Aashish Misra India Urban Presentation at LSE 2010
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Transcript of Aashish Misra India Urban Presentation at LSE 2010
BRIEF REVIEW OF THE SLUM
CRISIS AND POLICY
MEASURES IN INDIA
Aashish Mishra, GY504, R.U.S.P., The L.S.E., February 20, 2009
India: Disparate Development
India: Disparate DevelopmentIndian Cities “New Economy” demands land &
services
Initially, outdated land-use regulation led to economic growth in peri-urban areas and then cities’ urban core
Krishan (1996) characterises types of urban sprawl:--Urban-rural fringe--Ribbon development along the major transport routes
and urban enclaves in the countryside--Illegal land sub-division--Industrial estates and Special Economic Zones--“Farmhouses” similar to concept of “Gated
Communities”
India: Disparate Development“Satellite Towns” or Peri-Urban Growth Centres Emerge
--Relaxed land-use & planning regulations for economic activity--Construction of World-class infrastructure from nothing--Land availability/speculation for commercial & residential
Peri-urban growth led to regeneration of urban cores--Realisation that peri- to urban transport/links were essential--Need to integrate economic bubbles with downtown services--Growth & land prices increased from peri- to urban core
Net effect, land & housing prices unsustainable for poor
India: Land & Housing Poverty
India: Land & Housing Poverty1/3 to 2/3 of Urban Pop. lives on 1/10 of available urban land
--Significant inequitable distribution of land hurts urban poor--Grave health & environmental consequences due to the majority
of settlements concentrated on small parcel of land --Limitations of absorption capacity lead to growth of “slums”
Even cheapest formal accommodation unaffordable to poor--Compels poor to encroach public / private land--Creates an “informal” housing market where poor pay to stay!--New slums typically on hazardous, low-value, infra poor sites
Inevitable “densification” of slums by new migrants generates city-wide health & environmental externalities
India: What are Slums?
India: What are Slums? Risbud (2006): GOI definition of “Slum” Settlements:
-- Apparent physical sub-standardness, irrespective of land ownership or tenure status – legal settlements as Slums?
-- Unfit for human habitation due to dilapidation, overcrowding, lack of ventilation, light or sanitation facilities – what are water, roads, healthcare, education?
-- If conditions met, settlements can be regularised as Slums
Bapat (1983); Verma (2001): If definition strictly adhered to, vast majority of Indian cities’ settlements & structures would be classified as “Slums”
India: What are Slums? Risbud (2006): Classification of “Slum” Settlements
-- Freehold land, such as those in the inner city, blighted
areas or urban villages
-- “Squatter” Settlements, which are encroachments on
public or private land
-- Illegal Land Sub-Divisions, where quasi/legal land
ownership but the land subdivision undertaken illegally;
-- Public or Private Leasehold Land, such as
cooperative-model in resettlement colonies or urban
villages
India: Scale of Slum Settlements
India: Scale of Slum SettlementsGOI 2001 Census: Inaccurate as does not
include “regularised” slum population & inter-jurisdictional urban slum population: --14% of India’s total urban population is living in
identified slums, and --Mumbai – 58%--Kolkata – 33%--Chennai – 26%--Delhi – 14%
Actual % of Slum Population in Indian Cities
much larger, but no Govt. System to capture
these figures!
India: Scale of Slum Settlements
Available data on slum populations’ decadal
growth rate (67%) nearly double of total urban
populations’ (36%)
Great variance in State-wise estimations of slum
population growth decadal growth rates:
-- Karnataka – 290%
-- Kerala – 231%
-- Orissa – 198%
-- Uttar Pradesh – 126%
India: Basic Services in Slums
India: Scale of Slum Settlements 2002 Survey data findings on basic services in slums:
-- 70% of slum dwellings’ were exposed or semi-permanent-- 25% of slums lacked “safe” drinking water & on average one
community tap served 63 households – true access?-- 72% of slums lacked community or individual toilets & on
average, 1 seat for 376 persons – forced open defecation-- 68% of slums lacked municipal rubbish facilities & threw
garbage in open areas – city-wide health epidemics -- 45% of slums lacked any drainage infrastructure – floods-- 85% of slums lacked underground sewerage -- exposure-- 63% of slums had no fully-surfaced internal road – time
India: Evolution of Early Slum Policy
India: Evolution of Early Slum PolicyRao & Risbud (2006); Verma (2001) argue that past
and current Govt. of India policies for slum settlements primarily focused on “quick-fix” measures such as slum clearance, improvement or regularisation
More importantly, they it has historically failed to address “preventive” or even longer-term solutions to slum settlement proliferation, such as:--Increasing legal housing supply for low-income groups
--Steering slum policy back to Urban Master Plans
--Vigilance against encroachment of public/private land
India: Evolution of Early Slum PolicyFrom 1946 – 1976, slum settlement eviction & clearance
with limited relocation were the predominant national policy
Risbud (2006): Slum clearance was justified for a plethora of reasons, including: -- Incompatibility to urban Master Plans’ land use regulations – but
firstly why were land use and zoning regulation not enforced?-- Location on hazardous sites – Govt. accountable to allow this?-- City beautification – are the urban poor & their coping an “eye-sore?”
