Acknowledgements A controversial and current subject of interest and a major setback in the development of the cities today, this body of work would not have been possible if it were not for my guide Prof. Aneeruddha Paul's continuous guidance and encouragement to demystify the very basics of city building processes. Certain professionals and academicians that I would like to thank are Dr. Tapati Guha Thakurta of C.S.S.S.C, Kolkata , Dr. Keya Dasgupta, for their suggestive readings and insights into the systems of governance in Kolkata, Mrs Bonani Kakkad of P.U.B.L.I.C & Mr. Nabadutta of Nagrik Mancha for their guidance regarding citizen driven developmental processes and campaigns in Kolkata. I also express my sincere gratitude to the residents and representatives of all the contested sites, for having shared their experiences that has helped in formulating the argument. Thanks to Mr. Rajesh Mangela of Moragaon for having shared descriptions of their struggle for their land. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the role that my parents and brother have had in making this journey of understanding cities a memorable one.
1 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
PREFACE Living in a gated community, guarded by responses to the intrinsic fear of invasion, I happened to notice similar insecurities amongst the residents of the slum across the road. A haven for harmonious and bartered living enjoyed by the maids, the drivers, the sweepers and the casual workers that serve the same gated community that shields itself from being 'robbed'.. The locality bound by the increasing demands of the urban bourgeoisie bourgeoisie, led by the corporate pool of image making and advertisement, thrives amidst many such clusters of servicing jhopadpattis jhopadpattis, with ith employment as its only shaky link. Few years back, there suddenly emerged a striking tin sheet compound to block access , a team of guards appointed to regulate the 'check-points' 'check of the slum, and a large board transacting lives to make way for more high-rises high and the residents tipped off for redevelopment redevelopment. Simultaneously there was the influx of the opportunists paying visits to sympathize and garner numbers for their vote banks for the upcoming elections. In the following few weeks, there came about protests otests against the raging bulldozers demolishing portions porti of the slum, having the slum residents displaced and living in tents next to the rubble. This incident triggered me to analyze Lincoln's famous phrase "government of the people, by the people & for the people", a concept that all major democracies acro across ss the world portray to ensure egalitarian and co cooperative 'people'. I could somehow not understand, the circumstances that led to such an act of rebel, under the 'guardians' of the state state. Following this incident, I started to keep track of the daily news and found many such protests in many different localities happening across Mumbai,, and other cities as well. Be it the indigenous or the migrants, migrants all these community driven acts had one thing in common, they were all up against the government, in all these areas, people have been contesting against the authorities for being challenged for their ''right to the city' (Lefebvre, 1968). Using research as a tool to explore possibilities, possibilities, I have tried to unearth the reasons for 'insurgency' and the role of the citizen in the places, laces, policies & politics, of his/her city.. This book is an attempt that I have made at understanding the spatiality of governance and the edges in the city defined by disproportions and dissent. - Probuddha Mukhopadhyay
2
CONTENT Chapter 1
City as a Warfield…………………………………………………………5 1.1 Abstract 1.2 Introduction 1.3 Purpose 1.4 Theoretical Background 1.5 Research questions 1.6 Research methodology
Chapter 2
Pedagogies in policies & polity………………………………………11 2.1 Role of governance 2.2 Mechanisms of Conflicts 2.3 Cases of Insurgencies 2.4 Tactics of Practices 2.5 Conceptual framework
Chapter 3
Codes of Conduct…………………..………………………………….28 3.1 The state , private sector & civil society 3.2 Micro-governance 3.3 Areas of impositions & conflicts
Chapter 4
Institutionalized tools , processes & fallacies…….……………..…34 4.1 Planning & measures of consolidations 4.2 Dharavi : the citizen friendly approach 4.3 MRTP Act 4.4 Cases of successful inclusive planning
Chapter 5
Planning & the public ……………………………………………...…..49 5.1 Basics of participation : the situation ground up 5.2 Chronology of participation & public responses, in India 5.3 The cover up - correctional measures adopted 5.4 74th Constitutional Amendment & the new age reforms 5.5 Mumbai Draft DP 2034 - processes & conflicts 5.6 Cases of conflicts - civic rights , contested shelters & livelihoods
Chapter 6
Misconstrued identities………………………………....................….66 6.1 Case of Moragaon 6.2 Scenario 6.3 Paradigm for inclusive development 6.4 Conclusion
3 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
CITY AS A WARFIELD "I should tell you of the hidden city of Berenice, the city of the just, linking a network of wires and pipes and pulleys and pistons and counterweights that infiltrates like a climbing plant" (Calvino, 1972)
Source : Italo Calvino : Invisible Cities (Calvino, 1972)
The infiltration of the set of key elements to the city structure - foraying its way to reclaim what is its own. The reclamation of lives, livelihoods & spaces, once challenged, becomes a consistent process of moving in. A constant battle for acceptance, disguised as partnered systems paralleled to the moving city disperse into discourses often unheard of and conveniently forgotten. 1.1 Abstract: In this age of 'hyper'-urbanization, there are solutions suggested to a plethora of issues faced by citizens, in improving their standards of living. Problems are ancillary to proposals that emerge out of the underlying disorders of the urban-scape. These interventions result in the creation of urban policies, to consolidate and optimize, to regularize and to streamline resources. Policy & practice are processes where the politics in policies1 (Cochrane, 2007) define the way in which urban solutions are prescribed. Social constraints, that formulate the various cycles of order & disorders within the urban realm, ranging from race to poverty are the stigmas for such interventions. There is often a direct relation of policy to place, no matter how people centric it may seem to be projected. How we live our lives depends on where we live our lives (Cochrane, 2007) - a relative concept of urban problems that varies from city to city. Communal compositions, welfare, crisis, socio1
Discrepancies in order, a resultant of hypocritical image portrayal often tended to by policy makers.
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City as a warfield
economic balance, need for management are the generic roots for urban policy formulation. However in reality , place wise analyses with respect to gentry i.e. capital yielding target user is the preferred criterion, that shapes and defines the value and expanse of such policies. With respect to the other side of this game, there have been instances, where the associational values have been reshaped by interests. The public domain reclaimed for exclusivity, thus creating fortified neighborhoods. Here, the citizen cumulative is often drifted by proposals that would over time deplete such seen and unseen landscapes of the city. It is the insurgence 2 experienced from the people, that in turn formulates further inward looking enclaves that affect the form of the city. In recent times, it has been observed that the unbalanced division of power and the implied processes of regulating the weak, stems the rebellion. This is a phenomenon that mimics the guerilla warfare tactics, in order to have systems straightened out, either by manipulations or by force. The thesis is an attempt at understanding the way in which development proposals are substituted and manipulated by the state and the civil society and role that community driven initiatives have in claiming their right to the city (Lefebvre, 1968). The questions asked hint at challenging the one sided decisions made by policy makers and the need for inclusive development. 1.2 Introduction: Urban planning in India, has often been argued to be ineffective in creating user friendly environments based on the collaborative efforts of both the user and the provider. A handicap in the qualitative attribution of the urban space , leads to the emergence of impulses created by the dialogue between the two. This dialogue is often a result of impositions and the responses, by means of manipulations / adjustments made by the end user as against the enforcements by the state, whose sole work motive is to serve this public that it restricts. The act of shaping neighborhoods in cities by commonly bound grievances involves such interruptions in institutionalized methods of urban renewal that are constituted to serve the interests of the citizen collectives, either the victims or the supporting groups. The intensity of insurgence is often determined by the intensity of administration and the discourses of inclusion or exclusion. 2
Organized rebellion aimed at overthrowing a constituted government through the use of subversion and armed conflict.
Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
5
City as a warfield
A major role played in the shaping of the urban realm, is by infrastructure and the associated policies, that have the power to make or break thriving neighborhoods. Neighborhoods are agglomerations of diverse societal roles, where there exists a clear hierarchy in the distribution of the contribution made by the members of various communities either resident or work based. In trials at improving a neighborhood, city, or region, place-making inspires people to collectively re-imagine and re-invent the cores of every community. Strengthening the connection between people and the places they share, place-making refers to a collaborative process to maximize shared value. Community is a group of people with similar interests and living traditions that are connected by networks of communication, beliefs and businesses (Chomsky, 1989). It is a complex palimpsest of livelihoods entwined by the system of give and take, where the 'people' thrive and strive together to make a better use of resources. Infrastructure is one layer in this palimpsest that binds various neighborhoods with common issues or solutions. On decoding the term infrastructure, it can be understood that these are superimposed systems that have certain expected relations between the elements, either physical or social. Subsiding either would eventually disrupt the equilibrium expected to generate the desirable lifestyle. The tactics employed at achieving this balance are the binding attributes that formulate the pattern & time of insurgence. These are the qualities that define the ongoing evolution of the cities. In the era of Less government & More governance 3 , it becomes imperative to understand the value that inclusive growth (Anand, 2013), that revolves around equal opportunities granted to every section of the society and the role it holds in shaping the Indian cities of tomorrow. It is the pattern and pace of growth (Lanchovichina, 2009) that upholds the beacon for the living city. 1.3 Purpose The purpose of this research is to develop an understanding of the various developmental factors that lead to the emergence of acts of insurgencies. The study also intends at developing the nature of the clash impulses and the methods by which the various citizen based manipulations are characterized. By means of the methodology, citizen groups, the existing milieu that binds the social and economic levers, and the need based mapping of such enclaves in the urban setting has been studied, in order to charter a consolidated system of negotiations to challenge policies and to substantiate their implementation. The study has been made to identify the networks catering to the most challenged interests of the people with respect 3
As quoted by PM Narendra Modi on minimum government to be a good system of justice delivery mechanism.
Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
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City as a warfield
to their habitat as a model to counter the top-down authoritative framework. Here, the associational values, livelihoods and the traditional urban form has been studied to determine legitimacy of claims and the regenerative form in favor of the end users. 1.4 Theoretical Background: As per Noam Chomsky in Necessary Illusions (Chomsky, 1989), capitalist democracy corresponds to corporate oligopoly that is a monopolistic means to drive media, similarly the system of governance as well, by manufacturing consent. Here, factional strengths have a major role to play in the decision making processes & the governance of space. However, the controlling power is further controlled by the market as well, thus the image they create, in order to sell their product and gain public support becomes all the more important in order to control the same public. Public relations in such conditions is also farce, however, in order to prevent mass opinion, the standards are risen i.e. people catered to before they can think of it. This is where, colloquial negotiations come into picture with campaigns either by the state or its representatives in order to convince the public, as an attempt to sustain proposals. As a strive to route and upgrade the lived experiences, the social and psychological dimensions of spaces and the associated people is imperative. Factors such as the intangible associations in urban cores, the dynamics and strengths of local bodies and the character of disorders experienced in cities are designated by the patterns of involvement and the game of interpretations. In urban development, the stakes and contests filter down to the most underrated criteria of 'citizenship'. With difference in interpreting the role of the citizen, by fellow citizens and by the state again has a major impact in establishing rights and further, the contested avenues. As per James Holston in his book Insurgent Citizenship (Holston, 2008), the citizen as the insider, one who by default enjoys rights as against the citizen as the outsider, one who is constantly reminded of his migrant nature, one who constantly needs to prove his claims, are generally the ones at loggerheads. This is when concepts of marginalization, migration and other biases based on national, regional, caste and gender biases come into prominence. Some very apt examples of such contested landscapes are the cases with the slums, the urban peripheries, the economically weaker sections, and the indigenous tribes, that have to deal with pressures and that are often unaccounted for at times of city wide development. Holston explains the process of auto7 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
City as a warfield
construction as the response to exclusion. A striking rift that erupts between such neighborhoods and the regular (or regularized) societies is at the level of the shared spaces. Fears of 'invasion' and appropriation as posed by these neighborhoods, as portrayed by the elites, are the building blocks for the rigid boundary walls and vigil. On the other hand, it is the introvert nature of the marginalized habitats that stands to be taken for granted. The propositions of subjugation, that threaten and give rise to the 'insurgents' (Holston, 2008), a commonly bound community of classes, forces and households, resolves or tends to suppress their objectives and triggers protests. On a generic basis, conducive places ease exchange in all forms and reinforce the positive attributes, contributed by the people as one. It not only ensures harmonious living but also ensures healthy negotiations in creating better neighborhoods. Place-making is a constant phenomenon of transition, partnered with stakeholders and the consistent vigil, distinguishing that both people-driven and spatial regulations must work in combination. The challenge that Indian cities today face is to embrace this ethos and translate it into institutionalized systems driven by transparent processes, thus embracing the insurgents and having more inclusive development. 1.5 Research Questions: 1) How do citizens & authorities maneuver the act of place making? 2) 2) How do idiosyncratic dependencies on infrastructure , physical & social, mould urban policies? 3) In the Indian context, how viable is insurgence as a strategy to re-frame the public realm? 4) How do variants in Urban governance affect simultaneous modulations? 5) How can orders of tactics be accumulated to form a cohesive pattern for development?
1.6 Research Methodology: The study is of a qualitative and strategic order. It focuses on the enquiry of inclusion and the primary causes for dissent. Given the continual propagandas put forth to the urban masses about shaping their cities, and image building initiatives advertised on public media, the research is based on the structures of knowledge acquired from cases and scenarios of informality and the manipulative acts of building and reclaiming by the 8 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
City as a warfield
marginalized. The research questions (section 1.5) broadly have been formulated around one prime question of shaping inclusive cities that have been constantly spoken of for development plans and the multidisciplinary approaches in the act of building. The research has been carried out in stages and from perspectives of various practice and academic orientations. Since, inclusion and informality have for now been established as global phenomena, the research derives its references based on first person observations, case studies and the subsequent study of policies and governance framework, by history, to arrive at suggestions and to establish a theoretical framework. Focused group discussions with the communities, with contesting organizations and academicians have been carried out, in order to develop a reference or guide of methodologies, systems and regulations, that can in turn aid in the agglomeration of the contesting neighborhoods. Since the coursework requires to have an urban design program of a considerable scale, the case of Moragaon has been selected as an area of demonstration for the studies and strategies.
