c



The slum is not only a manifestation of mismanaged urban planning, but the existence of slums
worldwide is also a sign that the slum is a crucial element of contemporary urbanization. Without
finding appropriate solutions to the housing problems of a majority of urban dwellers, public and
private decision makers will not be able to meet the challenges of sustainable development.

The extension of slums in developing countries is a product of 20th- and 21stcentury urban
growth. Attempts have been made to eliminate slums but they have almost universally failed
because they do not question the urban model
that generates the slum in the first place.
V


 
  

The urban environment is highly complex. In the  



 
  
past, public policies have aimed at eradicating 
  
 

 
 
slums, without taking into account the potential
 
 

  
of their inhabitants to resolve the very problems 
  







that slums reputedly generate. Especially in the
  

contemporary era of globalization, it is important   
 
 

to stress the resources that slums can offer the

µchaotic¶ city. This requires a reassessment of
views on urbanization. Sustainable urban development will only be possible if we concentrate
on solving the problems of the majority of urban populations in ways that make use of their own
creativity and involve them in decision-making.

This paper tries to understand the existence of slums; challenges faced in eradication of slums,
methodologies adopted and lessons from world cities. The paper also provides some
recommendations for effective eradication of slums. The paper will focus mainly on Indian
aspects.
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, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a
city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security.
The term has traditionally referred to housing areas that were once relatively affluent but
which deteriorated as the original dwellers moved on to newer and better parts of the
city, but has come to include the vast informal settlements found in cities in the
developing world.

According to the United Nations, the proportion of urban dwellers living in slums
decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the developing world between 1990 and
2005. However, due to rising population, the number of slum dwellers is rising. One
billion people worldwide live in slums and the figure will likely grow to 2 billion by 2030.

Other terms that are often used interchangeably with "slum" include shanty town, skid
row, barrio, and ghetto although each of these may have a somewhat different meaning.
Slums are distinguished from shanty towns in that the latter initially are low-class
settlements, whereas slums are generally constructed early on as relatively affluent or
possibly prestigious communities.

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Slums come about because of, and are perpetuated by, a number of forces. Among
these are:
M Rapid rural-to-urban migration
M Increasing urban poverty and inequality
M Insecure tenure
M Globalization ± all contribute to the creation and continuation of slums

In many developing countries, squatters or informal settlers form close to the majority of
urban dwellers and thus live in poverty without civic amenities, because urban
development policies have not kept up with urban growth.

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 ?   Since 1950, the proportion of people working in
developing country agriculture has declined by 20 to 30%. The immigrant urban poor
have largely moved from the countryside to the cities voluntarily, in order to exploit
actual or perceived economic opportunities. Opportunities manifest in part, due to the
growing urban informal sector which in many cities accounts for as much as 60% of
employment.

 ? 
  ?  ? Throughout Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan
Africa, and in selected countries elsewhere, millions of people move back and forth
between urban and rural places to take advantage of income-earning opportunities -
a phenomenon known as circular migration. Temporary migrants can cause large
swings in population size. In some cities of China, for instance, temporary migrants
are estimated to count for between 1/5 and 1/3 of the total population. Circular
migration is often tied to seasonal patterns or agricultural cycles. Very often
temporary migrants do not have a place to live in and are forced to occupy illegal
settlements.

 ? ? ? ? ?  ? ?   Slums are mainly (not exclusively) a
urban phenomenon. Unlike rural areas, in urban areas unlike rural areas, access to
virtually all goods and services depends on having a cash income. Urban residents
have to buy most of their food while rural residents grow a substantial portion of their
own food and food prices often are higher in urban areas than in the countryside. As
a consequence, low-income people have little or no money to rent houses.

 ? 

?  ? ?  : People escaping political conflicts in the rural
areas and smaller cities of such countries as Liberia and Mozambique have
contributed to big-city growth rates exceeding 7% a year over long periods - a rate at
which the population would double in just 10 years. This has often led to a rapid
increase of informal settlements

 ? ?? ?  ? ? ? ?The lack of secure tenure is a primary
reason why slums persist. Without secure tenure, slum-dwellers have few ways and
little incentive to improve their surroundings. Secure tenure is often a precondition for
access to other economic and social opportunities, including credit, public services,

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   c




and livelihood opportunities. It is particularly difficult for the urban poor to obtain
tenure because property registration processes are complicated and expensive. The
process is even more difficult in the case of informal settlements. Many governments
hesitate to legalize them for fear of encouraging more illegal settlements.
Progressive decay in basic infrastructure such as piped water, electricity, sewerage,
and roads have prompted people in large African cities like Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to
move to unplanned settlements on the urban periphery where land is cheapest

 ? 

