After reading the article on the founding of Brazil’s health care system, I looked to Brazil for examples of progressive policies that have sought to scale up slum improvements.  In “Rio de Janeiro to spend US$1 billion on
innovative slum improvement programme”, the author details the steps taken under the program Favela-Bairro, which has actually inspired similar programs in other Latin American cities.  In “Closing the divide between those who
are starving and those who waste food”, programs to combat food insecurity in Belo Horizonte, Brazil are described with particular emphasis on poor residents living in slums.  

In the article, “Slums are ‘Economically Rational’”, by the Affordable Housing Institute, the author shows how slums inevitably arise in the absence of government intervention and the process by which the private housing sector contributes to their creation.   

On a side note, before policy makers devise new programs for scaling up slum improvements, it could be helpful to analyze the successes of slum communities in different sectors, like security and the environment.  The article, “What Slums Can Teach Us About Sustainability”, briefly shows how slums are also learning opportunities for urban planners.