9 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
PEDAGOGIES IN POLICIES & POLITY 2.1 Role of Governance Government plays a vital role in shaping interests and the aspirations of the public. It mobilizes "ethics of self" as an indirect mode of governance. A major turn has taken over the years with the governance of space. It implies the construction and constitution of governable spaces, i.e. the spaces that follow legal frameworks and have been assigned under a particular network of authorities. This is where the concept of "counter-governmentality" which is the contestation of the governmentality (Focault, 2004) induced by the state and its allied bodies, comes into picture. The formulation of the citizen best suited to fulfil the government's policies, as explained by Focault, demonstrates the code of conduct imposed by the state, either by law or by institutional modes, like schools, museums, parks etc. where in decorum and standardization become key elements in shaping the citizen and his/ her response to the surrounding spaces. In case with counter governmentality, the same citizen tries to disobey and simultaneously auto-constructs mechanisms and protects the same from the wrath of power. The ground realities of neighborhoods and the portrayal of aspirations often come into conflicts characterized by the strength of the driving force, i.e the state & the market forces for the image and the civil society for the aspirations. It is an exchange of practices followed by the political society on one hand and the civil society on the other hand (Appadurai, 2002). The manipulation or rejection of such transactions gives rise to insurgence.Theories related to the advent of urban policies, the need for policies, authoritative claims over dystopia , as per Allan Cochrane's Understanding Urban Policy, charter the top-down basis for urban renewal and also arrives at platforms of negotiations with the inhabitants. On the other hand, concepts of permanence in temporary & spatial exclusion (Coelho & Kamath, Participolis: Consent and contention in Neoliberal Urban India, 2013), as referred in D. Ravikumar's article in Participolis (Coelho & Kamath, Participolis: Consent and contention in Neoliberal Urban India, 2013) claims the nature of microorganizations and the way in which social diversity plays a role in shaping the inclinations of and within organizations over time. Interrogations in the discourses of public participation in urban governance is another driving force that either embraces or rejects upgradation. A reference has also been made of intangible components like power & prestige, pride & prejudice that create invisible boundaries within localities and also frame the way in which interactions and transactions happen. These phenomena often tend to sculpt the basis for the politics within, and the nature of the emerging rebel. 10 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
Pedagogies in Policies & polity
Such a system of understanding can be very well applied to the metropolises of today that have evolved over periods of consequent economic and political breakthroughs. The dire state of the cores of these metropolitan regions with respect to the natural and built heritage and influence of parallel development processes over such cores need to be mapped and liberated. Urban structure and its components are defined with respect to the demographic patterns to arrive at theories and investigations. The process for resuscitation is the result of multiple tactics and the coordinated approach at reclaiming one's claim to citizenship. 2.2 Mechanisms Of Conflicts Governance & development pressures backed by technology & infrastructure play a major role in shaping social change (Marvin, 2001) and the simultaneous modes of enclave formation that gives rise to the sense of 'gated- ness' & protection. The use and exclusivity of amenities and services draws a stark line of disregard for the marginalized. As per the current trends in post modern conducts and systems of image making, the state, private sector & the media give rise to the backyards that are breeding grounds for dissent amongst people for the contested spaces. Accessibility to services governed by rights and their 'controllers' induces cognizant steps taken by the controlled. Be it, the conflicts of the farmers over land along infrastructural corridors, or of the residents of Dharavi to retain their workspaces and livelihoods whilst making way for development, or the conflicts generated due to relocation of the marginalized from the public realm into peripheral spaces devoid of services, the systems of negotiations and the pressures of covering up the uncanny, as visualized by the 'cleanliness' seeking bourgeoisie, drives governance. This in turn derives mechanisms of tactful informal practices to exclude and mis-inform the controlled sectors. For instance, the labour congregation at Jakhan Chowk, Dehradun as referred to in the article 'Struggle over class and space in an Indian city' (Shankar Gopalakrishnan, 2014), and its subsequent dispersal by police force, due to false accusations of misconduct as complained by the elites in the locality, attempted at driving away the construction labour to ensure safety of the residents despite the fact that the labourers depended on the chowk that played the role of a public space for opportunities for their livelihoods. The persistent act of return to the chowk, and this time by making use of organizational allegiances for support as the approach to safeguard interests has been working in their favor but has been contested time and again. 11 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
Pedagogies in Policies & polity
Fig 1: Labour congregation at Jakhan Chowk
Fig 2: Co-operative operative driven campaigns
In order to safeguard and overthrow or at least generate intimidation, the marginalized often come up with further informal informal practices, referred to as tactics, by means of spatial organization or built language or by force of goons and alliances with the powerful to have their localities either surpassed or difficult to maneuver. The rigidity comes with fluidity in planning processes that tend to overlook the opinion opinions of these masses. 2.3 Cases of Insurgencies 2.3.1 Behrampada slums A ghetto, as perceived by the surrounding localities and onlookers, the Behrampada slum along the railway corridor in Bandra east in Mumbai, is one such example of an insurgent community driven by the constant fear of eviction. The land under the jurisdiction of the Indian railways is under high pressure for development given the fact that it is located minutes away from the commercially booming ng Bandra Kurla Complex, a commercial Fig 3 : Conflicts against tenure business district.. With immense pressure for development and constant threats of a communal rift given the fact that the slum is majorly inhabited by service class Muslims,, there have been many incidences over the years year that have challenged the slum dwellers about their right to their habitat. With incidences such as cylinder blasts as portrayed from outside, but seen as insider jobs from the perspective of the slum dwellers, the ways of threatening the slum dwellers have ve been intense and consistent. consistent 12
Pedagogies in Policies & polity
Fig 4 : Narrow lanes and strategic community spaces
Thus in order to protect their tenure, the slum dwellers had decided to build themselves into a fortress sort of an inward looking neighborhood. This decision was taken following the communal riots in 1993 that had multiple cases of violence. By the nature of the emergent built form, it can be understood that the slum went as high as 5 to 6 storeys with closely placed units. The dark &
Fig 5 : Controlling wall of the ghetto
narrow lanes tend to intimidate any outsider from entering the slum. The slum is visually and stretegically guarded by a wall of closely packed houses with little access from the outside through narrow lanes, but with smaller window openings acting as vision holes of watch towers. 13
Pedagogies in Policies & polity
The commercial units all along the ground level of the slum ensures security by having eyes on the street of the residents serving as shopkeepers and guards and filters for any external being entering the slum. Visually maneuverable based on the memorized lanes, as in the case of the residents, the confusing and unguided lanes within the slum act much intimidating to any nonresident. The spaces outside the houses are also spaces of interaction for the women of the slum, that further becomes a filtering mechanism to protect their houses. The conflict this slum faces with development is that of being rehabilitated into SRA buildings, that would eventually result in the loss of livelihoods, loss of community dynamics that currently protects them and channelize further communal friction if let go the regularized way. However informally, this slum has been successful enough in safeguarding the interests of its residents by means of the insurgent form and spatial conduct followed by the residents.
(a)
(b)
(e)
(c)
(d)
Fig 6: a) interactive spaces b) inward houses c) guarded nukkads d) community spaces with constant vigil e) shops as eyes on the street
2.3.2 Dharavi Bachao Andolan Dharavi, notified under the Maharashtra Slum Clearance Act 14
Pedagogies in Policies & polity
of 1971, is a live-work work scenario based slum settlement contesting for the stakes of the locals in the decision making processes followed under the Act. The Dharavi Bachao Andolan is another such example of an insurgent neighborhood eighborhood fighting for its rights to livelihood. The State driven Dharavi redevelopment proposal came about with least participation of the locals. The conflicts in this case is also related to the fear of loss of livelihoods coupled with bourgeoisie environmentalism env (Amita Baviskar, 2011) as mechanism to suppress the existing milieu of the lives and employments in Dharavi. The problems pertaining to this case clearly reflects the falacies in the planning and development pro processes cesses with restriction of information and mis misinterpretation of facts to conveniently manipulate regulations and create capital yielding results. The role of public participation becomes prominent in the case of Dharavi, with NGOs like Pukar, Mahilla Mila Milan n and the initiatives of SPARC in documenting the slums undertaken by the women residents themselves. Further addtions of professionals and academia into the civil society driven campaign to safeguard the lives of the many slated to be left unemployed by the he builder made and state driven development proposal.
Fig 8: Dharavi redevelopment proposal
Fig 9: source : Mumbai Mirror
As a counter-governmentality governmentality mechanism in determining the patterns of development ideal for the case of Dharavi, the academic iterations generated in partnership with the locals, has been a driving force for the insurgent discourses applied by the inhabitants of the slum in this case.
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Pedagogies in Policies & polity
The case specific cluster demarcation and the identification of multiple pockets and opportunities for improvement were the first step in determining the strengths of Dharavi. Further, series of iterations for the units and the
Fig 10: Access strengthening & micro clusters source: RE-DHARAVI ; K.R.V.I.A Design Cell
possible outcomes of juxtaposition based on the scenario within the demarcated clusters was crucial in formulating the pattern for redevelopment. With further consultations and negotiations with SRA and campaigns to demand sufficient leverage in the redevelopment scheme, the current area provision for the units has been adjusted to 350 sq. ft as a special case for Dharavi to accommodate workspaces , as against the general 260 sq. mt for any other slum redevelopment scheme.
Fig 11: Unit iterations ; source: RE-DHARAVI ; K.R.V.I.A Design Cell
2.3.3 Save the Adi Ganga Campaign A backwater stemming from the river Ganga in Kolkata, is the Adi-Ganga, the oldest known boundary for the city, and home to varied communities that sustain over the activities carried out along the banks. In 2009-10, the expansion of the Kolkata metro and the subsequent displacement of 16
Pedagogies in Policies & polity
Hastings Hastings
settlements housing approximately 30,000 people drove the city to campaign against the fraudulent methods of relocation and land acquisition. Presently, a proposal to clean and revitalize the banks of Adi-Ganga has again put forth many such contestations, however, the purpose of studying this area is to develop a base around the tactics applied by the Bhowanipore inhabitants. The case with the Adi-Ganga Campaign in Kolkata is alike Dharavi, with conflicts over tenureship and livelihoods. However, the tactics applied by the settlements that still stand on the banks of the Adi Ganga are more political in nature, thus rendering them regularized status and securing them of their tenure. Three such precincts along the banks of Adi Ganga are - Hastings , Bhowanipore & Kalighat.
Hastings: The area is inhabited by Bangladeshi immigrants & Bihari migrants living in auto-constructed squatters along the banks. Their association with the rivulet is based on the inaccessibility to housing elsewhere and thus as informal settlements & for religious associations through festivals like Chhat & Durga puja. Fig 12: Map of AdiGanga
The tactics used by the settlers in this area has been of political allegiance, assuring them of a 'regularized' Fig 13: Hastings squatters Fig 14: Formal Toilet blocks status by the construction of sanitary facilities. Alongside, the presence of local NGOs like Nagarik Mancha, local people's clubs that work for poor have also been pro-active in the claims. Bhowanipore: An area home to the oldest families in Kolkata, Bhowanipore stands amongst the most contested terrains for the caste biases that still exist today. It is the dominance of the higher castes i.e. the Brahmins against the rag pickers that serve the residences in the neighborhood. The tactics applied here are by the higher castes to overthrow the lower caste and the 17
Pedagogies in Policies & polity
state driven plans for revamp revamp. Political allegiance and stakess are based on religious association and heritage with respect to the oldest ghats along the rivulet.
Fig 15: Police compound ghat
Fig 17: Brahmin settlements along ghats
Fig 16: Balaram m Bose ghat
Fig 18: Displaced squatters
Kalighat: The scenario with Kalighat is comparatively much resolved, with licensing & registration as the two contesting criteria to ensure protection of tenure and livelihoods. One of the most prominent 'Shaktipeeths' that holds a very strong ground in sustaining the people that serve the Kalighat temple, temple the area of Kalighat along the banks of Adi Ganga, stands as another contested landscape of heritage and religious attraction. Accompanying the temple works, exists a complex network netw of informal activities, ranging from servicemen to the temple, the priests, the booking agents & the hawkers. All these livelihoods have been indirectly registered with legitimate licenses that protects.
Fig 19: Kalighat temple
Fig 20: Religious association
The area of conflict here is the settlement of migrants from villages who have setup shop along the peripheries of the Adi Ganga. As a matter of fact, the hawker union in Kolkata is the most politically driven organization, organization and 18
Pedagogies in Policies & polity
coupled with the Nagarik Mancha, fights and is capable of manipulating conflicts in favour of the hawkers if licensed. This is precisely the state of affairs
with the informal hawkers in Kalighat, who have their residences attached to the shops and thus through informal practices have managed to protect tenure and their livelihoods as well. Fig 21: Registered Hawkers
Fig 22: Tactics by political & union driven support
Fig 23: Safeguarded rights in the name of 'religious practices
19
entham
Pedagogies in Policies & polity
2.4 Tactics of Practices Tactics are basically informal mechanisms, or as described by Mike Lydon, tactical approaches incorporate low cost, temporary changes to the built environment in order to improve local neighborhoods (Mike Lydon, 2012). On drawing abstractions from insurgent mechanisms of responses, they too are tactical in nature by means of smaller additions of elements or procedural approaches that the civil society resorts to. In fact, these are responses to the informal practices by the state, that also imply certain tactics, such as mis-representation, misinterpretation, bribery & forgery and processes that involve manipulation of data and idea formulated around the terms of the gentry. These are all on grounds of decisions taken to have control. Fig 24: Panopticon by Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham through his work of 'Panopticon' (Bentham, 1995) illustrates the kind of ideated control that would likely be preferred by the authorities to maintain control and sanctum. A centrally located watch tower with 360 degree view of all prison cells to ensure control and decorum within the prison. Similarly, the control of the state over the public happens through the developmental processes and through surveillance. The psychological effect of spaces on people is the main deciding factor.
