Abstract Low‐income communities in the developing world lack essential services. The explanation for this is in the unplanned and illegal nature of these settlements. Such interpretations, this paper argues, fail to account for the dynamics of development within slums. Drawing upon the history of development of a slum in the extended suburbs of Mumbai and, in particular, the acquisition of water services in the slum, observations are made about the ways in which slum communities develop an organization to build their environment and acquire services. It is noted that in times of crises, such as eviction or disease epidemic, the geographical slum community develops collective organizations to tackle these crises. Invariably this is through community based organization. But it is also noted that geographical slums are not homogeneous. Some neighbourhoods within the slum have the organizational ability to negotiate for services in the slum and in the wider city, while others fail. This leads to accelerated development in some areas of the geographical slum and retarded development in others. There are vulnerable groups within a vulnerable community. It is also recognized that these dynamics of differential access to services are rarely recognized by sector providers. It is necessary for city authorities (and the donor agencies that support them) to develop strategies to include the most vulnerable groups who are, at present, most often excluded. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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