worker securing a concrete slab during the construction of 12M Jespersen prototype flats in Oldham, with derelict terraced houses in the background

View in Kingsway during the progress of the Improvement, 1905 (photo)
3038392 View in Kingsway during the progress of the Improvement, 1905 (photo) by English Photographer, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info)

Hilton Young, Minister for Health, opens new flats for workers in Islington, London. 26 October 1934

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Slum clearance: A global issue, with local beginnings. In the early 1900s, images like Burnley DES01_01_0491 and DES01_01_0492 depicted overcrowded housing conditions in England. Similar situations were prevalent in other parts of the world, including Leeds DES01_01_0534. By the 21st century, the issue had grown into a global crisis, with China, as seen in JLP01_08_069312, becoming the world's largest emitter of CO2 in 2008, primarily due to energy production from coal-fired power stations like Hilton Young's new flats for workers in Islington, London, replaced in the view from Kingsway during the progress of improvement in 1905." "Slum clearance efforts have been ongoing for over a century, addressing substandard housing and living conditions. However, the scale and complexity of the issue have grown exponentially, requiring innovative solutions and international cooperation to ensure sustainable and equitable housing for all.