For example, the amendments in the planning acts, here referring to the MRTP Act of 1966, the change of terms makes a big impact on the constitution of the city and corresponds to protests as well. Such as, the word 'publish' in the stages of the development & regional plans, denotes sharing of information and making it public and accessible to the masses from all sects. Following the amendment in 1991, it was changed to 'submit', that signifies passing over of collected survey information and analyses to the state without involving the public. Such an act generally takes place in order to cater to the political interests in order to subjugate masses and keep them uninformed. 20
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Another such example of informal practices by the state and the private sector, is of the case of forgery that happens in the slum rehabilitation schemes. There have been numerous such incidences where the rehabilitees, posing threats to the 'route of development', are kept in the dark and fraudulent consents are garnered by involving methods of forgery. There have cases where consents have been signed posthumously as well, just in order to fast track the process of acquisition. The working of informality as a nature of discourse and insurgence as its emergent form has also been cited by Ananya Roy (Roy, Why India cannot plan its cities, 2009) about civic governmentality and the 'world class' approach that generally the bourgeois and the corporate & the 'future people of these world class cities' consider. Informality is in the mechanism that they induce on the rest. The ones in the shadow are the service sector i.e. the small scale businesses, the urban poor, the indigenous and the slums that face the brunt of development. On the other hand the informal livelihoods, informal housing and informal spatial conducts are governed by informality in the process. Based on the cases studied above, and many other similar observations around contested spaces, there clearly emerges a pattern in which tactics are applied in both physical as well as intangible ways in order to surmount oppression either by means of induced processes in governance or by force. All of these patterns as illustrated in fig 30, depict informal practices and auto-constructed modes, as applied by the civil society or precisely the marginalized in order to put forth a strong dialogue for their stake in the city. Categorization of these patterns into systems, can be derived from the understanding of insurgence by Jeffery Hou (Hou, 2010), where in, appropriation, reclamation, pluralisation, transgression & contestation have been stated as to be the principle techniques of re-acquiring rights as exercised by the people. Appropriation is denoted by the use of power, by force or by political inclination in order to regularize informal practices, in favor of the marginalized or deprived citizens. Here, acquisition by means of verbal influences becomes a major part in claiming rights. Reclamation as the word suggests, is characterized by returning to the former state. The return is further secured by vigil, generally through mechanisms involving control over ingress. A very common example of reclamation is of the unlicensed hawkers that setup shop. These hawkers function on a run21 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
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return basis, i.e. they are on a constant lookout for municipal authorities and to save their businesses run away and return to cater cater to the masses. To protect their tenures as businesses even indulge in bribing authorities. Pluralization involves repetitive patterns followed by multiple communities to signify unity and appear as a larger mass to intimidate the gentry. For example, application pplication of typical patterns of neighborhoods of the same order, to signify their accreditation by unison. Transgression is a combination of appropriation and reclamation, but involves threat to some extent by damage to properties on being revoked. Contestation,, lastly is the culmination of the above practices into formalized systems of functioning,, notified and brought under the purview of the authorities for assimilation into the planning system. This is where, public participation plays an important role role in determining the strength of the contestation.
Fig 25: Appropriation : Equal Streets Mumbai
Fig27 : Transgression : Sion Koliwada
Fig 26 : Reclamation: Hawkers along railway
Fig 28:Contestation : Dharavi Bachao Andolan
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Political allegiance
APPROPRIATION
RECLAMATION
Check points
Formalized services
Collective Vigil
PLURALIZATION Religious appropriation
Collective association
TRANSGRESSION
Cultural symbolism
Street Control
CONTESTATION
Inward enclaves
Regularized informal
Fig 29 : Patterns of tactics
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2.5 Conceptual Framework
Fig 30: Conceptual framework: manifestations of insurgency and informality
The systems and functions of governance imply the role of power and the public. The processes of assemblage and dialogue between both these masts of the urban realm defines the levels and pace of developments. Processes that involve cohesion of both the power and public treads the way for development, a formalized process of accumulation and disbursal of resources under legal framework. The point where the interactions go over to the adverse side with protests from the public, involves dissent and contests for claims put forth for the authorities. The manifestations of spatiality under a cohesive development structure involves the terms of formalized, legalized & regularized, where as dissented spaces involve informal practices, by both the power and the public at varied levels. Informal practices applied by the power (i.e. state, elite & corporate sector) give rise to informal practices by the public (i.e. citizens, representatives & NGOs) commonly known as tactics or jugaad or leads for insurgencies. On one hand, the informal avenues include the informality in housing and in commerce, which together define the kinetic and temporal systems that the service cores of cities resort to. On the other hand, insurgence is experienced in claims over ownership / tenure , livelihoods & citizenship. Ownership implies 24
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the constants of public and private. Ownership of the public denotes the spaces open to all, an area that further involves conflicts between the regular public and the bourgeoisie and marginalized classes. Here, the insurgency experienced from the marginalized is often suppressed on accounts of segregation and exclusion. This segregation is based on either class, caste, religion or gender biases. Ownership under private implies the criteria of information, representation, exclusion, vigilance & enclaving that is generally misused by the private owners against the marginalized or the 'public' in general. Insurgency experienced for safeguarding livelihoods involves the protection of businesses and labor. Here, registration and licensing play the most important roles in order to define the nature of stakes the businesses have in contesting and in legitimizing themselves. Insurgency for livelihood basically involves labor unions, both State driven and public run & NGOs that work in representing the labor for their rights. Insurgency for citizenship, as described in Chapter 1.4, is based on the intangible factors of belongingness and anonymity. As described in the above mentioned chapter, the characterization of infrastructure & services based on the associational value of the citizens with the sense belonging, as projected. This ensures their stake in the contestation and ensures rights to services as applicable. On the other hand, the citizenship of anonymity as projected by the regular citizens on the migrants and immigrants, gives rise to peripheralisation i.e. being pushed to peripheries of the city or to peripheries of accessible components of the urban realm. These anonymous citizens face a constant fear of eviction as well that is defined by the legality of their settlements, i.e. property cards or ration cards or electoral i.ds that become necessary passports to claim their right to the city. Alienation and acceptance of citizens also depends on the collective memory of the migrant communities that corresponds to their sense of belonging and their levels of involvement in the city that they may or may not feel they belong to. For example, migration to urban centers happens for better livelihoods and standards of living. Thus, the sense of belonging is restricted to the occupations and the wages it pays. Methods of insurgencies involve basically two distinct ones - tactics and violence as cited in Ananya Roy's comparative writing about the cases of SPARC in Mumbai & Hezbollah in war torn Beirut (Roy, Civic Governmentality : The Politics of Inclusion in Beirut and Mumbai, 2009).
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Processes under violence stem from appropriation, i.e. informal setup. On being challenged, the insurgents resort to negotiations with the state, failing which there are threats exchanged between both brigades. The point when none of the former modes work, the insurgents resort to action by force, generally violent outrages and conflicts against peacekeepers. Processes under tactical approach also start with appropriation as their first step. It then gradually progresses to reclamation, where in consultation comes into picture either within similar communities or from professional, academia & welfare organizations. This involves informal protective measures and self development initiatives generally based on informally gathered support of masses and paperwork. The last step to tactical approach involves contestation, i.e. negotiations with the authorities and modes of persuasion.
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CODES OF CONDUCT 3.1 The state ,private sector & civil society Civic governance comprises of 3 main principle bodies that work in coherence and indulge in negotiations to work out policies and development strategies for the city. They are namely- the public sector, the private sector & the civil society. The public sector comprises of the state and para-statal bodies that are the policy makers and the body in direct conversation with the civil society. The state is responsible in regulating socio-economic standards and balance within localities, in cohesion with law & order, to achieve harmonious execution of policies. Development undertaken by the State majorly involves development of infrastructure - physical and social for communities. A vital role of the Fig 31: Civic Governance actors& roles public sector lies in the protection of rights of the citizens and to ensure egalitarian distribution of resources and services to the communities, in order to maintain social order. The private sector, on the other hand, is responsible for employment generation, that the civil society is serviced with. In return, income/ profit generation is their motto. In many cases, through systems like the publicprivate partnership models of B.O.T & B.O.O.T s delivery either through innovation, service & maintenance is taken care of by the private sector in alliance with the public sector. However, a body of self interests, the private sector has its main aim in increasing productivity in trade, that serves the body as well as the public sector through economic upgradation. The benevolent side of the private sector, is observed with more recent initiatives through Corporate social responsibilities (C.S.R s), through funding schemes generated for the weaker sections and more precisely ' for the greater good of the society', a scheme that befriends the civil society with purported 27
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interests of exemption in taxation levied by the state. The private sector comprises of all the corporate bodies, like industries, secondary and tertiary and their allied agencies that work in human resource development with the civil society and the state. The civil society comprises of all citizen bodies, collectives of locally elected representatives, NGOs and the communities themselves that work together in putting forth their needs and grievances before the state. The United Nations defines civil society as "a collective of all organizations that occupy the 'social space' between the family and the state, excluding political parties and firms. Civil society is the “third sector� of society, along with government and business. It comprises civil society organizations and nongovernmental organizations." (Nations). The role of the civil society is to foster culture among the communities, to spread awareness amongst people by means of campaigns and programs, to enable participation of the people in the developmental processes and to facilitate services by facilitating interactions. The concurrence in civic development is ensured by concurrent and transparent interactions between these three bodies of the governance framework. As per findings from various site visits and interviews of local bodies and citizens, a conclusion can be drawn on the existential fallacies of functioning. Influences of the private sector over the public sector, in order to generate capital yielding schemes for the city, results in malpractices, however informally like bribing, political allegiance, etc. This further leads to fallacies adopted by the state in manipulating the civil society in favor of the private sector interests. Such manipulations include misrepresentations, information restriction, deliberate campaigning to camouflage the actual interests of propositions, that in turn affects the level of participation of the civil society in the development process. The sect most commonly affected are the marginalized classes, whose aspirations are manipulated by the gentry into formalized schemes sanctioned by the state. As per Amita Baviskar's article on community living in the marginalized sections of the city (Amita Baviskar, 2011), communities are characterized by the shared experiences of the residents and businesses. This includes their sense of belongingness, the identity as compared to the multitude of identities within the city, the need to secure their rights and tenure- that has strong hold in livelihoods and ownerships. On being challenged over any of these criteria, leads to insurgent behavior exercised by the community. Within the community as well are bifurcations based on 28 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
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classes, genders, and castes that often dictate the nature of biases. The most vulnerable amongst the community are the ones that belong to these suppressed and unheard sects. The gentry, tends to maneuver the poor and the underprivileged by dictating spatial conduct, that further binds the marginalized to segregated backyards of neighborhoods. This functions as a cyclic process marked by the post modern code of image and city building (Harvey, 1992). As a response to these acts of enclaving, the marginalized build their fortresses or ghettos as perceived by the elite to protect themselves of the sweeping urban forces. 3.2 Micro-governance Micro governance refers to locality based and people led governance of the same people. Post the 74th Constitutional Amendment in 1992, distribution of power from the centre to the states, to the urban local bodies (ULBs) has become prominent. Value addition to ULBs has been effective in reaching out to the masses at larger scales, as an attempt to resolve idiosyncratic issues. Globalization and resultant optimization of the public realm in order to be inviting for foreign investment agencies to become part of the 'holistic' development processes of Indian cities was the main purpose of the amendment. However, with power vested in the ULBs, assimilation of the weaker marginalized sections of the society becomes imperative. Based on survey inferences, the condition seems to be quite different from the expected. With local administration, the power of local elites has become more prominent in order to sideline the interests of the marginalized and paint fairer pictures to facilitate for 'global visions'. Here, ancillary roles played in addressing people's issues is by the NGOs that delve into quantified resolutions to case and context specific issues. In Mumbai, organizations like SPARC, PRAJA, PUKAR etc have been instrumental in working hands on with the communities by streamlining resources for development at a micro scale through services and funded schemes. Ranging from locality mapping involving the community documenting themselves, the portrayal of the citizens in the city became much integrated and inclusive in nature as opposed to the state driven mapping processes, for example the documentation of the livelihoods of Dharavi done in partnership with the women of the slum belonging to the Mahila Milan union. The resultant documentation of aspirations gave a fairly detailed picture as compared to the state driven upgradation scheme.
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Fig 32: Dharavi aspirational documentation - source:PUKAR
With respect to work based livelihoods, the works of Unions has always played a vital role in securing the rights to the personnel associated or registered under them. For example, the labor unions have an active participation in ensuring rights to livelihoods to the casual and skilled labor, and thus have an active role in shaping the realm around labor collection points commonly referred to as labor chowks / nakas. Hawker unions in Kolkata, that play an avid role in the politics of the city play a major role in safeguarding the tenure of thousands of hawkers lined across streets, so much so that the authorities 30
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assimilate the registered hawkers and have propositions for development using funding and design based schemes instead of relocation. This in turn, has led to the spatial conduc conducts ts of such areas with hawkers who function fearlessly and tend to informally manipulate tenure in order to safeguard their right to live and work in their neighborhood.
Fig 33: Hawker zones in Kolkata
Fig 34 : Conduct Conduct at Labor nakas
Inclusion of all the different classes within developmental framework framewor is taken care of by the ULBs either voluntarily or under pressure informally acquired by politicizing these micro-organizations. organizations. 3.3 Areas of impositions & conflicts Concepts of permanence in temporary & spatial exclusion, as referred in D. Ravikumar's article in Participolis (Coelho, Participolis: Consent and Contention in Neoliberal Urban India, 2012)claims 2012)claims the nature of micromicro organizations and the way in which social diversity plays a role in shaping the organizations overr time. Interrogations in the discourses of public participation in urban governance is another driving force that either embraces or rejects upgradation. A reference has also been made of intangible components like power & prestige, pride & prejudice that tha create invisible boundaries within localities and also frame the way in which interactions and transactions happen. These phenomena often tend to sculpt the basis for the politics within, and the emergent urban form. As discussed earlier, the conflicts arise only when the opinions and aspirations of the members of the community are left unaccounted for and when tenure and livelihoods are threatened. This is when informal appropriation is resorted to by the community to ensure security of tenure and right rightss to ownership ownership. The level of participation of the community in the decision making processes is one of the main deciding factors for conflicts and insurgencies insurgencies.
