Investigating Architectural factors that affect the

stability of Slum Rehabilitation: A case study of

Bhopal city
Tushar Shiwankar I 2015BARC076

Abstract
Slums or Informal settlements are serious and very common concerns the third
world countries like India. The high rate of urbanization leads to high population density
in these settlements. Poor hygiene and sanitation increases the possibility of health
hazard for slum dwellers as well as surroundings. And there is still no proper solution to
remove or reduce them. Though there are approaches for slum up-gradation to improve
the quality of life there. In which, so far the in-situ up-gradation is found to be the better
one that the relocation. Even after the relocation is done, the users are found to be
going back to their original places or other places due to less comfort in the proposed
housing.

Keywords: Slum rehabilitation, urban poor, Architecture.

Aim
The motive of the study is to understand the need and approaches to rehabilitate the
slums. And to understand the architectural factors which affect the success and failure
rehabilitation programs. To study those factors case studies will be conducted. And at
the end of the study, to understand the effect of architectural spaces on Slum
Rehabilitation projects.

Introduction
The concept of slums and its definition vary from country to country depending
upon the socio-economic conditions of each society. The term slum (squatter) describes
a wide range of low-income settlements or poor living conditions. Slum (Squatter) at its
simplest is a heavily populated area characterized by substandard housing and
squatter.
According to the census of India, a slum is “Residential areas where dwellings are unfit
for human habitation by reasons of dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement and
design of such buildings, narrowness or faulty arrangement of streets, lack of
ventilation, light, or sanitation facilities or any combination of these factors which are
detrimental to the safety and health”.

'Slums' have been defined under Section 3 of the Slums Areas (Improvement and
Clearance) Act, 1956 as areas where:
- Buildings are in any respect unfit for human habitation.
- Are by reason of dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement and design of
such buildings, narrowness or faulty arrangement of streets, lack of ventilation,
light; sanitation facilities or any combination of these factors which are
detrimental to safely, health and morals.

According to the United Nations’ definition of the concept: “A slum is always an area”
“...actual living conditions rather than the mere physical appearance”

When someone new comes to the city to work for the first time, he or she doesn’t have
a penny to spend. He finds an open place to sleep at night near his workplace so that
there's no need to spend on transportation. He builds houses with whatever material he
gets, like aluminum sheets, broken asbestos sheets, tarpaulin sheets, broken poles,
banners, etc. And lives congested, so that more people could live in less space. Many
of them do whatever work they get or do bad works for politicians.

2.1 Types of slums that could be found in the city.

1. Organic Settlements:

These settlements are traditional old areas which have grown and are shaped by
changing socio-political and economic forces. They include both urban (inner city slums)
and rural settlements (villages). These slums are located in thickly built-up high density
traditional/organic old areas in central city. Since the settlements are old, occupants
have fairly secure tenure. With the growth of city many rural settlements have been
included within the urban area. Some such organic rural settlement has been declared
as slums. Thirty four villages have been identified / notified as slum.

2. Unauthorized Housing Layouts:

In Nagpur the settlements where land is subdivided without prior approvals and sold are
termed as 'unauthorized housing layouts'. The land ownership of buyers is legal but
land subdivision regulations, zoning and building codes are violated. Municipal services
are, therefore, not provided by local bodies. Such developments are also found on lands
earmarked for facilities and “green belt” in the Development Plan. The infrastructure
standards are poor but the community generally belongs to the middle and lower middle
income group. Densities vary between low to medium.

3. Squatters (Zopadpattis):

These Settlements have come up by illegal occupation of public or private land mostly
by low income population. Generally the shelter conditions are poor with "kaccha' and
"semi-pucca' structures and dwelling sizes are small. These settlements do not have a
secure legal tenure as well as are vulnerable for clearance.

2.2 Types and processes of slum relocation programs:

If it keeps going at this rate the only future seems possible is a large population of living
in such conditions if we continue to neglect these places. The overcrowding population,
disease, bad sanitation, malnutrition, etc. should be eliminated and the society must try
to improve the living standards and quality of life of the urban poor.

To improve the living quality and standards of dwellers living in the slum, the slum
development programs has been introduced by the government and implemented in
various cities. These programs are basically of three types ; A. In-situ up-gradation,
B. Extension to minimum basic civic amenities and C. Relocation to the site nearby or
far.

A. In-situ up-gradation

A process of redevelopment of slum areas by providing dwelling space and other basic
civic and infrastructural services to the slum dwellers, on the existing land on which the
slum is situated presently.

In the present scenario, it is considered to be one of the best approaches because of

its advantages. Study of In-situ slum up-gradation projects at Mumbai showed the
positive impacts like, Per capita and average household income increased, Number of
earning members rose, full time employment increased by 40 percent and daily wage
employment dropped, as a result increased ownership of assets & increased wealth of
households, Households spent more on education and entertainment, Savings was
found to have increased to 28.2 %, a remarkable change in housing conditions with all
households having permanent structures with basic amenities, All households had
piped supply in the households, toilets inside their premises, metered electricity supply,
School children dropout rates lower down to 6 %, The social capital not only remained
intact, but also improved when communities were organized into cooperatives. Reduced
inequality between the rich and the poor, Poverty declined significantly, moving closer to
zero (0.0644), Option of In situ up-gradation is economically viable

B. Extension to minimum basic civic amenities

In-site development approach, under the scheme of Environmental Improvement. The

component of this scheme is construction of Pay & Use Jan Suvidha Complexes
containing toilet and baths and also of Mobile Toilet Vans in the clusters irrespective of
the status of the encroached land. Because of its limitations this scheme has been
implemented at very lower rate & rare places

C. Relocation

A process of relocation and settlement of slum dwellers from the existing untenable
slums to an alternative site with dwelling space, basic civic and social infrastructural
services.

At a global level it is commonly believed that the relocation of urban poor habitats
(slums) are due to the forceful evictions, reservation of land uses and security of tenure.
In eviction process mostly the urban poor are affected because these are the only
people who are settled illegally on land which is reserved for specific uses. As per the
law of human rights, it is a duty of authority to relocate these people on new site with
basic infrastructure so that the livelihood should not be disturbed. But in relocation
project the degree of satisfaction in terms of improved living conditions & quality of life
of urban poor is not satisfactory, this is due to certain factors which are not taken into
consideration during the relocation process. Most of the urban poor returned to their
original places or settled nearby workplace and created new slums. This means that the
degree of failure of relocation project is high.

Type and procedure of a certain slum is chosen according to the land position and
ownership. It also depends upon the type of community living there. In Mumbai this
slum rehabilitation is done under state- operated agency SRA (Slum Rehabilitation
Authority). During the process the developers have full discretion on the quality of
rehabilitated buildings, which affects the living standards, so much so that, these
rehabilitation buildings get transformed into ‘vertical slums’. According to the studies,
these rehabilitation houses never has proper source of light and air. It forces the
occupants to abandon these houses and either move back to the horizontal slums or
create an informal settlement in some other parts of the city. This phenomenon of going
back is termed as ‘Rebound phenomenon’.

It is natural that poverty is the primary cause of the rebound behavior as the occupants
cannot cope-up with the increased cost of living and low-income. However, it is the
added burden of transition or ‘changing location’ that pushes them into a vicious cycle of
poverty even after moving into a permanent structure. It has been found that
architecture and living environment of the rehabilitated place also has a major role in
giving comfort to the user, which generally gets neglected. The horizontal slums help to
maintain the informal economy which creates job opportunities for the occupants.

Furthermore, the design of the current rehabilitation housing restricts them from
accessing communal spaces which are an integral part of their lives in slums.
Occupants' discomfort is further exaggerated by the poor quality of the housing units,
which are often characterized by the lack of ventilation, thermal discomfort, lack of
daylight and poor indoor air quality in the living spaces.

The main aim of this paper is to understand the need of built and un-built spaces in
slum rehabilitation programs in order to improve livelihood of the people living there,
and make it a stable neighborhood.

2.3 Background of study area: Bhopal

Bhopal is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. As per census 2001, the
population of Bhopal district is 18.37 lakhs out of which 14.30 lakhs live in Bhopal city,
in 66 wards, covering a gross area of 284 sq. km including the lakes and hills. this
makes it a low-density city of 50 persons per hectare gross and 63 persons net if the
lake areas of 38sq. km. is deducted from the overall area. Even if the areas s steep hill
are discounted, the density on habitable land remains low at 80 persons per hectare.
Essentially Bhopal is a city of inhabited pockets with open areas and natural barriers in
between. The origins of Bhopal city are a little obscure and not well planned. It is said
that Raja Bhoj the famous Parmar king of Dhar, founded Bhopal City in the 11th century
at its present site. Another view is that the original city of Bhojpal (eventually changed
into Bhopal) was first founded on the banks of Kolar River and then subsequently
shifted to its present location. He created the Upper Lake by constructing an earthen
dam across the Kolar River.

Slum population in Bhopal over the period of time:

Year City Slum Population % of slum Slum gr %

Population

1961 222,948 9000

1971 384,859 19,050 4.9 111.7

1981 671,018 41,763 6.2 119.2

1991 1,062,771 250,000 23.5 498.6

2001 1,564,351 480,000 30.7 92

2011 1,798,218 568,433

Source: Census of India 1971 to 1991 Town directory of Madhya Pradesh & 1975
Bhopal Development Plan

The population of Bhopal shows similar characteristics of growth as the district. As per
census figures, the population declined in the first two decades of the century mainly
because of plague outbreaks. It then increased moderately until 1951 when it shot up
substantially by 117.9% from 1951 to 1961, when the city became the capital and with
the establishment of BHEL. From 1961 to 1991 population has continued to grow,
though the decadal growth rate has reduced to 35 %(1991-2001). The trend of
diminishing decadal growth was artificially distorted between 1961 to 1981 simply
because the Municipal boundary increased.

Chart Title
4% 3%

22% Private encrochment

18% Rental
Legal rights

14% Patta
Occupation rights

39% Public Encrochment

Census Town Directory of1981, showed 26 slum pockets with a population of 41,763.
In 1991, the directory showed 166 authorized (with pattas) and unauthorized (without
pattas) slum pockets with a population of 250,000

Methodology
In order to achieve the given aim the following studies to be done;

● Doing case studies by secondary sources. (SRH programs of India and outside.)
 ● Studying the rebound phenomenon and reasons behind them by doing primary
case study.
● In order to get into depth of it survey and interviews of the users from SRH
program is to be done.

Parameters by which the study is to be done:

Parameters are decided basically to capture attitude, emotions, health, control and
habits of the occupants

1. Location: Problem has to face due to location.

2. Zoning and Planning: Effect on community due to change.
3. Space requirement :
a. Required number spaces are given or not. (Community
spaces, open spaces, etc.)
b. Area of spaces given is enough or not.
4. Internal architecture of house:
a. Thermal comfort
b. Windows and door
c. Air quality and sunlight
d. Control means for thermal comfort
e. Quality of construction
5. Sanitation and hygiene:
a. Overall feeling of safety
b. Common diseases related to built environment
6. Aesthetics and design of the overall project

Literature Survey
(Reason to choose these projects)

1. Philippines

In the southern Philippines, specifically, in Davao City and General Santos on the island
of Mindanao which is part of the East Asia Growth Area, the UPA said that 43,000
families were evicted. These evictions were for cleanup the river systems, railroad
tracks and other blighted areas for metropolitan beauty. For these evicted families, the
government has provided relocation. The sites for relocation were far from their
workplace. The effects of these relocations were paying additional transportation costs,
ill-manage to pay for expenses incurred in setting up a new home. Since they did not
find alternative work in the relocation site, they returned to the city to squat again in
living conditions poorer than ever before. Urban poor faced the relocation the most
disruptive issue because it totally moves them from a bad to a worse situation.

2. Kenya

Kenya is often seen as one of the emerging economies on the African continent with a
vibrant financial and business environment. In this country, nearly 40 million people live
in the slums. The biggest of these is the Kibera Slum, located in Nairobi, and houses
almost 1.2 million people, all enclosed in a 2.50 km-square area, at an estimated
density of 2000 people per hectare. Because of population explosion, weaker strength
of construction, inaccessibility to slum, lack of sanitation (Flying toilets where plastic
bags with human waste are thrown out of windows and into the pathways), land
ownership, increased of crime rate & fire risk, government had started relocating all
inhabitants of Kibera to newly built homes. This project had taken 9 years to complete.
The newly built flats had some problems like nonfunctional activity area, inefficient
services, shared bathroom & toilets, unavailability of power and change in income
pattern due to far location.

3. Mumbai

Navtar Parekh Compound (NPC), Mumbai

The NPC hosts more than 10,000 people living in 53 buildings, spanning over an area
of 54,600 square meters (or 5.16ha). Previous studies have found that the architectural
structure of the buildings was too constricted (the width between each building was
around 3m) which caused a lack of air movement for natural ventilation and daylight
unavailability. Studies have also reported a higher occurrence of respiratory diseases,
including tuberculosis in this area .
The study is done on this particular slum rehabilitation commissioned by MMRDA and
carried out by ‘Doctors for you’ along with IIT Bombay. They found that almost 10% of
the people living there have TB that has possibly due to poor living conditions.

Dr. Ravikant Singh (Founder of Doctors for you) said “This place seems unlivable. It is
closer to the dumping ground. There is a lot of pollution. There is no sunlight even in
flats on the fifth floor”. The main problem he added is that inadequate distance between
two buildings, which was around less than 8 feet.

Fig.0 Narrow spaces between buildings Fig. 0 low gaps in building increase darkness inside

Occupants revealed that “... We have to work indoors all the time”. This drastically
reduced their socializing time. They also emphasized on that “no common private
space” is available which primary discomfort in SHR. According to them shifting of their
activities indoors from outdoors like they had in horizontal slums has affected their
social life. Almost everyone said “Children do not have enough open spaces to play in
front of our eyes. We fear they will wonder off in the vertical maze”.

Case Study
The case study is to be done with the specific questionnaire which just caters the
problems faced by user related to architectural environment and planning of the
rehabilitation program.

Questionnaire for survey

Questionnaire variables to capture attitude, emotions, health, control and habits of the
occupants
Redevelopment of Kotra weekly market (Shabari Nagar)

The detailed project report (DPR) for the development of Shabari Nagar was titled
‘Redevelopment of Kotra Market by Relocation of Existing Slums’. A slum called Bapu
Nagar was situated on the land reserved to build a weekly market for the Kotra area.
The DPR proposed to relocate this slum to a site approximately a kilometer away, which
had another slum called Shabari Nagar. The result was a proposal of a housing
complex consisting of 512 houses, with all the necessary amenities like water,
sanitation, open spaces, boundary walls,

The reason behind choosing this project is basically is the part of this project is in-situ
and part is relocation within very less radius. Which are theoretically the best ways of
proposing a slum rehabilitation proje

ct.

Data analysis

Conclusions
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/apr/26/mumbai-housing-blocks-breeding-
tuberculosis-death

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/closely-packed-buildings-at-govandi-slum-
rehab-colony-designed-for-death/articleshow/63688510.cms