Sustainable Slum Rehabilitation in India - Dwarka Nagar, Madhya Pradesh

Abstract

The thesis examines the slum rehabilitation and upgradation schemes in India to 1. Explore a better method – Slum Redevelopment or Rehabilitation 2. Explore the role sustainability plays in the process of Rehabilitation 3. Understand the socio-economic factors that influence and affect the im-plementation of the sustainable slum upgradation schemes The approach of a government towards urbanization is an essential factor. The government often fails to recognize the rights of the poor and incorporate this into their policies; because of this, a significant portion of the population in India's slums fails to get suitable housing and essential services. Existing government schemes spend funds on multistoried buildings and large-scale resettlement communities on the city's outskirts without considering housing and community satisfaction. Slum: A slum, according to UN-Habitat, is one that does not have any of the fol-lowing indicators: a durable house structure, easy access to improved sanitation, adequate dwelling space, and tenure security. The last is the hardest to quantify and is not presently utilized in slum assessment; the previous four rely on tradi-tional criteria (UN-Habitat, 2003). Slum Dwellers: According to UN-Habitat, a person living in a home without ac-cess to better water sources, proper sanitation, sufficient living space, sturdy shelter, and security of tenure is referred to as a slum dweller(UN-Habitat, 2003). The focus of this research is to determine if slums in Dwarka Nagar, Bhopal, can be rehabilitated to encourage sustainable urban growth and understand how the slum dwellers perceive the constraints on the slum upgradation. It will also focus on their early involvement in community participation in different stages of the project, like the restoration of Bawdi (Stepwell), creating of different activity zones and recreational areas near the Patra River which will help in continuous monitoring and evaluation. The researcher worked with architects, engineers, and community members to improve current shelter conditions by using proper construction materials and locally available materials like brick, concrete, etc. The views and experiences of slum dwellers in Dwarka Nagar as well as resi-dents around the slums were used. This research is an attempt to create sustainability as a lifestyle framework that will help people to be efficient in creating a better environment for living, by using local resources, skills, and knowledge relevant to the local community.