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The existence of slums or informal settlements is common to most cities of developing countries. Its role as single housing delivery mechanism has seriously challenged the popular notion held by policy makers, planners and architects. Today informality is a paradigm of city making and economic growth in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This paper discusses the role of computer simulation models to understand the emergence and growth of slums in developing countries. We have identified the key factors influencing the growth of slums and formulated a standardized set of criteria for evaluating slum models. The review of existing computer simulation models designed to understand slum formation and expansion enabled us to define model requirements and to identify new research questions with respect to exploring the dynamics of slums.