Liveability from below : A Dhaka-Delhi analysis of multiscalar entrepreneurs’ roles in shaping built-lived environments in low-income informal settlements

Ara, Yasmin and Roy, Manoj and Clark, Nigel (2024) Liveability from below : A Dhaka-Delhi analysis of multiscalar entrepreneurs’ roles in shaping built-lived environments in low-income informal settlements. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

Rapid, unplanned urbanisation in the developing world means that a persistent form of informal urbanism has arisen, with a majority of people making their livings and finding shelter in the informal sectors of many cities. This informality is manifested by the proliferation of low-income settlements, mostly on illegally occupied public land or privately owned underdeveloped land, typically ‘informal’ in terms of unauthorised construction, unregulated infrastructure and service provisioning. While privatisation of the housing supply has been advocated by the neoliberal governments worldwide and is now the most dominant institutional device for addressing the problem of housing and infrastructure shortage, this has led to a rise of privately built and managed settlements to accommodate low-income groups in the cities. In examining this as yet under-theorised but significant and rapidly growing phenomenon, this study explores several factors behind the rise of private settlements. By investigating the closely comparable contextual setting of two megacities in the Global South, Dhaka and New Delhi, the research establishes how two different policy contexts, both aimed at enabling the urban poor, produce different liveability narratives in their informal settlements. Empirical research in four selected private settlements examines the ways in which a range of private schemes unfold on the ground, and identifies how these economic activities – operating across various informal initiatives – provide housing and manage essential services for the urban poor. Two frequently unrecognised but vital actors are identified in the study; what I refer to as ‘invisible’ women and the ‘indirect’ state. A conceptualisation of ‘women as infrastructure’ generates an original relational definition of infrastructure. By recognising the formal and informal actors who produce the much needed ‘coalitions’ within the cities’ governance, the research explores the state’s informal and improvised practices, and examines formal coalitions between the state and other non-state institutions. It aims to understand how these specific forms of ‘indirect’ governance shape the lived environment within low-income settlements, and considers whether liveability is enhanced or deterred through these indirect operations. The research attempts to redefine ‘liveability’ by focusing beyond its generic attributes and analysing the correlation between the informal housing initiatives and the resulting built-lived environment, between ‘liveability’ and people’s everyday practices and negotiations around infrastructure. It concludes by discussing how the range and accomplishments of the informal practices in these settlements can inform policy and might be supported by policy, taking into account the particular social and economic compositions of different communities.