R e s e a r c h D e s i g n F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 1

Land-tenure

and

Incremental Housing

in Ahmedabad,

India

Student: Simea Kn ip

Student no: 1549235

Course: Master thes is: Soc io logy o f G loba l i zat ion & Divers i ty

Facu l ty: Facu l ty o f Soc ia l Sc iences

Course code: 706724

Superv isor: Dr. Peer Smets (VU)

2 n d assessor: Dr. Freek Co lumbi jn (VU)

Loca l mentor: Nira j Jan i arch. (Saath)

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Contents

Descript ion of the research problem: An introduct ion to the urban cr is is . 3  Purpose, re levance & research quest ions 4  Theoret ical framework: Sel f -help housing in a nutshel l . 8  Methodology 10  Planning 13  Table of Contents 14  References 16  List of Abbreviat ions 21  Appendix 1 : Map of S lums in Ahmedabad 22  

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Description of the research problem: An introduction to the urban crisis.

For the first t ime in history, more then 50% of the world’s populat ion l ives in ci t ies . This urbanizat ion pattern wil l increase to 70% of the world’s populat ion l iv ing in c i t ies by the year 2050 and wil l most ly take place in developing countr ies . (UN -Habitat , 2009)

At the dawn of the new mil lennium, the total number of people l iv ing in s lums in l i fe - threatening condit ions was about 924 mil l ion worldw ide . This number represents 32% o f the world’s total urban populat ion. Within th i r ty years , this number will be doubled to two bi l l ion people l iv ing in s lums, mostly in developing countr ies . (UN -Habitat , 2003; 2009) . UN -Habitat states in i ts 2003 global report , that ‘s lums have been the only large -scale solut ion in providing [af fordab le ] housing for low - income people’ (p . xxv) .

A country that is s truggling with large -scale housing deficits is India . R ight after China , India counts the largest populat ion in the world. As per Census o f India (2001) 1, the tota l Indian populat ion counted 1,03 bi l l ion people in the year 2001 . Th is number will r ise to an est imated populat ion of 1,33 bi l l ion people by the year 2020 .

In the year 2009, 28% of the Indian populat ion l ived in urban areas . This number wi l l increase to 41% of the tota l populat ion l iv ing in urban areas by 2030 (UNDP, 2009) . Furthermore the report s tates that 80 mil l ion poor people l ive in c i t ies and towns, of which 61.8 mil l ion l ive in s lums, representing 23.7% of India’s tota l populat ion 2001 .

1 The Census o f Ind ia i s an important source o f in format ion about the popu lat ion o f

Ind ia . Data on income and expendi ture, l i teracy, educat ion, hous ing & househo ld ameni t ies , urban izat ion, popu lat ion count , number o f schedu led castes and t r ibes, l anguages and re l ig ion are co l lected by a survey he ld every 10 years . The Census o f Ind ia 2001 is the la test set o f data ava i lab le . The Census data o f 2011 is current ly be ing co l lected.

Source: UN-Habitat, 2003; AMC, 2006

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Ahmedabad, the former capita l of Gujarat , is the largest c i ty in the s tate and the s ixth largest metropoli tan area of India , with an est imated populat ion of 4.7 mil l ion people (Census of India , 2001) . In Ahmedabad, 53.2% of the populat ion l ives in s lums 2 and ‘chawls’ 3. Musl ims, scheduled castes l ike Dali ts (SCs) , scheduled tr ibes (STs) and other backward castes (OBCs) const i tute 91% of the s lum households . More than 95% o f the s lum dwellers are migrants , indicat ing how rural poverty is now spi l l ing over into urban areas (UN -Habitat , 2003) . Within the boundaries of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporat ion (AMC) , 2093 i l legal set t lements are spread over the c i ty (Ahmedabad Municipal Corporat ion, 2006) . Ahmedabad is a good example of a rapidly expanding third world c i ty coping with housing deficits in a global iz ing world, l ike so many other c i t ies in the ‘g lobal South’ .

Land is an essentia l resource in the housing -process . To construct shelter one needs access to basic resources , l ike land, construct ion tools , bui lding materia ls , ski l ls , labor and finance (Smets , 2004; Turner , 1976) .

2 S lums are i l l ega l l y bu i l t squat te r se t t l ements l oca ted on pub l i c o r p r i va te owned land .

There a re no o r l i t t l e bas i c fac i l i t i e s , l i ke water , e lec t r i c i t y o r a sewerage sys tem (Ahmedabad Mun ic ipa l Corpora t ion , 2006) .