From 1975 – 1977, National Emergency declared as
unpopular & notorious Indian slum clearance experience
incited public
-- Also declared due to emerging threat of concentration of prime urban
land owned by few wealthy in the cities & being speculated upon
India: More Recent Slum Policy
India: More Recent Slum Policy1972 Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums
-- Marked policy shift of providing a “minimum standard” of basic service improvements & continues for 30 Years
--Provision of community taps, community latrines, pathways , drains and streetlights; but no tenure issues
-- Subsidy based on per capita ceiling cost, irrespective of the disparate densities of individual slum settlements
--Mainly failed as fixed grant funding inadequate for more densely populated settlements where geo-spatial specifications for infrastructure engineering design more expensive
India: More Recent Slum Policy1980s – 1990s, international donor agencies
supported central and state governments for
piloting of several city-wide In-Situ slum
upgrading initiatives
--Most considered failures due to excessive “hand-
holding” and lack of an “exit strategy” after the project
--Lack of good post-project monitoring & evaluation
mechanisms & social/environmental impact
assessments
India: More Recent Slum Policy1972 Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums
--Marked policy shift of providing a “minimum standard” of basic service improvements & continues for 30 Years
--Provision of community taps, community latrines, pathways , drains and streetlights; but no tenure issues
--Subsidy based on per capita ceiling cost, irrespective of the disparate densities of individual slum settlements
--Mainly failed as fixed grant funding inadequate for more densely populated settlements where geo-spatial specifications for infrastructure engineering design more expensive
India: More Recent Slum Policy1997 National Slum Development Programme
--Marked shift to a development-oriented approach
by converging multi-sector support, allowing
States flexibility to design projects & community-
based organisations to assist in implementation
--Limited “success” due to weak public sector
capacities to design projects, mobilise
communities and achieve cost recovery through
collection of user charges
India: More Recent Slum Policy2001 VAMBAY Programme
--Targeted Below Poverty Line & homeless urban poor
--Promise of granting land tenure prerequisite for funds
--Central/State matching grant for provision of built
dwellings with trunk infrastructure
--Failure as States either no policy or willingness for
granting land tenure to slum households
--Also, requirement for States’ matching grant-
component made the scheme unattractive & often
unfeasible
India: More Recent Slum Policy2001 GOI Draft National Slum Policy
--Advocates large-scale In-Situ slum upgrading to all “regularised”
slums & “under-serviced” settlements
-- Provision of individual trunk infrastructure to all relevant
households
--Improvements with or without the transfer or formalisation of tenure
and land ownership rights to these households
-- Convergence of upgrading with cities’ trunk infrastructure systems
--Controversial as upgrading onto tiny and unsustainable plots & units
in extremely high-density settlements has failed in Indian pilots
--Also, “notified” slums will become mixed-use areas where there is
likely to be a substitution effect of more polluting industries shifting
India: Key Slum Issues?
India Slums: Final Thoughts?Risbud (2006, 210) states, “Improvement policies for
existing slum squatter settlements have been
implemented as softer, populist and cost effective
political and administrative options without any long-
term environmental consideration for empowering the
poor. Each slum has become vote-bank and
stronghold of a political party; and hence there is
implicit tendency on the part of politicians to
exaggerate the slum problem and resist sustainable
improvement with secure tenure...”
India Slums: Final Thoughts?How can the international community, including the Academia, Donors and Civil Society, put pressure on the Govt. of India to adopt more relevant, slum-specific and community-driven programmes that will gives these poor children hope for a better quality of life and future?