REDEVELOPMENT OF SLUM AND STUDY OF DESIGN, MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES FOR THEIR HOUSING

REDEVELOPMENT OF SLUM AND STUDY OF DESIGN, MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES FOR THEIR HOUSING

Aryan Khan

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India's cities are overflowing with the urban poor. Slum development and migration are two unavoidable signs of urbanization. Slums are not a recent development; they have existed on ground for a very long time, though not exactly on paper. According to the 2011 Census, 13.7% of Indians living in urban areas were poor.

People from struggling rural communities still move in great numbers to urban areas. India has a higher percentage of the urban population living in slums than the rest of the world according to a UN statistic.

Between 2014 and 2050, 404 million more people are expected to live in urban areas across the country. Additionally, the latest three-year action plan produced by NITI Aayog to promote urbanization in the nation identifies affordable housing as a major challenge and places a strong emphasis on the expansion of social housing as a solution. Recognizing the need for inexpensive housing close to the city core, it suggests releasing underused or violated urban land owned by the federal and state governments.

Slums do not exist officially and are neither reflected on maps, taxes are not collected and basic services, and infrastructure is rarely provided. As the urban poor continue to grow in number, there is a growing need to revisit the very causes that lead to formation of slums in urban areas. There is a rising recognition that government programs like housing schemes or direct provision alone are not sufficient to house urban poor.

This implies a growing need to analyze the gaps between goals of social housing policies and needs and thoughtful choices of urban poor.  While slum upgradation may not always be solution, but neither is slum resettlement in locations far- off from city core. An approach that asserts to understand the demands of slum dwellers and provide them with housing options accordingly is necessary.