Slum-free city planning versus durable slums. Insights from Delhi, India

We bring a challenging perspective to slum studies in Delhi, India, by contrasting the attempts at 'slum-free city planning' (referring to housing programmes for the urban poor) with the 'durability' of certain slum settlements. We examine national and local factors that temper t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of urban sustainable development Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 34 - 51
Main Authors Dupont, Véronique, Gowda, M.M. Shankare
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Taylor & Francis 02.01.2020
Taylor & Francis Group
Subjects
Architecture, space management
Delhi
Demography
eviction
housing
Humanities and Social Sciences
India
rehabilitation
Slum
social mobilisation
urban policies
INDE
DELHI
RAJASTHAN
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Summary:We bring a challenging perspective to slum studies in Delhi, India, by contrasting the attempts at 'slum-free city planning' (referring to housing programmes for the urban poor) with the 'durability' of certain slum settlements. We examine national and local factors that temper the impact of macro-forces of neoliberalism and globalisation on slum clearance in Delhi, including institutional fragmentation, political networks, and social mobilisation. Based on two settlements selected by the Delhi Development Authority to implement its strategy of slum redevelopment under public-private partnership, we show how space-specific configurations and the interplay of actors may contribute instead to the entrenchment of slums. At the settlement level however, 'durable' does not mean permanent. Yet, at the city level, slum rehabilitation in partnership with private developers presents serious limits, questioning the emphasis put on this strategy to provide sustainable housing for the urban poor.
ISSN:1946-3138
1946-3146
DOI:10.1080/19463138.2019.1666850