Today, on my market study of timber for upcoming project, met with this hardworking man who migrated to the city for work and lives in a nearby slum. Talking to him regarding his living conditions and the area, I decided to bring this subject to little limelight today. since this side of the society is a part of our city and ultimately this problem resides worldwide.
To begin with, let's know what slums are-
Habitations which are illegally constructed on government/ private lands lacking basic amenities for a healthy livelihood.
This subject isn't new to anyone here. I have been to a slum during one of my college case studies and witnessed people living is small piece of land with temporary roofs and not so clean environment.
Urban planning includes so much more than just civilised structures, roads and amenities. These kind of dwellings are never preplanned. They just resides on huge empty lands.
The reasons behind them are-
Migration due to preference on labour market than agriculture. The people living there belongs to economically weaker sections and there are several resons leading them to migrate from villages or small town to huge cities.
- The major one is Bigger opportunities in the city
- Lack of prospects in village
- The unreliable agricultural scenario
- The exceptional personal reasons.
All such things results in overcrowded slums which leads to unhygienic living conditions with lack of proper sewerage, congested planning to gain more out of lesser land, unreliable temporary roof and walls, No proper source of clean water. On social level the increase in uneducated children, terrorism, poverty etc.
As architects and people in building business should be very much aware of such dwellings, what are their causes, how are they living.
Stating the actual figures is not my motive, but a little sneak peak to at how larger scale are these dwellings coming upto.
Let me tell the actual scenario in very layman language, The migration takes place due to several reasons which I have stated above. People from rural areas are mostly uneducated and they end up getting low income job which forces them to build a shelter near to their office and those shelters multiplies in fraction of time and takes a permanent shape, politics is crocked and most of us are aware of it, be it any country. This all is the reason of slow economic growth.
Let's see the solutions
There's always are some solutions to the problems. There are solution to this on many levels.
Rehabilitation and re-construction
We all know most of these workers are our beloved construction site labours, There are many arguments as to how can one manage where their labours live? Temporary shelters at site is one thing but most of the labour cannot reside there at night isn't it?
I went on a huge construction site of a convention center by L&T and Hafeez Contractor. They had land allotted (which came under set back of the site) just for the temp. shelters of the labours who are working there.
Another aspect is a reconstruction by the government on the same land with better amenities. which is proposed EWS housing but not executed yet in some place
Either demolishing entirely or providing the basic amenities such as proper drainage system, water supply etc would help a lot. Also economically viable healthcare facilities and education to all might eradicate the poverty.
If we look towards the root of the problem, reducing the migration from the rural areas will proven to reduce slums in urban areas. encouraging small scale industries, providing better opportunities in those areas might help to reduce migration.
At individual levels, we can educate them for the govt. scheme of particular nations for the education and healthcare system which these people can use. Also participate in NGO's for help against crime and stuff.
As an Architect considering these problems for urban planning is a necessity. By the way EWS housing are really popular, I have been a part of them earlier during my internship and learnt a lot regarding planning during that project.
The first image belongs to me and rest of them are sourced beneath them.
