India needs to slum it out
Most people think of slum as a place of static despair as depicted in films such as Slumdog Millionaire - the only way out is winning a lottery.While the poverty is real enough,real-life slums are different.If one looks past the open drains and plastic sheets, one will see that slums are ecosystem buzzing with activity- shops, mini-factories, people moving out.This is where migrants will first find shelter, get their first job, get information about opportunities in the wider city. Almost every country has had slums during the urbanisation phase.The slum of London and Network were notorious well into 20th century.
A century ago,the now trendy Meatpacking District of Manhattan had more than 200 slaughterhouses where many new immigrants Worked so that their children could move to leafy suburbs.Harappa cities and Mughal Delhi too had slums.Even today's china has slums, despite its many social and Political controls.Slums already play a critical role as routers in india's migration process.Acccording to estimates by UN-Habitat, 60 millions people moved out of indian sulms between 2000 and 2010.Some may have gone back home,but many climbed the economic ladders into the new Urban middle class.This is exactly why slums continue to attract new migrants despite the awful living condition-migrants know that they,or at least their children,have a fighting chance of breaking out of the cycle of poverty.
Understanding Urban poverty as dynamic flow has very important implications about how we design and manage future cities.Firt up,we need to design for urban spaces that will play the role of slums.This is not about solving a housing problem but the functing of wider ecosystem.Thus, creating neat low income housing estate will not work unless they allow for many of the messy economic and social activities that thrive in slums.By building it into the design, smart slums can support the migration process while mitigating the squalor.
Second, property rights have to be arranged so that new migrants can enter the system easily and climb the social economic ladder.This would include cheap rental accommodation, easily finishing to allow home purchase, liquid secondary markets and so on.This is very different from the current thinking that emphasis subsidised housing for the poor but then gives non marketable ownership rights, financing and a secondary markets that allows new migrants to climb the ladder.
Third, access to the common is very important to the lives of the poor.Thus,the lowest rung in the housing ladder can be fairly basic, including dormitories,but must ensure access to public transport, school, sanitation, security and social network.
Summing up, slums have always played important role in the urbanisation process.This is where new migrants are absorbed and naturalised into the Urban system.Indian policy makers need to design for urban spaces that will play the same role in the new smart cities.
A century ago,the now trendy Meatpacking District of Manhattan had more than 200 slaughterhouses where many new immigrants Worked so that their children could move to leafy suburbs.Harappa cities and Mughal Delhi too had slums.Even today's china has slums, despite its many social and Political controls.Slums already play a critical role as routers in india's migration process.Acccording to estimates by UN-Habitat, 60 millions people moved out of indian sulms between 2000 and 2010.Some may have gone back home,but many climbed the economic ladders into the new Urban middle class.This is exactly why slums continue to attract new migrants despite the awful living condition-migrants know that they,or at least their children,have a fighting chance of breaking out of the cycle of poverty.Second, property rights have to be arranged so that new migrants can enter the system easily and climb the social economic ladder.This would include cheap rental accommodation, easily finishing to allow home purchase, liquid secondary markets and so on.This is very different from the current thinking that emphasis subsidised housing for the poor but then gives non marketable ownership rights, financing and a secondary markets that allows new migrants to climb the ladder.
Third, access to the common is very important to the lives of the poor.Thus,the lowest rung in the housing ladder can be fairly basic, including dormitories,but must ensure access to public transport, school, sanitation, security and social network.
Summing up, slums have always played important role in the urbanisation process.This is where new migrants are absorbed and naturalised into the Urban system.Indian policy makers need to design for urban spaces that will play the same role in the new smart cities.
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