Since those days the network has grown steadily in numbers, in influence and in its impact on the everyday lives of millions of urban poor families.
Practical, face-to-face learning remains the main driving force of the SDI network that now stretches from Asia, through Africa to Latin America and the Caribbean.
However certain human rights activists and academics have interpreted this as proof of co-optation by state institutions and international agencies and undermining more rights-based radical social movements.
[12] In October 2009, SDI made a statement in solidarity with Abahlali baseMjondolo when a militia affiliated with the ANC attacked the movement in Kennedy Road informal settlement in Durban.
[14] Professor José Lobo, a scientist at Arizona State University and author of a report for the campaign said in 2018: "Slums are not undifferentiated seas of poverty and misery, nor are they ‘problems’ to be fixed.
There is a lot of knowledge within poor communities everywhere, and even financial resources to be tapped into (think of savings associations) if the residents are allowed to be involved in the design and implementation of solutions.