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For example, the formulation of the 685 ALMs (Advance Locality Management) across the 24 wards in Mumbai in 1998, was a breather for including the citizens in partnership with M.C.G.M to ensure provision of amenities and services at a micro scale recognized by the public sector. The election of nodal officers and representatives of the people to bring forth grievances and act upon scenario based issues for the various localities was to be ensured. However, the inclusion of the poorer sections has been left ignored and they do get mis-represented. For example, the Juhu ALM or Juhu Citizens Welfare Group that is supposed to be the most active, based on survey inferences of the slum pockets does not consider their opinions, and most importantly misinform about the public meetings when it comes to preparation of the citizen charters to be put forth to MCGM. 'Public meetings' aren't public, but class driven, thus tending to leave the slum pockets to fend for themselves and be considered under the real estate eye instead of upgradation and the supposed Slum Adoption Programs (S.A.P) as stated under the formulating principles of the ALM. As a result, the slums tend to become political landscapes with allegiances and vote banks for elections, thus leading to induction of formal services through informal means.
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INSTITUTIONALIZED TOOLS , PROCESSES & FALLACIES 4.1 Planning & measures of consolidation The study of cities today is moreover a paradox, where a major portion of urban growth takes place in developing countries, whereas theories and approaches emerge from that followed in developed countries (Roy, Why India cannot plan its cities, 2009). This generates myths that characterize planning strategies in the third world countries. Differences between the government and communities is the major setback that leads to segregation, based on the varying positions, opinions and priorities followed while planning cities. The reality of planning differs the moment territorial control and disputes come to the forefront. Here, interventions are based on political interests and conflicts become root causes for setting the achievable bar of equilibrium. Through planning, the state has the power to define what is informal and also determine the power of territorial actors in reclaiming their stakes in the city. Clear definitions of legal, illegal, formal, informal, public & private hence become imperative for a consensus. Planning in such a scenario must be re-thought as a to-fro process of manipulations and negotiations.The built environment, governed by the elements of space making, involves meticulous and strategic planning of resources and interests, marked by management and ownership by diverse classes of the 'people'. Planning, also called as forethought, is the initial process of organizing activities and the associated people in order to achieve a desired goal. The goal here defines the nature of strategies deployed for implementation, and also defines the order of functioning based on the reception by the target users. Such a goal charters manifestos to ensure maintenance of law & order and harmonious division of authority either from the state to the people or vice versa. Taking the evolution in the legitimization of urban planning strategies in Mumbai (Guha, 2000) as an example, the post independence years saw projection of planning to ensure improvement in quality of living for the poor as moral ground to garner support for development, whereas, the involvement of this large section of people in the overall city building process was overlooked. Similarly, the liberalization policy in 1991 saw the city revving towards the global city formula crafted by the policy makers, where the custodies of built spaces of the poor and justified distribution of services was left unattended, with major setbacks and steep gaps between the city in the foreground and the stench in its backyards. In cases of conflicts, it has been observed that the goals as perceived by the state & its ancillary bodies tends to vary from the aspirational goals of the communities being planned for. 33 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
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Problems in co-ordination of services, forms the stigma for such conflicts against the homogeneity in the mix of the elements of spaces planned for the people. These tensions arise as the deep seeded values of the built environment cannot be radically transformed. With changes in dynamics and accumulations, come changes in patterns of execution as well as protection. The living city that constantly self rejuvenates, tends to overthrow drastic measures driven by capital and ends up in struggles of the masses. Intrusion of capital becomes a major key in shaping control exercised by the agencies of power under the state. Planning here, thus becomes a tool for appraisal of the city by the private market, monopolies & state interventions. Containment in warring cases is ensured either by repression, by political & economic maneuvering or by integration of the demands of the warring classes. This is what develops the further complicated landscapes on basis of power & dissidence. Consolidations made by the people against the consolidations in the planning processes hence are vital to theses landscapes. The stakes in campaigns are defined by measures, such as capital power or benefaction, support of city wide people's groups, publishing and awareness through media and through word of mouth. In some instances, temporary additions made to the built environment is used as support for the consolidations by the people, a self developed barricade to protect their association.
Fig 35: Measures of consolidations by warring people source: tachleochenblog.wordpress
Inability of the state's intervention in sufficing the needs of the citizens drives them to resort to informal mechanisms to reclaim by re-appropriation. An illustration can be drawn of the Tower of Caracas in Venezuela. Since 2000s, Caracas has been suffering a housing shortage, with about 400,000 families without affordable shelter. The inability of the Venezuelan government and their lack of insight of the larger issue whilst planning, made these families to 34
Institutionalized tools, processes & fallacies
informally occupy empty buildings or buildings under construction with squatters appropriated for their need of shelter. One such building is the unfinished Tower of David (Torre de David) meant to be a commercial building, but unfinished due to lack of finances. Mechanisms deployed further were of demonstrations through banners along the building's faรงade and resident devised utilities and services, catering to over 5000 families. (Romero, 2011)
Fig 36: Squatters within Tower of David source: demilked.com & Reuters
Fig 37: source: Reuters
Fig 38: source: Reuters
The outcome of these mechanisms were that in 2014, the state declared the project 'Great Housing Mission Project' to relocate the residents and provide them with legitimate residences and services. A case similar to that of the Kowloon walled city, however a successful attempt at regularizing stakes of the people by the people. 4.2 Dharavi : the citizen friendly approach Over 175 hectares, in the heart of Mumbai, Dharavi is addresses as the largest slum of Asia. With highly intense population, the slum reflects a model of informal urbanism that questions the formal approaches in planning and design. Dharavi has expanded free of the formal economic and political planes. It is the outcome of global economic pressures when many poor people have no ability to access the formal urban life. Thus, Dharavi has 35
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become a highly productive area where hundreds of workshops and small industries tries have been established.
Fig 39: source: tareqrazzouk.files.wordpress.com
The incremental evolution of Dharavi implies years of experience accumulated, that were applied, tested and modified by the people who set their own rules and regulations to adapt or respond to their habitat. The physical environment that has been developed in Dharavi is a reflection of this long sorted process. The physical outcomes of the place are a result of people's re-building building and re re-appropriating appropriating process that have submitted to their understanding, interest, conflict and consensus. One such experimental model was, initiated by URBZ in alliance with sp+a architects, with detailed analysis of the slum and the livelihoods forming basis for generating design alternatives to the generic SRA scheme.
Fig 40: Locality ocality mapping and miniscule planning source: URBZ
Urbz suggests, in a way, leaving well enough alone alone.. Rather than beginning with the false notion that Dharavi offers a tabula rasa, their team starts with what they call a tabula pronta, a table already laid with cons considerable iderable riches. Dharavi's tens of thousands of houses are ""an an existing stock of affordable housing,, waiting to be improved and infused with better civic infrastructure." (Cooke, 2015).
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Slum redevelopment usually means destroying what's been built up over time by residents and replacing it by something else that the residents cannot associate themselves with and thus undergoes peril. The neighborhood itself is the most interesting starting point: people's stories, needs, economy, and investments, emotional or otherwise. With Mumbai architecture firm sP+a, URBZ proposes a steel infrastructural intervention to allow for water, refuse water, and structural stability. With its slim streets, tightly packed homes, and small horizontal footprints, they suggest looking up to find room for improvement and growth. After placing a minimal but strong architectural net, of sorts, overlaid atop what already exists, local contractors and builders would then steer its growth. Neighborhood conditions would then improve naturally, based on residents' requirements. The proposal envisions terraces, upper-level courtyards, and bridges built atop the highest levels of the structure, creating a new level of connection among buildings. Green roofs could eventually be installed. Techniques introduced in order to enable increment, would eventually become a political statement via the built form about reclaiming workspaces and habitable neighborhood planning deemed fit for such areas of
Fig 41: Incremental additions to existing housing; source: URBZ
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economic vitality. In the process, Dharavi sheds its classification as a "slum" as it acquires infrastructure and its residents no longer look into uncertain futures.
Fig 42 : Roof based activities and connections; Contested Neighborhood; source: URBZ
Fig 43 : Envisioning Change for a Contested Neighborhood; source: URBZ
4.3 MRTP Act Town Planning has been prevalent in India since the beginning of the 20th century. The Bombay Town Planning Act of 1915, under the Bombay presidency was the initiation for urban development and benefit of the owners of the lands under the jurisdiction. However, the T.P schemes formulated under this Act failed to look at development as a whole with smaller pockets of interventions. And with rapid industrialization, the need for urban development as an integrated approach came to be realized. Thus 38
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came about the Bombay Act of 1954 in order to ensure integration of the Act of 1915 to have a cohesive approach. The Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act of 1966, came about as a successor to these Acts, to amalgamate the urban with the areas having the potential to be urbanized. It was a step towards comprehensive planning and jurisdiction for long term development strategies undertaken by the Maharashtra State. In order to understand the fallacies in planning strategies and to substantiate the reasons for conflicts, analysis of its clauses and procedures and to simultaneously compare with scenario in reality becomes imperative. In this case, the MRTP Act of 1966 can be taken as a base to understand the resultant impact. This act was constituted to make provision for planning the development and use of land in Regions established for regulating provisions and assigning development powers to planning boards and for the preparation of development plans with a view of ensuring that town planning schemes are made in a proper manner and their execution is made effective. It also implies the compulsory acquisition of land required for public purposes. The salient features of the MRTP Act are - as follows a) Preparation of Regional Plan, Development Plan & Town planning schemes; b) Implementation schemes via Land acquisition, TDR & plot reconstitution; c) Finance, accounting, auditing & governance of schemes. The participants involved in the planning, negotiation & execution stages under the MRTP act areRegional Planning Board (Director of T.P, T.P officer and others appointed from local authorities with eligible expertise as deemed fit) , Regional Planning Committee (advisory body) , Planning authority ( local authority , special planning authority), State Government & Public. Some major issues and emerging concerns regarding the MRTP Act are as followsa) No definite time limit prescribed for the preparation of the development plan by the planning authority or approval by the state. b)Reservations on private lands, for public purposes often tend to remain just on paper and due to co-ordination errors, no direct involvement of the stakeholders and un-prescribed time limit, the reservations tend to be manipulated for purposes other than the expected. c)Capacity of 'sustainable' implementation of the development plan by the planning authority is a challenge, as at times proposals are too far-fetched. 39 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
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d)The act casts an obligation on the planning authority to prepare the development plan, but not to implement it, thus tending to hap hazard development. Also, the availability of the annual reports by the planning authority to the state is not made public, as there is no provision for public participation as per the MRTP Act, which may give rise to misleading information and deviated city growth analyses. In accordance with suitable techniques in implementation, the MRTP Act seems to be quite in order with the public. In order to trace neighborhood based conflicts against development, it could be understood with the help of the development plan. In this case, the procedures and the agencies involved in the preparation of the D.P under the MRTP Act have been studied in the figures to develop an understanding of conflicts perceived by the state. Stage 1 : The first stage encompasses a public declaration of intent that needs to be published in local newspapers. The intent consists of the goals and objectives and the need for the development plan. The intent denotes the extent. This is a step initiated by the local authority in compliance with the media. Post the declaration, the planning authority is supposed to appoint a Town planning officer, whose role is to conduct surveys, mapping of existing conditions, assessment of potential growth and suggestions for proposals. Simultaneously, a planning committee of 3-4 planning officers is also formed to look at grievances and as a decision making panel. The appointments of both these bodies is governed and approved by the State government. Eventually a commencement and intent report is to be prepared by all the officers in charge to determine the intent in detail with the expected DESCRIPTION duration of the planning processes. This report is to be published by the planning authority. The fallacy in this stage occurs since the declaration, as a majority of the people are not aware of the intent of the DP and educative measures are Fig 44 : Stages of D.P under MRTP Act not conducted in order to involve the people. The MRTP Act does not specify the need for public review or suggestions that under law makes it a case of ignorance. Since, the State government is involved in the approval of the T.P officer and the planning committee, tendencies of political pressures add up ACTORS & AGENCIES
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leading to appointment of officers who give in to political demands rather than demands of the citizens.
DESCRIPTION
ACTORS & AGENCIES
Fig 45 : Survey & assessment Stages of D.P preparation under MRTP Act
Stage 2 : Fig. 46 shows the stages of survey and assessment as conducted by the planning authority under the supervision of the T.P officer and the planning committee. Firstly, appointments of consultants and agencies to assist in the survey procedure is done by the planning authority on contractual basis. Within the authority itself, department wise allocation of job is done, for ex. the water works department is responsible for surveying the existing conditions of water supply and the infrastructure. This stage involves information collection and mapping with respect to the previously assigned reservations and provisions of the previous development plan. The next step involves accumulation of data and preparation of a comprehensive existing land use plan depicting all the conditions as per observations. Post the preparation of the E.L.U plan, a publication of the same is to be made with the planning authority. Following this, the planning committee and the T.P officer are to prepare an assessment report comprising of all the details and growth opportunities, which in the form of an easily accessible document is left for scrutiny under the planning authority. The next step follows the preparation of a draft development plan, a firsthand proposal of 'inclusions' and additions made to the city's infrastructure with accurate planning of the proposed plot wise development across the city. This draft is prepared by the T.P officer and the planning committee in conjunction with suggestions taken from the various consultants. Ahead of this step, a detailed report of the governance framework, the stage wise development, duration and probable costing is put forth and published under the Planning authority's D.P department and the planning committee. Based on the assessment and analysis of the existing conditions and prospect for growth, the development control regulations are revised to enable development. The handbook for the DCR is further to be published under the planning authority's supervision. 41
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Problems arise in this stage with respect to the conduct followed at surveying and mapping. With multiple consultants on board, human error is a probability. The publishing of the E.L.U and invitation for suggestions made by the public is a measure followed in certain cases, however not specifically mentioned as per the MRTP act. Land classification and proposals for citywide development often incur vested interests by political pressures in order to cater to the capital yielding society. In such a step, the opinions of the resident organizations and the marginalized is seldom considered, that leads to written complaints filed as PILs by the civil society. The amendment of the MRTP act in 1991 enabled tweaking of the word 'publish' to 'submit' in various cases, wherein information need not be shared with the public, but kept classified and restricted. This further adds up to confrontations of the people with the authorities in case of acquisition as per the chartered development plan.
