Slums of Hope: Opportunities in the Developing World | Idaliya Grigoryeva | TEDxUBC

Having spent two summers living in China, Idaliya began to explore research on the nuances of urban slums. This talk, by focusing on the urban slums found in Shanghai, aims to challenge your conceptions around this topic, and examine their potential opportunities. Idaliya Grigoryeva is a Master’s student in Economics at UBC. Minoring in China studies and learning Mandarin in her undergrad, Ida got interested in urbanization processes happening in developing countries, which are substantially different from those in Europe or Russia. Fascinated by the rapid urbanization and ubiquitous economic opportunity so evident in China’s major cities, she spent two summers living in China in different cities, participating in different summer schools, volunteering and learning Mandarin. A summer school on ‘Urbanization in Asia’ at Beijing University in collaboration with London School of Economics enabled her to better understand and put into perspective what she had witnessed living in a slum-like area in Shanghai for a month a year before. This led to her first getting a Master’s in Urban Geography and now in Development Economics. Ida is planning to continue on to a Ph.D., hoping to make a difference in expanding the research about urban slums. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx