Housing in the Urban Age: Inequality and Aspiration in Mumbai

Abstract

In scholarly and popular texts, Mumbai is invoked as an iconic example of the problem of urban informal settlements in the twenty‐first century. While such representations oscillate between tropes of accommodation and marginalization, they often obfuscate the compromised and historical successes of settler politics in the city. In this paper, the authors use an international urbanization conference as a starting point for exploring Mumbai settlers’ housing practices. They examine the processes through which emergent forms of inclusion have been conceptually unhinged from longstanding struggles against inequality. By examining the complex interplay of housing politics, social mobilization, and municipal policy in Mumbai, the paper argues for more careful attention to new regimes of governing that accompany aspirations for “inclusion” in the cities of the urban age.

Urban Space and Exclusion in Asia

“…In Phnom Penh, scholars focus on real estate and speculation (Nam 2011); in Manila, on financing megaprojects (Shatkin 2008); and in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, on the emergence of real estate after socialism , Labbé 2014. The role of real estate in expulsion has been explored across Asia, with especially powerful studies on Penang (Beng-Lan Goh 2002), Shanghai (Shao 2013), Seoul (Song 2009), Mumbai (Anand & Rademacher 2011), and Delhi (Baviskar 2006, Searle 2014.…”

“…Weinstein has shown how successful claims to space in Dharavi, the "world's largest slum" in Mumbai, inadvertently perpetuate exclusion: "[V]ictories won are not always so victorious, as the right to stay put often means the right to remain in dangerous, inadequate, and inhospitable conditions" (Weinstein 2014, p. 166). Other research in Mumbai shows support among slum dwellers for programs granting formal residences, even when these programs ultimately promote inequality (Anand & Rademacher 2011). In Thailand, rural migrants to Bangkok support "neoliberal" politicians who promise them inclusion in urban consumer society despite perpetuating structures of exclusion (Elinoff 2012).…”

La "era urbana" en debate

“…Por el momento, sin embargo, tal esfuerzo recién está comenzando a emprenderse en relación con lugares específicos y regímenes de políticas en los que la tesis de la era urbana ha llamado la atención explícita entre los responsables de las políticas, por ejemplo, debido a la intensa publicidad local generada a través de las iniciativas de conferencias de viaje de lse-Deutsche Bank en megaciudades del sur (Anand & Rademacher, 2011).…”

Mumbai slums since independence: Evaluating the policy outcomes

“…Slums have been an integral part of urbanization process of Mumbai and are invoked as an iconic example in the twenty-first century (Anand & Rademacher, 2011).…”