Justice
Slum Tourism: Problematic, But Not Necessarily in the Way You Might Think
In Copenhagen’s Norrebro District, well-meaning “ghetto tours” are breaking down social barriers. They could also be changing the neighborhood.
Back in the Victorian era, a bit of an odd practice emerged among the London well-to-do. Affluent residents filled with curiosity would visit the dodgy East End to look around, often accompanied by a police escort. As such excursions became more and more popular, the term “slumming” made it into everyday British lexicon.
Today one can take a guided “slum tour” of impoverished neighborhoods in many global cities, from Rio to Mumbai to Detroit. Such tours have plenty of critics, of course. Journalists have referred to the practice as “poorism” or “poverty porn.”