The U.N.¶s Millennium Development Goals Report 2005 reported that urban population
was projected to exceed rural population in developing regions by 2007 and was
growing at more than 3 percent per year, three times faster than the population of rural
areas. In 2005, slightly more than one-third of city dwellers²almost 1 billion people²
lived in slums - most of these were in the developing nations of the world. There is direct
effect and influence on the emergency and increase in slums, by the rate of
unemployment in a nation, and the average per capita income. More important is the
number of individuals who live at below the $1 per day rate that is prescribed to define
poverty worldwide.

Sub-Saharan Africa hosts the largest proportion ± 71.9 per cent ± of urban population
resident in slums. In terms of sheer numbers, Africa also has the second largest number
of slum dwellers in the world (187 million or 20 per cent of the world's total) after Asia,
which in 2001 hosted a total of 554 million slum dwellers (about 60 per cent of the
world's total slum population). Latin America and the Caribbean, despite being one of the
most urbanised regions in the world, was in third place with 128 million slum dwellers.
Europe and the rest of the developed world are host to some 54 million slum dwellers, or
6 per cent of the world's total. Globally, UN-Habitat estimates that 924 million people, or
31.6 per cent of the world's total urban population, lived in slums in 2001. In the next 30
years, this figure is projected to double to almost 2 billion, unless substantial policy
changes are put in place to significantly alter this projection.

†igure 1: Proportion of working-age population and proportion employed below $1 a day

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Source: UN Millennium Development Goals Report 2005

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à Total Population 845m
à Total Population 1025m
à Urban Population 216m
à Urban Population 286m
26%
28%
à Slum Population 131m
à Slum Population 158m
61%
55%
=
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à Urban 3%
à Urban 3%
à Slum 2%
à Slum 2%
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According to 2001 estimates the slum population across various states of India is as
below:

†igure 2: Slum population in India (2001)

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There are two schools of thought on eradication of slums. Economists have always
maintained that societal transformation can happen through government policies.
However, the other school of thought highlights that poverty alleviation can be
approached from another angle i.e., from leveraging the market route by engaging
the business senses of the corporate world rather than just appealing to them for
cheque book philanthropy.

There are substantial developmental processes and practices arising from market
innovations in the developing world which had been largely ignored. The lower most
segment of society are not merely brand conscious, but thanks to modern
telecommunication and television, these markets - 'the BOP market' had constituents
who are equally hungry for better products. There is a need to innovate to fulfill the
needs of the BOP market, by looking at them both as consumers and producers. The
social argument is quite specific: besides financial succor that servicing the BOP
markets offered, it also gave dignity to this class of people who had been largely
neglected by the national development process and were often treated as basket
case situations.
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Across the globe, it is evident that governments do not have resources to tackle
large scale basic needs of its people - particularly housing. It is also clear that the
entrepreneurial gene is not a monopoly of the well-heeled. Millions survive in the
urban shanties with their wits and their instinct to trade with the limited resources that
they possess. Housing and realty sector should focus on this segment through PPP
which has been neglected till now.

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The current UPA government¶s ambitious scheme of making the country free of
slums in the next five years by providing proper houses to slum dwellers faces
hurdles with the Planning Commission and Ministry of Finance differing over the
pattern of funding the project. The Planning Commission is for a Public ± Private
Partnership for implementing the project, while the Ministry of Finance is insisting
that the Centre and the states should share the cost.

As per the initial draft of the scheme prepared by Ministry of Housing and Urban
Poverty Alleviation, the financing pattern should be on the lines of the existing
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, under which the Central
Government provides 50 per cent funds (up to 90 per cent in case of special
category states) and the remaining is matched by the states concerned. However,
officials in the Planning Commission say that if the scheme is implemented based on
Central and state sharing basis, the Centre has to struggle to raise the fund as some
of the states have already pitched for larger share considering large number of slum
dwellers.

As the Centre has been funding several schemes including Jawaharlal Nehru
National Urban Renewal Mission, this scheme should be developed based on Public
Private Partnership mode, the Planning Commission has suggested. Implementation
of the project through Public Private Partnership mode will expedite flow of funds for
the scheme.

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The funds released and usage of funds so far is as below:

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The state-wise beneficiaries of these schemes are as below:

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The biggest challenges facing India in terms of the housing situation are improving the
following:
O Land supply through legislation, governance, and financial management;
O Information systems about housing, data proposals, and construction;
O Infrastructure to serve housing, such as schools, hospitals, and water supply;
O Management and repair of the existing housing stock;
O Public awareness and civil participation in governance regarding housing issues.