DESCRIPTION
ACTORS & AGENCIES
Fig 46 : Stage of invitations and interventions by the state government
Stage 3 : The steps as per Fig 47 show the cross-referencing methods applied before the approval stage for the development plan. The first step comes about with publication of the dossier consisting of the DP maps, DP report & DCR under the ownership of the gazette and the planning authority and invitation for public suggestions & grievances. Co-ordinated between the planning committee, the DP department of the planning department, this is a step that involves the civil society consisting of citizen groups and private organizations for their inputs. Further, an assessment report is to be prepared keeping in mind the provisions under the Regional Plan. This involves meetings of the TP officer, the planning committee with the Regional Planning Authority of the state and suggestions for incorporation of the development plan within the regional plan. The next step comes about as a grievance solving measure with considerations made based upon the suggestions made by the civil society with the planning authority. Further to this, an assessment report consisting of the modifications made based on the suggestions is to be 42
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prepared and published under the gazette for scrutiny. To , this further suggestions are to invited for consultation with the planning committee. As earlier stated, provisions for public participation have not been mentioned under the Act, thus leaving an open end as to the quantum of representatives to be involved. In such cases, private sector influences generally tend to divert the goals and shape the modifications with support of political pressures. As a result, the steps of including the public within the planning framework does not work as expected, resulting in anomalies and conflicts.
DESCRIPTION
ACTORS & AGENCIES
Fig 47 : Manipulations and sanctioning stages of the development plan
Stage 4 : The steps as per Fig 48 show the final steps to be followed before a development plan can be sanctioned and implementation begins. The stage initiates with submission of the revised draft DP to the office of the state government's department of urban development, which over discussions then gets forwarded to the state cabinet for their approval and sign off by the Chief Minister. This step involves reviews by the cabinet and suggestions for modifications made that are conveyed to the planning authority for updating. Depending on the kind and extent of modifications made, the planning authority adjusts the DP as per the modifications and revises another version of the DP to be reviewed by the public. After multiple agency meetings, the DP is sanctioned and signed off for execution. The actors and agencies involved in this stage are the planning committee , the local planning authority, Regional planning authority with the civil society in loop for references. In cases of special planning authorities, the decisions come directly under the purview of the state government and the assigned planning body of officials. Submission denotes non-sharing, that may or may not involve professional malpractices in manipulating information and routing development for vested interests. The role of the citizen is clearly undefined and the extent of 43
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the decision making processes to take over not clarified, which gives room for pressurized schemes for development, that the civil society may not always be aware of. This has all the necessary ingredients for conflicting verses between the people and the state resulting in disagreements and protests also in some instances. 4.4 Cases of Successful Inclusive Planning As an attempt to understand the characteristic attributes of failures in the system of 'inclusive planning', comparisons with strategies applied in variant contexts can be taken into consideration to arrive at learnings that can be applied. Thus, 3 cases of planning viz. - U.K, Italy & Netherlands have been studied briefly to understand their strategies of integrating the people within the planning processes. Referenced from a report prepared by the European Institute for Public Participation in 2009, following are some illustrations to be considered. U.K : The case with planning in U.K demonstrates problems faced by the planning agencies with respect to the lack of awareness in the culture of planning cities that gave rise to numerous complaints. Further ahead, the incompetence of the authorities in amalgamating the public opinion and working on generating integrated models for development has also been a hindrance. World over, the inclusion of the marginalized has been the topic of concern for various sociologists who campaign to improve the city conditions by enabling improvement in the marginalized areas of cities. Also, the lack of trust that citizens often have as far as the state run agencies are concerned, also has been responsible for a considerable shortfall in their involvement in developing their neighborhoods. As a measure to incorporate the public more, and to generate user-friendly cities, the authorities in coherence with the Royal Town Planning Institute, have devised methods to increase public interactions by enabling e-consultations and participatory audits for consistent scrutiny. Under the e-consultation schemes, the strategies involve setting up of online citizen portals managed by the planning authority. With a 24/7 access for consultation and grievances and the technical support to address citizens' issues at any point provides the citizens with reassurance. Another strategy involves training programs and events organized by the planning agencies for their officials as well as for the people to ensure transparency and understanding of newer methods of inclusion. The private sector here, plays a vital role via service delivery, working in partnership models with the planning agencies and serving the citizens in a more holistic manner. As far as the participatory audits system is concerned, formulation of a separate agency for undertaking impact analyses of policies 44 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
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and to understand public endurance levels has been proposed. With standardization of mechanisms and lawfully making public interactions a compulsion, the audits aim at taking care of citizens from all backgrounds and make the authorities and officials responsible to undertake the same. Also, setting up of a citizens' consultation cell in order to devise growth scenarios for neighborhoods at a micro scale and eventually reflect the same in the city level development strategies has been proposed. Italy : In Italy, the case with public participation has had a completely different mode of operation. The public has always been looked upon as a threat to development by the state and the planning agencies. Political interests have been the major guiding forces for strategies all throughout added by incapacity and incompetence of the officials involved in maintaining an equilibrium with the public realm. This coupled with private sector visions, have had major roles to play in social exclusion. Also the lack of communication and mis-representation of information has impacted the public dynamics with ignorance and force driving development policies. Strategies invited by the planning authorities and the state to ensure public intervention in the newly proposed 'innovative & inclusive ' planning schemes are quite similar to the strategies applied in U.K. The strategies include training programs for officials, information modules made open for public review and educational programs for both authorities and the public. Involvement of the public in scenario development, keeping in mind the aspirational dynamics and participatory audits to keep a close check and vigil over lawfully practiced techniques of public participation has been proposed. The Italian government also came about with open houses and citizen education programs for 'involve and innovate' techniques at problem solving. Another important step undertaken to ensure involvement of the stakeholders has been of creating databases of all civil organizations and NGOs in order to keep the public informed and the participatory model transparent and accessible to all. Netherlands: The initiatives taken up by the government of Netherlands along with the planning authorities and the public to ensure better integrated city development came about following many complaints and agitations. These stemmed out of the lack of awareness amongst the citizens, long and slow policy procedures that would in time divert from the main objective of the development process. Lack of coherence and improper co-ordination within the governing institutions was also identified as one of the problems to be considered to ensure better public participation. 45 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
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The strategies applied by the state involved public hearings, formation of workgroups for citizens and participation in the vision building process for the cities all computed under law to ensure proper functionality. The state also introduced the 'Open by Design' system to identify and improve the associational values of the citizens with their neighborhoods. This system gave rise to interventions by the plot or property holders for their individual properties that would be followed under a given basic hand rules maintained by similar properties in the vicinity. This system gave the citizens the freedom to imagine and innovate and devise simultaneous modulations for their neighborhoods catering to the larger interests of the city. Setting up of functional guidelines by and for the citizens gave them the liberty of expression through built form, that would in turn invoke citizens' involvement and ideation with the planning authority and the Ministry of Interior & Kingdom Relations. Another step undertaken by the state came about with transparency in the hierarchies within the system, giving the public a clear gist of all the approachable officials and agencies to be sought after for their suggestions and consultations. Conducting of periodic open houses for the citizens, gave them the sense of control and security of tenure, as they are exposed to the decision making processes at all times. An added advantage came about with the induction of the e-consultation and e-governance system with 24/7 online consultation, citizens to actively take part in the development processes. A major breakthrough for the planning strategies in Netherlands came about with access to information. Information provision brings about a great change in perceptions, thus controlling chaos and conflicts and enabling user friendly development. The notifications and announcements by the planning authorities also came under law to be openly done without any discrepancies to be in the constant eye of the public and to cease professional malpractices at the same time. Attributes that can be derived from learnings from the above discussed cases are as followsa) Public Participation Bill : Legislated Bill to ensure citizens' participation under law would ensure inclusive development and avoid malpractices at any level. b) Public Hearing : Announcement of intent & visions of the state in democratic manner. c) Open House : Organizing open to all meetings to invite suggestions and grievances & for public consultation.
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d) Online Information + 24/7 technical assistance : Accessibility of information via online portals monitored and technically assisted at all times by experienced professionals. e) Citizen workgroups : Workgroups organized by planning authority to enable citizens' participation. f) Publishing : Clear publishing of all clauses and policies with total transparency. g) Public audit : Periodic audits conducted and reports shared with the public and their suggestions taken into account. h) Citizen education programs : Educational programs and campaigns driven by the planning authority to have maximum inclusion. i) Authority training : Appropriate training programs for the officials to have them well updated with current procedures and technical development. j) Civil Agency Database : Readily available dossiers of all functioning civil agencies and citizens' organizations for ready reference at any point of time. k) Appointment of consultants for R&D : Special consultation from private agencies for development of the participation process. l) Public bidding & disclosure : Public initiated development programs and disclosure of clauses and procedures via democratic media.
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PLANNING & THE PUBLIC 5.1 Basics of participation : the situation ground up
Fig 48 : Ladder of participation : Sherry Arnstein
One of the first instances, where public participation was brought out into the open to be looked at as a regenerative model against the then prevalent culture of 'absolute control', is the ladder of participation by Sherry Arnstein (Arnstein, 1969). The ladder, an understanding of the processes in United States, can be abstracted for a majority of the planning processes today and their claims of being inclusive. Arnstein has categorized the various mechanisms of public involvement and their interactions with the state as per gradations of power in the system of participation.
Beginning with the very basics, manipulation and therapy are signs of nonparticipation. Manipulations comprise of manipulations made by the public as well as manipulations made by the authorities to route certain decisions for the development processes. Therapy on the other hand is to appease the public, by campaigning or by support. Both these measures call for curing or educating the participants in order to gain mass support. Within the section of Tokenism fall the mechanisms of - informing, consultation & placation. Information, is the most crucial aspect of any participatory approach. However, this mechanism comes ones sided only with no adequate provisions for feedback for improvements. Consultation involves enquiries, public meetings, involvement of experts, reception -oriented surveys, which can in ways be quite helpful in gauging the level of acceptance of proposals by the public. As an extension of therapy, consultation unless implemented and noted under law, can prove to be a mere tip off rather than an actually sustainable strategy. Placation denotes placement, i.e. handpicking of representatives from the civil society and taking them into consideration for public related queries, as a measure to appease and regain trust of the public. 48
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Citizens' power is vested within the mechanisms of partnership, delegation of power and citizen control. Formulation of joint committees and having equal representatives from the state and the people, in order to arrive at decisions defines partnership. Delegation of power, comes about when the citizens have majority of stake in the decision making process, giving them the power to ensure accountability. Citizen control, comes about when an entire planning process is completely managed and executed by the citizen bodies. For example, a neighborhood development being planned and executed by the local citizens groups with no intermediaries even with respect to fund sourcing. Analyzing the above mechanisms, makes it clear that the level of conflicts between the people and the state reduces as the ladder is ascended. This means, that the steps of manipulations and therapy are procedures where a major conflicts and informal strategies are applied by the state to appease and gain public support, and by the public to ensure security of their tenure and livelihoods. 5.2 Chronology of participation & public responses in India
Fig 49 : Chronology of Public participation in India
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History has a lot in store in terms of learnings for mankind. Planning in India, and the citizens' involvement and dialogues generated by the negotiations between the power and its people has evolved since the late 18th century in colonial India. The Pre-independence era has seen the role of Planning as a tool for administration only, controlled by the British and regulated by their officials in order to avoid nationalist views and uprisings. The British empire controlled the urban realm through provision of services with political aims to harness co-operation either by alliance or by force. The role of the people came about through rent and revenue giving, whereas the power acted as the regulator. Common citizens never really had a role in the decision making processes and were mere spectators to policies devised by the British. A breakthrough came about with the formulation of the local governments that were entrusted with the power to cater to a limited demography under the chartered jurisdiction. The development of the local government hence, becomes important to study as they were the direct regulators of area wise policies and were responsible for reception by the people and also for conflicts. The three phases of development of the local government came about as firstly, 1687-1882, secondly 1882-1919 & 1919 - 1947. Co-ordinations and consultations under the British empire brought about the introduction of the Charters' Act of 1793, which enabled the formation of the first Municipal administrations at the Bombay, Calcutta & Madras presidencies. Under this act, governance had to ensure control by levying tax on local houses and lands and the sum accumulated , used for civic services. This was the first instance where in the people became indirectly responsible for their local development. Further, following voluntary suggestions by the households in Bengal, the 1st Municipal Act came to be formulated in 1842. This act controlled the people by adhering to their requests for sanitary provisions in their neighborhoods. Through a kits and parts method adopted by the British government, the Municipal Act was well accepted in the Bengal presidency, which went on to be applied across the nation in 1850. In 1864, a comprehensive policy was set up post the revolt of 1857 to curb voluntary participation and vested powers with the Municipalities to only maintain the services like water supply, lighting & sanitation. This did not go well with the masses and in spite of repeated appeals to be heard, went ignored. However, in 1870, Lord Mayo identified the need for decentralization that would divert policy making powers to provinces and local groups. Under this policy, he also advocated the increased association of Indians in the local administration, as a counter tactic to avoid another conflict of any sort (Committee, 1930). The policy
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bifurcated finance and functions to the provinces in a bid to delineate and reduce the pressure on the Imperial funds as against locally levied taxes. This policy came about well accepted by the local groups as they were finally getting assimilated within the administration system supervised by the British government. This was the precursor to the formation of the local self government. The second phase came about in 1882, with Lord Ripon clearly proposing establishment self governance, with local bodies consisting adequate number of colonial and colonized people, serviced with adequate resources and grants to carry out their respective functions. Here, the grants were the first instruments to be considered for local governance. However, this failed to last for long, as malpractices by the officials induced accumulation of wealth at hands of the district officers that eventually led to mistrust amongst the people when it came to electing representatives. From the period 1909-1915, the Royal Commission proposal by Lord Harding and the MonteguChelmsford Report of 1918 agreed with the powers of the local self government and looked at granting them with powers to execute development in areas under their jurisdiction. The third phase came about in 1919 with the Government of India Act, when transfer of power was to popular control, and people's groups came to be recognized by the central power. This gave immense confidence to the citizens to undertake development related decisions in coherence with the colonial power as a facilitator to develop the living standards in neighborhoods. Amended in 1935, the self governments failed to grow, with mismanagement within the local government and improper fund control in the provincial bodies. As a result, the local self government bodies failed to grow and this led to unrest amongst people's groups. However, this followed suit until independence. The post independence era saw local bodies and people's organizations coming under the direct control of bureaucracy. In this era, the levels of representation came to be under the control of the elite and the upper castes of the society, as they were believed to be more acquainted with the responsibilities and necessities of neighborhoods. This led to a major setback in terms of inclusion was concerned, as the marginalized classes came to totally sidetracked from developmental procedures. Another setback was the failure of incorporating the local governing bodies within the Constitution in 1950, that valued the bodies with less powers. However, a special categorization was made under the Directive Principles of State Policy, which could be easily manipulated by the authorities and the elites. Around this 51 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
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period, the powers of self development were restricted creating many instances of conflicts and emergence of ghettos informally devised by the marginalized to protect their tenure. Recognition and value addition to urban local bodies and citizens' representation in planning processes came about with the induction of the 74th Amendment of Constitution in 1993. 5.3 The cover-up : correctional measures adopted States usually have tendencies of covering up mistakes with amendments and by introducing newer policies to restore balance, following conflicts and campaigns. These are strategies adopted to regain the trust of the masses and are steps to further reconstitute hierarchies of power (Appadurai, 2002). The 74th Constitutional Amendment was such a measure, but with drawbacks in it, the government introduced various other schemes and policies to regain the trust of the weaker sections, however with the intention of retaining their vote banks. This has over time led to the evolution in the patterns of conflicts as well. Taking reference of the evolution of the housing policies (Bhide, 2011)with respect to the slums and the poorer areas in cities, the refining definitions and the respective peace building operations can be understood.
