URBIZEN

A report from NPR : "One of India's most squalid slums sits on extremely valuable property. The government has a plan to let private developers build projects for the rich in exchange for free housing, schools and health clinics for the poor. But many long-time residents oppose the plan." Listen

This is an excerpt from a letter from "Jan Sangharsh Vahini": "Thousands displaced in Delhi by the demolition squad of DDAOn May 3rd, 2007 DDA's demolition squad along with a large number of policemen and three bulldozers came to demolish Shayam Colony, Buddha Vihar in Rohini area of Northwest Delhi. Before the residents could understand anything, police started canning people and DDA's bulldozers began to demolish House no 512A in the Gali Number 23 of Mr Rajit Prasad. It looked as if the locality has been invaded by some enemies of the nation. The cries of young men, women, older people, children meant nothing for the goons in khaki. The land was purchased by the people of the colony from the colonisers, many of whom have turned to politics today. They not only got their power of attorney papers verified by the registrar's office as well as Noteries acknowledged by the government authorities. The people of the colony begged the authorities to give them some...

Though the country has experienced an economic boom, the number of Indians living in slums has increased 100 percent in the last two decades. "The number of people living in slums in India has more than doubled in the past two decades and now exceeds the entire population of Britain, the Indian Government has announced. India’s slum-dwelling population had risen from 27.9 million in 1981 to 61.8 million in 2001, when the last census was done, Kumari Selja, the Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, said. The figure is the latest illustration of how India’s recent economic boom has left behind millions of the country’s poorest people, raising fears that social unrest could undermine further growth." "The expansion of India’s slums is partly due to the rise in India’s total population, which increased from 683 million in 1981 to 1.03 billion in 2001." Source: Source: Times Online UK, May 17, 2007 Full Story: Indian slum population doubles in two decades ...

The Hindustan Times reports that over 60,000 slum dwellers are at risk of being displaced without being adequately rehabilitated. "Though the World Bank had laid a condition to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Develpoment Authoriy (MMRDA) to shift the PAPs (project affected people) within two-three km of their existing homes, the local authorities have been tightlipped." "“We should know where the government plans to shift us. Most of us work in the airport. Rehab tenements are all across the city. We want transparency in the process. It is our right to know where we would be shifted,” said Sunder Padmukh, general secretary of Vimantal Parisar Rahiwashi Ekta Sangh, the umbrella organisational fighting for six slums located on airport land." Sadly, the government has ample land for big developers but none for the poorer sections of the society. Source: Hindustan Times

The urban renewal has impacted the landscape of many cities in India, where the marginalized have to starve for resources and the elite to enjoy resources in abundance. For past a year and a half Hazards Centre conducted research in Jaipur and Indore, in monitoring the shift in the informal sector workers in these cities. The research also underlines the transformation of these cities in terms of infrastructure development and investments. The two day seminar will have presentations by representatives from Jaipur, Indore, Patna, Lucknow and Delhi on the ongoing reform initiatives in their cities/states . It will also have short sectoral presentations on employment, urban basic services, so on followed by extensive discussions to strategise the kind of research and future action needed. Dates: 15 February 2007 to 16 February 2007 Venue: New Delhi, India For enquiries please contact: Leena hazardscentre@gmail.com +919811137421

Architecture for Humanity is building a new space to collaborate online. The Open Architecture Network will be a gathering place for community designers and all those interested in improving the built environment. Here designers of all persuasions can post their projects, browse projects posted by others, comment and review projects, discuss relevant topics, contribute to shared resources, collaborate with each other and access project management tools to support their work. "We imagine a site that not only helps create, support and implement ideas, but also a place that fosters sustainable, replicable, adaptable and scalable design solutions. The network has a simple mission: to generate design opportunities that will improve living standards for all." Alex Steffen from Worldchanging has a good write-up on this: The Open Architecture Network and the Future of Design

This just came in by email: "Mumbai Slum Rehabilatation Scheme (SRS) has been touted by many as the model scheme for rehabilitating slum dwellers through 'Public Private Partnership' . So much so that similar schemes are now sought to be implemented in many other cities as well. In fact, the thrust of JNNURM's approach towards ensuring tenurial security for slum dwellers lies in replicating Mumbai model all over the country. Here's an interesting story on how the said scheme is basically aimed at filling the coffers of corrupt land mafia, builders, politicians and bureaucrats and has little to do with providing housing to slum dwellers." Read the entire story here ...

A new report from the World Watch Institute warns that uncontrolled urbanization in the form of slums is contributing to serious social and environmental consequences. "Unplanned and chaotic urbanization is taking a huge toll on human health and the quality of the environment, contributing to social, ecological, and economic instability in many countries. Of the 3 billion urban dwellers today, 1 billion live in "slums," defined as areas where people cannot secure key necessities such as clean water, a nearby toilet, or durable housing. An estimated 1.6 million urban residents die each year due to lack of clean water and sanitation as a result." "Cities around the world have also begun to take climate change seriously, many in response to the direct threat they face. Of the 33 cities projected to have at least 8 million residents by 2015, at least 21 are coastal cities that will have to contend with sea-level rise from climate change." "While no singl...

The World, a production of Public Radio International and the BBC, visited the shantytowns of the world. You can read and listen to these dispatches from Kenya, South Africa, Peru, India and Brazil at http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/6579 .