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The main obstacles are the following:
O Insufficient supply of land;
O Insufficient data about land and tenure;
O Outdated and rigid planning norms;
O Lack of political accountability;
O Lack of co-ordination among various governmental and semi-governmental
agencies;
O Lack of resources and trained manpower necessary for urban planning.

As the Centre is planning to provide property rights to allottee, it wants the scheme to be
implemented without any legal hurdle.

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1. Civil society and slum dwellers oppose roping private builders for housing projects as
the private builders may hijack the project by denying due share to genuine slum
dwellers.
2. Many a times, anti-social elements run strong in slums. Any cleanup of slums into
more structured housing is opposed by this section of slum dwellers.
3. Ownership issues create conflict within the family.
4. Unorganized businesses within slums would find difficult to re-establish, hence
averse to change.

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5. Some Micro finances and SHG are influenced by political parties whose vested
interest creates differences within slum dwellers on the change.

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The construction cost of building a 2,000 Sq.mt. 3-storey building on a 1,000 Sq.mt. plot, without
lift, with all basic amenities, will cost about Rs. 2,000/Sq.mt. at the 2003 prices. With lift, and
when construction is done using expensive material like marble tiles etc. the construction cost
would increase to Rs. 3,500/Sq.mt. In most Indian cities, flats sell at the price of Rs.
5,000/Sq.mt. to Rs. 20,000/Sq.mt., mainly due to cost of land. In general, given same
construction quality, the variation in cost is entirely due to variation in cost of land.

A typical urban laborer earns Rs. 2,000/month. And if husband and wife both have work, they
can earn up to Rs. 3,000/month. A family of two can live, with some discomfort but all basic
amenities, in a 25 Sq.mt. flat, and a family for 4-5 would need about 40 Sq.mt. The construction
cost would be Rs. 62,500 to Rs. 100,000 (plus cost of land). Monthly rent is about 0.6% of the
cost. Hence, if cost of land were to be zero, rent on such small flats would be Rs. 400 to Rs. 600
per month. But given the cost of land, the price and rent is much higher.

Now given an area, where land price is very high, some 10-20km away, the land price will be
very low, and so would be the rent. But in India, commute price is about Rs. 0.50 to Rs. 1.00 per
kilometer. If a laborer shifts 10-20km away, he would lose Rs. 10 to Rs. 40 in two-way
commute, and some 30-60 minutes of his time. A typical laborer who earns Rs. 100/day cannot
afford such commute.

So, the labor seeks to find a place close to his place of employment. But land price in such area
is often expensive, and he cannot afford to stay 10-20km away. As a result, he has no option
but to stay in a slum.
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Thousands of poor in Bangalore, who are entitled to houses under the Jawaharlal Nehru
National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM), will have to wait for a few more months in
their temporary shelter. Though the work under the Basic Services to Urban Poor
(BSUP) was approved four years ago only 10 per cent of the sanctioned houses for the
city have been completed.

The aim of JnNURM is to improve basic amenities in urban areas. Providing facilities
under BSUP is a major component of this mission. The Central Clearance Committee of
the mission has sanctioned construction of 19,939 dwelling units (houses) in 76 slums of
Bangalore City.

The programme includes construction of dwelling units (houses) with basic facilities -
water supply, electricity and underground drainage. The BBMP took up construction of
1,759 houses in 18 slums, while Karnataka Slum Clearance Board has been entrusted
with the construction of 18,180 houses in 58 slums.

M Only 56 houses: The BBMP has built only 56 houses in Kalyani and Kodihalli slums and
the Slum Board has constructed 2,237 houses. Of the houses constructed so far only 56
houses constructed by the BBMP have been occupied. Basic amenities are yet to be
provided to houses constructed by the Slum Board. As a result the dwellers are provided
with temporary shelter in nearby grounds belonging to the BBMP or other government
properties. Under the mission each family is entitled to 300 Sq. ft. house in the
complexes with ground plus three floors.

M No dearth of funds: Even though the project was approved in 2006, the work began in
2009. Under the JnNURM, the Centre offers 35 per cent of funds, while the State
government and Urban Local Body contribute 15 per cent and 50 per cent respectively.
There is no dearth of funds. The Slum Board has Rs 188.81 crore in its account and only
Rs 92.59 crore has been spent till now. According to the officers what is lacking is
cooperation from the general public.

?
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   c




The construction of houses was stalled at Netaji slum following a High Court order. The
locality¶s rich people had moved the Court against the project, as it is very close to their
residential area. The Slum Board argued in the court that the housing complex to be built
for the slum dwellers would be on par with any other apartment in a private layout. The
court¶s verdict was in favor of the Board. Another impediment in the implementation of
the project is locating suitable sites and providing temporary shelter for the slum
dwellers.