Fig 50 : Evolution of Housing Policy in India; source: (Bhide, 2011)
The figures 50,51 & 52 show the evolution in practices involving housing, from the perspective of the weaker sections placed in eras of transformation in the governance framework. The considerations started with the phase of Negation in 1950s, when slums and areas of poorer classes, were considered unfit for living and crime infested. Thus, the government had proposed visions of 'acceptable' housing to eradicate slums and give cities a fairer picture. Also, powers of land acquisition led to mass evictions in 1956, under the Slum clearance program. This step had enraged slum dwellers following major protests. in the 1970s, namely the phase of Tolerance, the realization of nonfeasibility of redevelopment of the poorer sections came into being. 52
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As a result, the government looked at these backyards through the lenses of environment improvement objectives. This enabled the Centre to formulate the environment improvement scheme, with grants allocated to elected representatives and state legislatures for micro-management. The resultant interventions were the addition of community services and amenities following the site and services model across various such identified slums. The phase of acceptance in the 1980s, identified issues related to housing as the major drawback, thus enabling tenure and physical security of these neighborhoods in consideration. Following this, the Urban Basic Services Program was initiated in 1985 to incrementally upgrade the housing scenario by Fig 51 : Phase of Reassurance provision of basic amenities. This was when the community participation in such weaker sections came to be institutionalized and considered. In the phase of reassurance in 1990s, the need for convergence of the slums within the city development processes was realized, giving rise to the National Slum Development Policy in 1996. This policy gave emphasis to the various demographies within slums and specifically concentrated on the slum women's development. This was the period when rehabilitation schemes started to be churning and methods of integration of the marginalized into urban development had begun. Simultaneously, the 74th C.A.A was also introduced in 1992-93, SRA as a separate planning authority was set up in Maharashtra, which were all methods of peacekeeping. The scenario in the phase of convergence i.e. 2000s got more impetus, with slums being identified as areas of urban future. The Ministry of Housing and urban poverty alleviation was institutionalized to specifically look into matters of the poor since 2002. Grants provision to local bodies was made a compulsion. In 2005, the J.N.N.U.R.M was launched to act as a reforms and rights oriented program to safeguard interests of the urban commons. Slums started to be considered under development plans. There have been many such laws such as the Fig 52 : Phase of Convergence Community Participation Law, Public Disclosure Law passed under the 53
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reforms laid down by J.N.N.U.R.M to secure egalitarian rights distribution and peoples' involvement as well. In 2007, the National Rehabilitation & Relocation Policy was launched to cater to the rights of the citizens affected by land acquisition for urban development. Following these, Rajiv Awas Yojana was launched in 2009, to include formal & inclusive measures for amalgamating the marginalized. The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in 2015, has also been such a step in looking at in-situ rehabilitation with provisions for micro-credit societies, further enabling integration of the marginalized and strategies to reduce conflicts as much as possible. 5.4 74th Constitutional Amendment & the new age reforms Popularly known as the Nagar Palika Bill, the 74th Amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1993, under the Article 3681 of the Indian Constitution. This Bill recommended major structural changes to the system of local governance, to ensure functioning of the Municipalities as democratic units with greater participation of people at the very basics of decision making processes. Under this Bill, definitions were made clear with respect to the jurisdiction within Municipal areas, with subdivisions into territorial constituencies known as Wards (Article 243S). The functions of the Municipality were also made clear such as urban planning including town planning schemes, regulation of land-use, Planning for socio-economic development, safeguarding the interests of the weaker sections of the society, slum improvement and upgradation, urban poverty alleviation and provision of urban amenities. The main intent of passing this Bill, was to reinstate the losing trust of foreign investors in Indian market, resulting in lapses and pressures created by internal and external financing agencies such as the State and Central Finance Commission, World Bank, ADB etc. The focus of the reforms suggested under the Bill, has been to improve service delivery, financial viability, simplified and effective administration and accountability. On analyzing, it can be understood that the inclusion of the poorer sections of the society was a bait to re-establish the trust between the public realm on a whole and the state, as a mechanism to display cohesion and a sense of encouragement to the retreating financing agencies. The advantage of this Bill has been the identification and documentation of the weaker sections within the ULBs, however no such provisions or policies were made to ensure their involvement. As a result, the reforms under the 74th C.A.A ensured realty over reality, with global city visions as the foreground to boost the economic conditions of the 54 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
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country, however simply overlooking the service classes, by consideration and not by concession. The role of the Nagar Palika Bill has had many good attributes as well, such as egovernance, GIS mapping, provision of free services and amenities for the weaker sections, but with more private sector involvement in service delivery, the vision building for city development has taken an odd diversion with lapses in active participation of the people belonging to varied socio-economic sects of the society. Fig 53 : Aims & impacts of 74th C.A.A
5.5 Mumbai Draft DP-2034 : a case of processes and conflicts Taking leads from all the above discussed factors affecting the public realm and the role of the citizen and state in participatory planning, it would be clearer to understand through a live case study. Thus, the preparation of the Mumbai DP-2034 can be considered, with respect to the processes, stakeholders & conflicts involved. The MRTP Act in 1966, paved the way for the first DP in 1967, which was superseded in 1994 in 20 year cycles. The current DP is the third time that the Municipal Corporations of Greater Mumbai have come for the planning period 2014-2034. Over these years, the population has doubled with increasing load on the available infrastructure. The M.C.G.M declared its intention to commence the revision of the DP by a notice on 1st July 2009 and invited an expression of interest from consultants. The plan has been prepared for all the areas within the jurisdiction of MCGM, excluding special planning authorities. The documents that together constitute the ordinance for the DP are the existing land use plan with reservations depicting the existing situation, the DCR and the Draft DP report. These are the documents that define the spatial character of the city and the future projections as well. This has been the first time in Indian planning that the need for public participation has been felt. Driven by the Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI), the project Mumbai DP24SEVEN has brought to light the faults in planning, monitoring and implementation of the DP by the agencies, and the 55
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interfering vested interests and poor management (UDRI, 2013). The role of the public in driving administrative and political will for planning and implementation, is to bring about change for the greater good of the city. The objectives behind this project has been to facilitate interactions, and thus enable citizens to have open, equitable and efficient modes of planning their city. Involving citizens in the planning creates the sense of ownership and responsibility that would in turn make the political base accountable in order to have more inclusive reforms for development strategies. This has been achieved to a great extent with periodic meetings conducted by UDRI with the MCGM and citizen's organizations, to bring forth the suggestions and grievances across table and to monitor the planning and implementation of all the various stages of the DP from time to time. Surveys and data obtained from citizens provide the authorities with a very different perspective of development as intended by the citizens themselves.
Fig 54 : Inferences from citizen surveys; source: Mumbai Reader 13
The meeting conducted by UDRI was a crucial platform for the citizen bodies to come forward, to be heard of their opinions and came across as a major peace building initiative between the authorities and the citizens. Taking a glance at the vision behind the DP-2034, as put forth by the M.C.GM, it can be gathered, that the planning authority has been considering five most defining strategies to define the city's future.
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Starting with the vision of a world class city as perceived by the planners, the DP-2034 aims at achieving high yielding potential for the city's growth, with added infrastructure and user friendly systems to make administration and development processes clear of roadblocks. The proposed DP also aims at achieving inclusive development by having micromanaged strategies to cater to communities. This has been a Fig 55 : DP Intents major step, as far the intent is concerned, to give voice to opinions and the first attempt at driving the city's future based on the aspirations of its commons. The proposed DP would also look at delineating jurisdiction with multiple layered systems of acquiring permissions to make participation more effective.
Fig 56 : DP governance framework
The governance model working to churn out the city's development for the next 20 years comprises of M.C.G.M as the chief planning authority meant to commission the mapping and surveys , by engaging several contracted consultants and its various departments as per their respective scopes of work. For approval and modifications, the State government and the Maharashtra Urban Development department is responsible to make sanctions. The civil society is being managed by U.D.R.I, in order to channelize negotiations and interactions between the public , people's organizations 57
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and M.C.G.M. With a foolproof plan of amalgamating the city and its citizens on all levels, there still have been conflicts and cases of campaigns and grievances resulted due to malpractices, some of which have been stated below. The DP-2034, focuses on the provision of affordable housing and inclusive development, whereas whilst planning, inclusion of the marginalized and especially the economically weaker sections in the consultation meetings has been conveniently avoided sparking discontent. A major flaw came about with the process of documentation and representation of the proposals and the existing conditions, with multiple complaints surfacing to address rectifications and to make amendments. In some cases, proposals have been made keeping the private sector and the elite clearly in consideration, by ignoring the larger aspects of the commons like a sustainable transportation model ignored by putting forth proposals such as the coastal road, driven by private sector and political interests. These have been proposals held strong by political pressures but come at the expense of the local communities. Another drawback has been with regards to the sectoral divisions apart from the existing ward definitions that would eventually result in confusion and discontent amongst citizens. Invitation for suggestions often involves regular citizen groups and institutions, whereas leaving aside the weaker sections. However claims of representation have been made, but the actual scenario and the aspirations from the development plan have been manipulated and this has aided in threatening their tenureship and livelihoods. The step that involves cross referencing with the Regional Plan and modifications made to accommodate regional schemes, endanger rights furthermore, with land acquisition and relocation becoming apparent through state pressures and displacement as the only sought after remedy. Availability and accessibility to information and having a commonly shared database for the city, has been projected by the M.C.G.M and has been implemented as well, with an online portal for grievances. However, lack of technical support and consultation services for the citizens leaves the ends open for conflicts and further complaints. A significant mis-interpretation comes about with the urban peripheries being considered as 'growth centres', thus triggering real estate pressures of accumulation as opposed to holistic growth of the resident communities. As a result of the many PILs (50,000 approximately) received over discrepancies over surveys has eventually led to the Draft DP getting shelved and the reformulation ordered by the Chief Minister to administer all issues, a step of counteraction to pacify the 'people'. 58 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
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5.6 Cases of conflicts : Civic rights, contested shelters & livelihoods Owing to the DP-2034, several manifestations of unrest and conflicts have been observed with city-wide impacts, that have in a way either shaped the participatory realm or have been as mere roadblocks. It has the potential to deepen injustices and inequalities in our grossly unequal cities. But it also has the ability to recognize and empower all city dwellers and facilitate to participate meaningful in the planning of the city and its future. For instance, the Coastal road proposition put forth by the Chief Minister in 2011 along with MSRDC(Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation), to attain high speed connectivity between the city centre and the suburbs and to propel economic development for the city in turn. This proposal would in reality prove to be a pool for investments by the private sector and would eventually aide in gentrifying the whole of Mumbai's western coastline, with high yielding gated communities displacing the indigenous. The proposal would encompass construction of elevated and underground roads with reclamation of the land between the construction and the existing coastline. Fig 57 : source:22blogspot Impact of this project would immediately be seen through depletion of the coastal habitats, affecting livelihoods of the fishermen communities. By facilitating 'public spaces', for the for the proposed reclaimed portions, security of tenure of the communities shall also be at stake. Despite numerous oppositions against the coastal road development, the state has not budged. Fig 58 : Coastal road & reclamations in DP 2034
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Another example is of the allocation of resources for housing the marginalized classes and indigenous communities, failing which there have been conflicts raised by the communities in order their claim their rights. Rehabilitation in slums has been following the SRA model since 1995, that certain work based slums have objected to rooted from displacements following loss of livelihoods. However, the real scenario has been in favor of the real estate developers with slum TDR awarded in return for rehabilitation resulting in poor housing conditions for the rehabilitees and to accommodate more of the elite classes and make way for higher capital. Followed by poor maintenance and inadequate servicing of such SRA buildings, the conditions of living have Fig 59 : Slum rehabilitation worsened for slum dwellers with many informally going back to the squatters to avoid daily hassles and health related expenses led due to poor lighting and ventilation.
