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POLICY REVIEW
internationally recognised they find other options. One with a solution for the pressing
through reducing the 30% can see so many results of slum housing supply and limited
existing slum population of the cleaning that are creating a social land availability. The state has
city. dilemma. For instance, mill given four housing solutions for
Through adopting these workers and slum dwellers from eligible households whose needs
ideologies of World Class the central areas of Mumbai show are not met by the market. These
City, DRP had developed an ‘class-cleansing’ meaning after are:
agenda of reducing slums by terminating their employment, • Social rental housing: Owned
providing cross subsidised they have had to face pressure by the local authorities or
free houses to the eligible slum from their landlords to leave. private registered providers
dwellers and higher FSI, higher So, many tenants had to buy for which guideline target
incentives through special homes outside Mumbai far from rents are determined through
guidelines for DRP to make their workplaces with options the national rent regime.
fatter profits through private of other slums or apartments, • Affordable rental housing:
sector involvement by bidding in accordance with their Based on affordable rents on
processes. At the core of the affordability (Judy Whitehead; agreement basis for eligible
battle, Dharavi Redevelopment Nitin More, 2007) tenants.
Project is a cultural conflict over Need for affordability • Intermediate: This criteria is
urban citizenship and what Why do we always believe available for sale or rent, but
an ideal city should be like “cleansing” is an appropriate above affordable rent. These
(Vandana Baweja, 2015). This option? Why can’t we think of can include shared equity as
way, the project leaves 67% of affordability through the lens shared ownership and equity
the resident’s non-eligible to of the urban poor especially loans, low cost homes for sale
re-house, creating the question when we know cities can’t and intermediate rents.
over urban citizenship. work without various classes
The discourse of making cities and sections of society? For • Market housing: This includes
private for rent or sale where
globally comparable is leading example, Dharavi’s informal the price is set in the open
towards conflicts in the social economy serves as a parallel market. (The London Plan,
environment of urban poor. As economy for formal industries. 2016).
an urban designer or planner, There are slums in Kolkata that
one needs to develop sensitivity serve a parallel economy to The affordability should be
towards the spatial and social Leather and textile industry. If measured by income based
ground realities for the urban we could succeed to find ways criteria and appropriate
informal fabric. In today’s of affordability in the urban affordability analysis as this
context, real estate prices are context and provide them better consonance will ensure a fair
increasing so high that there are housing conditions sustainable distribution of housing stock. The
no affordable housing options in nature, we can make Mumbai bright side of above criteria are
left in the city for these urban sustainable for elites as well as emphasis on formally developed
poor and this situation hits for the poor. social housing which are tailor-
the major metropolitan cities The London plan had identified made for multi-income groups.
in the country. So, either they the need of housing supply Mumbai’s redevelopment
get evicted from the city by the through the research conducted model had adopted a ‘cut-off
state or through gentrification by the state. It had come up date’ for evaluating eligibility
and creating complexities for
October 2020 Volume 21 No. 2-SHELTER 63