M Temporary shelter: As the slum dwellers have hesitated to go to far-off places, they
should be provided with temporary shelter within 5 km radius of their present locality. AS
per current plans, all the people entitled to houses under the mission will be able to
occupy houses by March 2011.

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Creating products and services for the bottom of the pyramid is the sweet spot where
social objectives marry economic benefits. After cars and mobile calls, developers and
social entrepreneurs are looking at creating µNano¶ homes.

On the anvil are houses for between Rs. 300,000 and Rs. 500,000 for a constituency as
diverse as domestic help, taxi drivers, plumbers, senior citizens, graduates, newlywed
couples - basically, those who earn between Rs. 6,500 and Rs. 13,000 a month.

Janaagraha founder Ramesh Ramanathan, MphasiS founder Jaithirth Rao and CSC
Constructions are some whose plans have gone beyond the drawing board. Till now, the
onus was on the government to cater to the needs of the under-privileged. The initiatives
of Rao and Ramanathan are driven more from a social-equity point of view, while CSC¶s
is more commercial. A combination of this, multiplied many times, can make the dream
of the urban poor of owning a home come true.

For Rs. 300,000, one can get a 250-sqft home at an EMI of Rs. 3,000, and a 400-sqft
home for about Rs. 500,000. Over 3,000 homes, each under Rs 500,000, are in various
stages of planning and development in a 20-km radius of Bangalore.

CSC has just announced three housing projects of 2,180 units, half of which are for the
Rs. 300,000 to Rs. 500,000 market. CSC says it will also offer amenities like swimming
pool, gym, children¶s play area, and jogging tracks as these units will be part of larger
projects.

=????%?? 

The Government of India has an ambitious program of eradicating slums in major cities
of India within seven years. It has come out with a slum free city planning guidelines
under the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY). The methodology prescribed under this guideline is
as below:

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   c




†igure 3: Methodology for preparation of slum-free city under RAY

As per the answers to Lok Sabha question in July 2009, there are over 839 projects approved at
a total project cost of Rs. 8455.66 Cr under Rajiv Awas Yojana.

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Source : Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3986, dated on 31.07.2009.

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The voice of the poor is often not heard, and misperceptions about the poor persist.
Getting the poor engaged is essential. Project designers and service providers often
assume they know what type of services the poor want and are willing to pay for. Their
assumptions are not always correct and often result in costly and unsustainable supply-
driven public programs to provide services. Giving the poor the opportunity to participate
in planning and design can make the difference between success and failure. This can
happen only if adequate time and resources are allowed for meaningful consultation
during the preparatory phases of projects. The poor are often unaware of official policies
and their attitudes and behavior may impede their access to services. Educational
programs that provide information develop skills as well as promote constructive
attitudes and behaviors are an essential component of any effort to improve services
and give the poor a voice.
A number of well documented cases demonstrate the willingness and ability of the poor
to create and/or manage their own services. Community-based organizations (CBOs)
and federations of CBOs can help the poor take action on their own behalf. Simplified,
client-friendly procedures for connection, billing, and collection help the poor to gain and
retain access to services. Creating a dedicated unit within the utility and/or engaging
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to communicate with poor communities and
facilitate access to services has also been effective.

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Public service providers sometimes lack the autonomy, financial and human resources,
and incentives to provide services to the urban poor. Municipalities and utilities are not
held accountable for the provision of satisfactory supply of services. The services
provided by small private service providers (SPSPs) are not recognized, encouraged or
regulated. Many governments have taken steps to restructure the sector by separating
and clarifying the roles of policymakers, regulators, and service providers and adopting
accountability mechanisms. In a number of countries, the largest service providers have
been converted into autonomous public or private companies. In a few, more attention is
being devoted to improving the performance and sustainability of services in the smaller

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towns. Such restructuring entails far more than a change in legal status²substantial
internal restructuring, including management reforms and performance incentives for
staff, is required to create a sustainable service provider. Training must focus on
improving service quality, access and sustainability²rather than on engineering
solutions.
Effective accountability and performance monitoring systems need to be put in place and
pro-poor regulatory approaches should be adopted to ensure the availability,
affordability, and sustainability of services for the poor.