Fig 60 : Ranwar Village Urban Form
Similar cases of gentrification and forced capitalization has also been observed in the Gaothans and fishing villages, that form the traditional urban form of the city and are threatened by mobilized demolition drives in the name of development. Taking Ranwar village in Bandra as a case, the boundaries of the Gaothan have been blurred by hap-hazard development by private developers, pushing the traditional form to a dismal limit and having immense pressure for development, by manipulating the residents through monetary gains. As an insurgent act, the residents and certain citizens groups have collaborated to generate educational drives to make the people aware of the heritage and through documentation and leisure 60
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based campaigns and festivals this act of counter-acting the pressures has been working successfully.
Fig 61 : Ranwar Village Documentation by citizens and NGOs ; source: Mid-day
Similar is the case with Khotachiwadi as well, an East Indian village situated amidst the popular business district of Southern Mumbai. In the case of Khotachiwadi however, U.D.R.I has been the driving agency in bringing citizens and academia together to derive a plan of self development without adversely affecting the traditional form of the village. This has been through documentation of the village and through identification of potential areas and modes of revitalization through the Khotachiwadi imaginaries campaign.
Fig 62: Potential areas for renweal ; source: Khotachiwadi imaginaries
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Fig 63: Potential open spaces ; source: Khotachiwadi imaginaries
Fig 64: Documentation of potential areas ; source: Khotachiwadi imaginaries
Another case of contested landscapes is as observed in the fishing villages inhabited by the Kolis. Taking Worli Koliwada into consideration, the only fishing village with legitimate ownership documents and rights belonging to the residents , has recently been under pressure by developers and certain migrants about declaration of a portion of the village as a slum and to have development in accordance with the slum rehabilitation authority. There have been cases of mis-representation resulting in a conflict over space for livelihoods. However, as a counteracting mechanism, the residents have been successfully able to forge such development pressures under the clauses of the CRZ III notification and the coast guard regulations that prevents any development in such an area. This step has in turn enabled the 62
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Koli community their rights over land and protection from relocation and rehabilitation.
Fig 65: Worli Koliwada : residents against developers
Following this and many such mechanisms, the Hamara Shehar Vikas Niyojan Abhiyaan campaign (Hamara Shehar Vikas Niyojan Abhiyaan)was launched to put forth the suggestions made by the people as a whole by involvement of local communities and deriving intentions from aspirations rather than a top-down basis for regeneration. Some suggestions coming from the public are as follows based on the People's Vision Document released in April 2016. (Hamara Shehar Vikas Niyojan Abhiyaan). • There is a need to develop mechanisms for people’s participation in the process of development planning, in both its preparation and implementation. It has to be from the very beginning and has to be bottom-up approach rather than top-down approach. • The Area Sabha structure proposed in the Community Participation Law (CPL) is the ideal forum for Citizen’s participation. The law is already in the process of being implemented by Maharashtra State government. Hence CPL should be implemented immediately to create the legitimate forum for people’s participation. • In the present context MRTP has no defined provision for Peoples Participation; there is a need to bring about an Amendment in MRTP which should specifically mention the process & scope for people’s participation. • “Draft Vision Document” should be made public and thereafter “Vision Consultation” should be organized at Ward level to discuss big issues and policy decisions of the future – such as people getting affected, housing, transport, safety and policing, health, housing and the environment. 63
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• People should give their suggestions and objections pertaining to “Draft Vision Document” in a set time frame, which can be of 30 days. These objections or suggestion can either be given online or in writing to ward office. • Thereafter the “Final Vision Document” should be prepared and made public; the same should also be made available in soft and hard copies. All ward offices should have the ready reference copy of such document. The document must be translated in local language & even a synopsis of the same can be made. • Ward Level Help Desk should be set up in all wards, which will act as first point contact for people of that particular ward. • Ward level infrastructure mapping should be done in all wards, which will give an idea about the existing infrastructure and will also provide an understanding of the requirements in the particular ward. • People’s representatives/ Nagar Sewaks should organize meetings/ Area Sabha’s at polling booth level and can come up with concrete proposals. There is a need to implement the “Community Participation Law”. • Development Plan process needs to be decentralized at ward level so that both officials and people’s representative of that particular ward/constituency can contribute in the processes. • Collation of proposals of various polling booth of that particular ward should lead to “Draft Ward Development Plan”. Various consultations can be arranged and a time frame of 30 days can be given for people to give objections or suggestions on “Draft Ward Development Plan” in each ward. This will lead to finalization of Ward Development Plan. All Ward Development Plans should be collated to make “City Development Plan” which can be kept open for scrutiny for 90 days. • Online survey and digital engagement tools should be developed to allow people to engage during specific strategies, like ELU & PLU. • Regular public notifications and media address, both electronic and print should be a must.
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MISCONSTRUED IDENTITIES 6.1 Case of Juhu Moragaon
Fig 66: Juhu Location map; source: Vision Juhu ; Moragaon map ;source: author
Located along the western coastline and surrounded by high end residential, and institutional areas, Moragaon is a Koli (fishermen) village housing approximately 250 families in the K west ward of Mumbai. Residing prior to the Survey Map of 1921, Tara & Mora villages are the two most indigenous neighborhoods in Juhu. As the area was surrounded by creek, it provided for fresh catch and a promising yield in fishing. However since the reclamation post 1965, and the establishment of the T.P layouts for JVPD came into being, situations had changed for the worse, with the reclamation adversely affecting the catch, that made it imperative for the fishermen to try the main sea instead of the creek and eventually with increasing pollution and pressures of tourism development around this area, the Kolis had to start venture into deep sea fishing to retain their livelihoods.
Fig 67: Map of 1921 ; Survey Map of 1933 ; Road Map of Bombay 1969; source: Vision Juhu
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Figure 67 shows the three survey maps and the development of land in Juhu, that in turn affected and resulted in the marginalization of the Tara and Mora villages. However, formal constitution of these fishing villages within the Bombay Municipal Corporation came about in 1945.
Fig 68: Evolution maps; source :K.R.V.I.A Design Cell
Figure 68 shows the evolution of the built fabric in Moragaon since the 1950s, based on a survey carried out by K.R.V.I.A Design Cell & T.I.S.S in 2011. The period of 1950s had around 35 houses all belonging to the Mangela community that settled in the early 1900s around the creek. With a boom in the economy, the city saw migration since the 1970s, which was when many migrants had moved to Moragaon. By then, the reclamation was done, and the fisher folks were suffering major financial crises, in lieu of which, they let their houses on rent to the migrants, in order to have a stable income. With increase in tenure, the migrants became an integral part of the village and the housing typology transformed from temporary shelter to formal concrete houses and shops to support the lives. Simultaneously, with the setting up of the SRA and the clause of legitimacy of tenure prior to 1995, let the migrants an easy chance to regularize their tenure and claim ownership. This led them to rope in developers who in turn financially supported the migrant community, and posed to promote the redevelopment of the land under Moragaon via the SRA model. Owing to their stakes over land and the 66
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reservations under the development plan of 1981 and 91, the Koli community began to raise objections against the proposed development. This in turn, created conflicts between the communities, so much so that the migrants sought political alliance and put up banners and flags to demarcate their areas thus creating spatial boundaries by means of informal modes of appropriation.
Fig 69: Informal appropriation undertaken by the migrant population
Threatened by the migrant population and the capital power of the private sector, the Koli community has been contesting and seeking governmental support to legitimize the tenure of land under their ownership, given the indigenous condition and livelihood dependencies. 6.2.a Scenario The development plan drafted in 1981 indicates the land of Moragaon reserved for the fisher folk occupying the area. In 1991, Moragaon was considered under CRZ III consequently under the guideline of NDZ. It was later identified as owned by indigenous community and permittance to the community to construct new houses or carry out repairs, was issued. The current state of the village is of 30% occupancy by fisherfolk i.e. Mangela Koli community, whereas the rest 70% comprises of mixed communities, but 67
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all migrants. In order to cater to their aspirations and form a collective voice to retain their association to the land, the Mangela community has set up the Juhu Moragaon Fishing Society which serves as the only society in the locality and has 400 members and has been functional for the last 20 years. Funding for repair of their boats and other livelihood related necessities is received from the government run NCDC (National Co-operative Development Corporation) and NFDB (National Fisheries Development Board). Figure 70 shows a comparative between the reservations in the DP of 1991 and the draft DP for 2014-34. The village was clearly demarcated for fishermen housing in the DP of 1991. Whereas, in the draft DP of 2014-34, no such reservations have been indicated which lets loose ends and multiple ways of interpreting the land to be considered for Fig 70: Development Plan 1991 & Draft DP 2014-34 development. Also, the permissible F.S.I in and around Moragaon in the proposed DP has been increased from 1 to 3.5, which can further draw real estate pressure and marginalize development under SRA schemes, thus endangering the stakes of the Koli community. CRZ regulations have also played a fundamental role in determining the legitimacy of the community as compared to the claimed stakes for land. Amended in 2011 by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority, the CRZ regulations also saw influence of the builder lobby and the political influences. Prior to the amendment, any area falling under CRZ I would be highly protected and no development would be permissible. However, post the amendment, construction of stilted roads and sea links Fig 71: CRZ demarcations has been granted permission, based on which the Coastal Road project was constituted by the State government. On the contrary, 1996 saw major 68
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demolition drives in Moragaon as the houses were said to be encroachments over ecologically sensitive areas under the CRZ 1. The hypocrisy in delineating policies as per convenience can be clearly understood from this case. Also, areas under CRZ II currently allow construction of housing under SRA schemes to cater to the 'greater good of the society'. This can aide in the SRA driven development proposals as propagated by the builder lobby and the migrant population. The CRZ III regulations allow development for the residing communities i.e fisher folk by repairs , thus not allowing any new development within 200m from the High Tide Line. This disables the Mangela community to undertake any redevelopment as the village falls within the 200m distance. In view of re-development, the village stands disputed between the opinions of the Juhu Moragaon Fishing Society that represents the fisher folk and the builders' lobby supported by a section of the migrant population. Fig 72: Demolitions in 1996 ;source: The Hindu With real estate value of the land being optimum given location and views, the builders' lobby has been persistently pressurizing the fisher folk, so much so that, they went ahead and sought to push the village under the scheme for Slum Rehabilitation under the S.R.A law of 1995. Since a majority of the migrant population has been residing here prior to 1995, stakes for the land to be pushed for SRA development became contested by the Koli community and in conflict ever since. In 2013, few developers came forward as promoters and supported by the migrant population, drafted out proposals to revitalize the shore and make the land accessible to the public. The typology and overall scheme provides for G+6 storied buildings for the Moragaon residents while proposing the construction of a water park and other commercial Fig 73: Builder Proposal 2013; source : Juhu Moragaon Fishing Society
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activities along the edge. This was an act of gentrifying the coast and gating the area and privatizing it at the cost of the existing residents. The figure 73 shows the proposed development scheme. Privatizing the resources would eventually engulf the access to the sea, area for fishing related activities like fish drying, boat repairs and parking etc. which would in turn be detrimental to the Koli Fig 74: Builder Proposal 2013; community in a major way. Also, the housing was designed in the typical SRA format that would be insensitive to the need for workspaces and interactive spaces as required by the Kolis. Provision of a water park in such an environmentally crucial area, would endanger the flora and fauna and would further deplete the vitality of the land taken over by the tourism industry. The Juhu Moragaon Fishing Society on the other hand is of the opinion that the land be retained completely by the fisher folk and redevelopment should be carried out by the community itself, independent of the builders' lobby and SRA schemes. The NCDC & NFDB are willing to extend financial support to the fishermen for the same. The community wishes to set-up systems for the promotion of fishing sales and the infrastructure for the same. They also wish to set up revenue generating commercial activities maintained and run by the community itself to invite public access to the sea shore. In addition, the Coastal road development as proposed by the State Government in accordance with MSRDC, would be another factor of detriment added to the village precinct. The elevated road would firstly hamper the flora and fauna abutting the shore. Apart from that, the state has also proposed to have reclamations between the proposed road and the existing shoreline, leaving it open to public. Using tactics of camouflaging intentions, the coastal road in reality would cater to the bourgeoisie of the city and the reclamations would be acts of inviting private investments, thus bringing about a ridged urban form of high end real estate bordering the 70
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coast at the cost of the existing communities and their workspaces and livelihoods. Fig75, shows the proposed coastal road and the areas of impacts.
Fig 75: Proposed Coastal Road development ; source: Nivara Hakk
The Hamara Shahar Vikas Abhiyaan has been instrumental alongside the Koli community in contesting for their rights and up against the construction of the coastal road, through citizen meetings and joint appeals to the state government. In an attempt to safeguard their workspaces and their livelihoods, the Koli community led by Mr. Rajesh Mangela has been contesting. In terms of settling, the legal discourse at hand is the 2011 Supreme Court judgment of allocating and protecting land tenures for tribal communities and indigenous communities, as spearheaded by Jagpal Singh in Punjab (source : Rajesh Mangela). Ever since, Mangela has been active in sending out letters to various departments of the state government to collect documents to claim their legitimacy and drive forward the voices of the residents against the pressurized development under the builder lobby.
