The article discusses how Mumbai can learn from a 45-floor slum in Venezuela, which is the tallest slum in the world. Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela, has a high percentage of its population living in slums, and has also faced extreme inflation.
Two-thirds of the population in Caracas, Venezuela, lives in slums. The capital city of the bankrupt South American nation held the record for the highest inflation in the world when it clocked a rate of 65,374 percent in 2018. But there is one more dubious record that the country holds — it has the tallest slum in the world.
The slum, known as the Tower of David, has 45 floors. Unlike most slums, it was never meant to be one. Rather, it was planned to be a grand financial centre in 1990, when Venezuela had the highest standard of living in Latin America. The tower would be the third-tallest building in the country.
The building was named after its key investor, David Brillembourg. He was a wealthy man who made his fortune in the stock market, earning the nickname ‘King David’ in finance circles. But the king died in 1993. Soon after, Venezuela sank into a massive banking crisis, with several banks taken over by the government. Construction on the Tower of David stopped with only 28 of the 45 floors ready.
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