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Tariffs do not cover the full cost of efficient services. Poor households find it difficult to
pay upfront fees. Poor households find it difficult to pay monthly bills. Increasing block
tariffs penalizes households that share a service. Small-scale service providers lack
adequate finance to extend networks into peri-urban informal settlements and small
towns.
Targets for cost recovery that are realistic and charging methods that take the
constraints faced by the poor into account can lead to financial viability as well as
improved access for the poor. Cost recovery can be improved by reducing costs through
increased efficiency, improving commercial performance, and charging an average tariff
that reflects all costs. If a large tariff increase (in real terms) is required, even after taking
into account the effects of efficiency improvements and increased services, the increase
should be phased over a period of time and accompanied by perceivable improvements
in service.

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Physical and technical challenges and the high investment cost of conventional
technologies make extending formal services into informal and unplanned settlements
more difficult. Economic pricing of services are needed to ensure efficient use of the
resources. Most governments are still operating in the reactive mode²responding to
near disasters. Public authorities and utilities should adopt comprehensive forward
looking strategies for reducing water losses and encouraging the adoption of water
saving technologies and low-cost sanitation at the household and community level.
A number of low-cost and physically adaptive alternative technologies have been
developed for poor and marginal communities. These have already been successfully

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used in many places. Modular planning, by which system components are initially
designed with only limited excess capacity, has been advocated as a method to reduce
initial investment costs. The underlying principle is to construct only when the investment
leads to increased revenues in an acceptable timeframe. Subject to certain
considerations, such as economies of scale, components are designed so that they can
be expanded or upgraded as needed.

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The poor are often unaware of official policies, and their attitudes and behavior may
impede their access to services. Like many users, they may have misperceptions about
the need to pay for public services. Many are illiterate and unaware of their rights.
Educational programs that give the poor the information and skills they need to
participate as well-informed citizens are an essential component of any effort to promote
their participation in planning and management of services. Programs to promote
constructive attitudes and behaviors that will enhance their chances of getting good
services and making effective use of them.

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Community-based organizations (CBOs) and federations of CBOs can help the poor
take action on their own behalf. All of the strategies described above involve some form
of outreach to the poor. These are essential to ensure that the formal structures and
decision making activities actively seek to serve the poor better. But it is equally
important and effective for the poor to take action for themselves. By doing so, they gain
self-respect and important skills as well as better services. They also dispel commonly
held notions that the poor are helpless or lack initiative. Self-help activities can be
initiated by a dynamic individual within the community and/or a nongovernmental
organization (NGO) that is committed to the interests of the community.

X ? 




1. ±Guidance Notes on Services for the Urban Poor´, Water and Sanitation Program Report, August
2009.
2. ±Rajiv Awas Yojana Guidelines for Slum-free City Planning´, Government of India, Ministry of
Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.
3. ±Slum Upgrading Experiences of Six Cities´, The Cities Alliance, October 2008.

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ü. ±STATE O† THE WORLD¶S CITIES 2008/2009 Harmonious Cities´, United Nations Human
Settlement Programme (UN HABITAT), Earthscan, 2008.
5. ±Poverty lines and lives of the poor Underestimation of urban poverty - the case of India´, Meera
Bapat, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Poverty Reduction in
Urban Areas Series, Working Paper 20, February 2009.
6. Statistics from http://www.indiastat.com/
7. ±Slum as theory: the South/Asian city and globalization´, Vyjayanthi Rao, International Journal of
Urban and Regional Research, Blackwell Publishing, March 2006.
8. ±Enabling Slum Redevelopment in Mumbai: Policy Paradox in Practice´, VINIT MUKHIJA
University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), USA, June 2001.
9. ±Slums and Urban Development: Questions on Society and Globalisation´, JEAN-CLAUDE
BOLAY, The European Journal of Development Research, Vol.18, No.2, June 2006.
10. ±The Slum Upgrading Myth´, Herbert Werlin, Urban Studies, January 1999.
11. ±The Millennium Development Goals Report´, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United
Nations, 2008.
12. ±Affordable Housing ± A key growth driver in the real estate sector?´, KPMG in India
13. ±Are architects and planners obstacles to slum upgrading?´, Dick Urban Vestbro, Papers from a
seminar in Barcelona in April 2008,October 2008
14. ±An Information-Based Model of NGO Mediation for the Empowerment of Slum Dwellers in
Bangalore´, S. Madon and S. Sahay, Information Society, Taylor & Francis, 2002
15. ±Bootstrapping India: Slums´, Rahul Mehta, http://www.rahulmehta.com/articles/prob_slums.htm
16. ±Strategizing Slum Improvement in India: A Method to Monitor and Refocus Slum Development
Programs´, Robert M. Buckley, Mahavir Singh, and Jerry Kalarickal, Global Urban Development
Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 1, November 2007.

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