Fig 76 : Boat parking area
Fig 78 : 1996 protests against builder lobby
Fig 77 : Net making and fish drying areas
Fig 79 : Community awareness programs
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Fig 80 : The office
Fig 81 : Space for social functions
Fig 82 : 160 houses demolished; source KRVIA Design Cell
Fig 83 : Remnant of the adjoining creek
Fig 84: a typical SRA housing scheme in Mumbai
The commodity contested against is the housing typology as developed under the SRA scheme as shown in fig 84 - devoid of a communal character and adequate light and ventilation per unit especially for the units facing the inner courts of such schemes. The Mangela community, faced by the fear of being rehabilitated into such units, if the SRA policy is to be applied over their lands, suggest a synergistic approach of emulating the economical construction technology with necessary spaces for the Kolis to be used as their workplaces to support their livelihoods. 72
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6.3 Paradigm for inclusive development Citizen driven development ensures participation and realization of the aspirations, hence counteracting conflicts and maintains harmony. The process revolves around three basic stages namely- mapping, strategies and design. Taking reference of the Mahila Milan approach as applied in Dharavi, for documentation of the neighborhood done by the women of the slum, detailed survey and mapping of the existing conditions and of the aspirational values of the residents becomes imperative in the case with Moragaon as well. 1. MAPPING
Fig 84 : Landuse map
Fig 86 : Community composition
Fig 85 : Infrastructure map
Fig 87 : Occupational map
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Apart from the demographic surveys, aspirational surveying also plays a vital role in such insurgent neighborhoods. This is so, to arrive at a consensus for the propositions and for the best interests of the stake holders. Such a step usually motivates participation, and the residents would become an active part in the self development of their neighborhood. Fig 88 : Development preferences
Focus group surveying, involving the community after leveraging their internal dynamics is equally important. Doing so, facilitates the residents with extents of interventions. Such a survey can be easily carried out by understanding the spatial configurations and the methods of protection. For example, the entry points to the areas inhabited by the Fig 89 : Community boundaries migrant population in Moragaon is marked by hawkers, bike parking and banners of political parties, which clearly gives a sense of seclusion from the rest of the neighborhood. Taking these attributes into consideration is the key to achieving a healthy intervention. To start with understanding the spatial quality and the nature of form of the neighborhood, its crucial to understand the importance of landmarks. These landmarks are symbolic representations of the collective memory of the residents. Mapping these landmarks with reference to their immediate surroundings informs the planning process. It also helps in understanding the vitality of these points and the steps necessary to be taken to protect or reclaim them. Figures 90 & 91 show the mapping of the major landmarks as 74
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perceived by the Koli community and spatial qualities that they would prefer to retain.
Fig 90 : Associative mapping
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Fig 91 : Associative mapping of landmarks
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2. STRATEGIES as derived from closed group discussions with the community.
1. Insert by means of an access road for vehicles, especially for fire safety, connecting all the major landmarks as mapped.
2. Blurring the edges by having equally shared spaces on either sides of boundaries as mapped. These spaces can be either recreational or commercial in nature, to ensure harmonious exchange.
3. Reconciling with the deficits can be marked by introduction of additional and necessary infrastructure. In Moragaon since it is fishing related, boat workshop, dedicated areas for net making, fish drying, boat parking, fish market, becomes necessary to arrive at a sustainable development proposal.
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4. Regularizing the informal generates confidence amongst the residents and motivates participation.
5. Devising the nature of community spaces is an important attribute as well.
7. Shared spaces and activities aids in bringing the conflicting communities together.
6. In cases of upgradation only, modes and technologies involved is important
8. Deciding the tenure, whether ownership or lease clarifies the extent and nature of land use fit for the neighborhood. 78
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After mapping the neighborhood and understanding the spatial dynamics, the next step involves strategies. These are strategies that need to be considered while designing the phasing of the development process. The phasing for Moragaon needs to follow the tactical approach that includes the following steps - Appropriation , Reclamation , Pluralisation & Contestation. APPROPRIATION
Fig 92 : Appropriation via self initiated rebuilding
The ingress of the community into the development of their neighborhood is initiated by appropriation. Here, it clearly means taking over the cores as mapped as per the associational values. This step involves redevelopment in installments via temporary construction technology. While considering this step, the houses requiring immediate development can be considered around the identified core. Further to this, additions through framed structures can be made. This is a step to befriend, support and build. The step initiates with befriending the conflicting community, financially supporting their redevelopment and building temporary installations to house their immediate requirements. By doing so, stake over tenure is ensured. In the case with Moragaon, the Moragaon Macchimaar society can take this initiative by 79
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acquiring funding for repairs and diverting the same to redevelop first. A completely informal mechanism can be adopted to smoothen snags along the way. By financially assisting the migrant community, a mutual trust can be achieved, based on which further development of the village can be considered as one united community of residents instead of warring ones. RECLAMATION
Fig 93 : Reclamation of the areas appropriated by the state
The next step involves reclaiming the areas appropriated by the state and the builder lobby. In this step, the reclamation can be done of the areas of demolition undertaken by M.C.G.M and the fish drying yard undertaken by the builder, following the CRZ regulations. The tactics to this step involves consideration of the CRZ II regulation for the area near the creek and approaching authorities, with requests of allowance building transit housing for temporarily housing the residents while the redevelopment procedure takes place. Two important aspects that the Koli society needs to consider while doing so are - assuring the authorities of maintenance of the land post vacancy under the funds available under the Macchimaar society. This would ensure a comfortable transit point to carry out the further development process. On the other hand, the fish drying area appropriated by the builder can be reported to authorities with assistance from the National Fisheries Development Corporation. This way, the drying yard can be attempted to be reclaimed for integration within the village development model.
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PLURALIZATION
Fig 94 : Pluralization of tenure by addition of infrastructure
As the word suggests, pluralization involves multiplication. Here, additional infrastructure can be introduced such as road, school, training centre, boat repair unit and dedicated fish market to cater to the economic development of the Macchimaar society. By doing so, stakes over the land are dispersed and the process of appropriating tenure becomes comparatively easy. CONTESTATION This is the final step of development undertaken by the Koli society, to develop a plan and put it forth for approval. In this case, the criteria that need to be considered are- the CRZ regulations & coast guard regulations that suggest low impact construction and rehabilitation for the poor. In this case, the area next to the fish drying area can be portrayed as 'slum', whereas petitions can be put forth to rehabilitate under the CRZ slum rehabilitation policy. The design of the residential units comes next with 300sq.ft modules, mimicking a typical slum rehabilitation scheme, however arranged in pairs to enable expansion at any given point. Having extrusions and residual terraces can act as workspaces adjoining the units.
Fig 95 : Contestation: rehabilitated units with terraces as workspaces
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Fig 96 : Contestation: strategic planning to avoid gentrification
It is advisable to have a balanced funding system, with part fund from grants from NCDC & NFDB and the rest from self generated economic modes. To ensure capital returns, the Koli society can lease out an area not exceeding 10% of the plot area. Also, the lease can be limited to a period of 25 years to ensure retreat after funding has been acquired. As a measure to control gentrification, the planning can be done in order to have fishing related activities adjacent to these commercial plots which can act as vigil over any further private sector pressures. For example, having a fish market next to a commercial plot would be detrimental to any high end business, whereas low scale businesses can be integrated in harmony with such fishing activities, such as logistics or warehousing, that can be low impact and simultaneously financially aid the Koli society. Further to this, a master plan would act as a contesting document to present to the authorities against their proposals. Invitations can be sent out to NGOs and citizen's organizations to collaborate, publicise and take the development process further ahead, by garnering crowd funding as well.
Fig 97: Shared spaces
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Fig 98: Masterplan
Fig 99: Sections through the site showing the scale of the development proposal
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Fig 100: Ground and society office
Fig 101: Secondary school connected to the playground
Fig 102: Dedicated fish market at the boundary
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Fig 103: Typical inward cluster with terraces and shared courtyards
Fig 104: Dedicated zones for street vendors around potential areas for socializing such as landscape artifacts
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Fig 105: Cluster section
Fig 106: Social infrastructure - temple and multipurpose pavilion
Fig 107: Entry points to clusters marked by arcades and overlooking fenestrations
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6.4 Conclusion: Tactical neighborhoods are defined by the smaller permutations by means of elements and by procedures. Consideration of the aspirational values of the citizens is what ensures acceptance and harmonious living and is a tactical way to control insurgence. Given this exercise of working with the residents of Moragaon, understanding their requirements, their problems and addressing it on par with the development scenario in the city, has helped in formulating the steps to counter governmentality, and design with the involvement of the citizens. Answering the research questions: 1) How do citizens & authorities maneuver the act of place making? - Authorities and the private sector manipulate the marginalized citizens by informal mechanisms in procedures of development, whereas the citizens counteract the same by applying informal discourses to appropriate and reclaim their rights. Here the application of the term 'citizen' becomes crucial, as the marginalized are seldom considered to be active participants. In the case of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the role of opportunities and the modes of auto-construction can be perceived to be citizen driven maneuvers. These are backdrops to the post modern image making practices for third world cities to appeal to global standards. Here, place making is a formal approach of organizing, often spoken of amongst the urban elites, whose needs pertain to value additions around their commercial districts, gated residential complexes, formal recreation, etc. Contesting neighborhoods thrive on the informal businesses, that serve this formal and regularized city, for whom place making by definition, grants them the right to perform and flourish in their respective occupations, with secondary importance given to access to the provisions that the city is supposed to offer equitably.
2) How do idiosyncratic dependencies on infrastructure , physical & social, mould urban policies? - Urban policies are formulated by the state, its agencies in collaboration with the civil society. Idiosyncratic demands of the marginalized do not have a role to play in this process as representations are made and aspirations are manipulated by interests of a certain preferred group of individuals in power by position or by class (Isa Baud, 2008). The only way to keep a check on this is by encouraging the citizens to participate in discussions and negotiations 87 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People
with the planning authorities. Access to data and city wide visions, from the perspective of the marginalized is a growing concern with newer propositions of renewal schemes. In cases of non involvement, the citizens can be motivated by means of incentives and by referring to the ground realities of their neighborhoods. Understanding and documenting neighborhoods better can aid in developing schemes for the future. For example, the case with Moragaon has been controversial, as the members of the community express their interests in participating, but deny declarations or photographic representations. In this research approach, a fear of harm by the developer and political power has had the residents refrain from being identified as contesters and in turn resort to anonymity. This in turn, leaves them with a lesser window of engagement in the ongoing development plan meetings with MCGM. As a result, the passing of infrastructural projects such as the coastal road, has happened unanimously without their knowledge or consideration of their interests and demands, where in turn these are the livelihoods at stake. 3) In the Indian context, how viable is insurgence as a strategy to re-frame the public realm? - In the Indian context, insurgence is viable either by informality or by activism. Informality arises when citizens' demands are unattended thus as repulsion, informal mechanisms help shape better resource management for the citizens, by appropriating or by seeking political allegiance to 'formalize' if not 'legalize' their footprints. In cases where regulations are stringent, campaigns and agitations driven by NGOs and people's organizations are staged to oppose the state. In spite of negotiations, the last step to mending ways from either side is to use violence, that the marginalized tend to indulge into with the support of representing organizations or generally aided by the political party in opposition referring to movements such " Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao". (Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan) 4) How do variants in Urban governance affect simultaneous modulations? - Hierarchies and procedures in Governance play an indirect role in shaping the urban realm. Professional malpractices and clauses in policies that redefine and amend the acts of the state, indirectly amend the acts of the civil society as well. Such amendments need to be scrutinized from time to time and more open house meetings and workshops need to be conducted for the citizens, to maintain transparency. (Please refer 4.4 for suggestions.)
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5) How can orders of tactics be accumulated to form a cohesive pattern for development? - Tactics can be well incorporated into the mainstream development processes by improvising. Currently, the citizen plays the same game as the state in divulging information and channelizing aspirations through policies that can be undisclosed within the formal discourse. Taking the phase wise development of Moragaon and the four step play of citizens to appropriate their areas of associations, design and strategy management act as tools to help in regularizing tactics. However as a larger structure plan for the development of the city, the conditions of all such neighborhoods needs to be juxtaposed as a lateral palimpsest and need to be well documented through 'count your neighbour' initiatives or citizen group demographic surveys. Public shared survey reports need to be prepared often, to check on errors and misrepresentations. Amendments in policies governing resources such as housing, have the potential to deal with the primary needs and security of tenure and the rights to ownership. Designing the thresholds of such neighborhoods additionally eases such unscrupulous dichotomies and the intrinsic fears of eviction that such dissident landscapes face in the city meant to be for its people.
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Hou, J. (2010). Insurgent Public Space: Guerrilla Urbanism and the Remaking of Contemporary Cities. London & New York: Routledge. Isa Baud, N. N. (2008, October 1). “Negotiated spaces� for representation in Mumbai: ward committees, advanced locality management and the politics of middle-class activism. Environment & Urbanisation, Sage Journals , 483-499. Lanchovichina, S. L. (2009). Inclusive growth Analytics. World Bank Economic Policy Division. Lefebvre, H. (1968). Le Droit a la ville. Marvin, S. G. (2001). Splintering Urbanism: Networked Infrastructures, Technological Mobilities and the Urban Condition. London: Routledge. Mike Lydon, A. G. (2012). Tactical Urbanism Short-term Action Long-term Change . Washington DC: Island Press. Nations, U. (n.d.). http://www.un.org/en/sections/resources/civil-society/index.html. Romero, S. (2011). Caracas Journal : In Venezuela Housing Crises. The New York Times . Roy, A. (2009). Civic Governmentality : The Politics of Inclusion in Beirut and Mumbai. Antipode Vol 4 , 159 - 179. Roy, A. (2009). Why India cannot plan its cities. Strangely familiar: Planning theory . Shankar Gopalakrishnan, T. S. (2014). Struggle over class & space in an Indian City. Economic & Political Weekly. UDRI. (2013). MUMBAI READER 13. MUMBAI: UDRI.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS MCGM - Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai DP - Development Plan SRA - Slum Rehabilitation Authority MRTP Act - Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act 1967 ALM - Area Local Management CRZ - Coastal Regulatory Zones MSRDC - Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation NFDB - National Fisheries Development Board NCDC - National Co-operative Development Corporation 91 Dissident Landscapes in the City by its People