3 Chawls a re o ld mu l t i -s to ry bu i ld ings , i n i t i a l l y meant to l oca te the l abore rs o f the fo rmer tex t i l e i ndus t ry . Dwe l l i ng -un i t s in a chaw l a re usua l l y no t b igger then one room and there are no o r l i t t l e bas i c amen i t i es (Samvad, 2006) .

The Slum Networking Project

In partnersh ip w i th loca l and in ternat iona l NGOs and pr ivate sector organ izat ions , the Ahmedabad Munic ipa l Corporat ion (AMC) runs severa l s lum up gradat ion projects and programs. One of those programs is the S lum Network ing Project (SNP), which has proved to be qu i te successfu l , a lbe i t on a smal l sca le (Barman , Datta Dey, & Sharma, 2006; Payne, 2001) . The AMC launched th is pro ject in 1995 , in cooperat ion wi th the World Bank . To encourage part ic ipat ion, the AMC of fers a ten-year tenure secur i ty for s lums under the SNP. Th is guarantee is l ike ly to count as a mora tor ium on ev ic t ion, rather then a f reeho ld or leaseho ld t i t le (Samad, 2006) . The main object ives o f the SNP are to improve in f rastructure and to enhance community deve lopment through community part ic ipat ion (Ahmedabad Munic ipa l Corporat ion, 2006; 2010) . Saath

One of the NGOs part ic ipat ing in the SNP is Saath Char i tab le Trust . Saath i s based in Ahmedabad and is reg is tered as a char i tab le t rust s ince 1989. In the la te e ight ies , Saath launched a p ioneer program that a imed to turn s lums into v ibrant neighborhoods: the Integrated S lum Development Program. The organ izat ion of fers market-based so lut ions to empower the urban poor and has implemented severa l programs for poverty a l lev iat ion . Saath works c lose ly w i th loca l Community Based Organizat ions and has extens ive exper ience in community deve lopment in s lum areas (Saath, 2010) .

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Basic resources for shelter Source: Turner (1967, pp. 84-86), Smets (2004, pp. 78-83)

Unlike the other resources , a legal land - t i t le is bel ieved to transfer dead 4 capita l into rea l capita l (De Soto , 2000) . De Soto s tates that s lum dwellers in third world countr ies do possess an impressive amount of capita l . But because a formal registrat ion system is lacking, they’re not able to convert their assets into real cap i ta l . One way to improve this s i tuat ion is the distr ibution of legal land - t i t les to s lum dwellers . Gilbert (2002) agrees that the lack of a legal land - t i t le is inconvenient for the urban poor , but that by now i ts recognized that a ful l - t i t le is not necessary for securi ty of tenure . To bring about housing investments by the urban poor , the perception of securi ty is more important then an actual legal s tatus . Besides , sometimes a legal land - t i t le is not enough and other addit ional services needs

to be supplied to unleash investments (Gi lber t , 2002) .

Purpose, relevance & research questions

The purpose o f this research is to find out what the influence is of land tenure status 5 on bui lding strategies of the urban poor in informal set t lements in Ahmedabad, India .

On one hand, De Soto (2000) s tates that a legal land - t i t le wil l re lease a potentia l resource of capita l . On the other hand Gilbert (2002) s tates that perceived tenure securi ty is enough to generate capita l .

4 Dead cap i ta l can be desc r ibed as asse ts w i thout fo rma l recogn i t i on , reduc ing i t ’ s po ten t ia l

to c rea te surp lus va lue th rough mu l t ip le t ransac t ions and thus c rea te rea l cap i ta l (De Soto , 2000 , p . 32) .

5 Land tenure s ta tus re fe rs bo th to l ega l l and tenuresh ip ‘de ju re ’ ( l and - t i t l e ) o r ‘ de fac to ’ (o f fe red pub l i c fac i l i t i e s ) and i l l ega l l and - tenuresh ip (w i th no p ro tec t ion aga ins t ev i c t i on) .

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Observing bui lding strategies in two sett lements that dif fer in perceived tenure -securi ty wil l deliver empirical evidence in favor or against the idea that a higher perceived tenure -securi ty wil l induce housing investments . De Soto and Gilbert wil l del iver the theoret ical framework to explain the s i tuat ion in Ahmedabad. In addit ion, by studying the ef fects of perceived tenure securi ty in informal set t lements , I want to make a small contr ibution to the accumulat ion of knowledge about the current g lobal s i tuat ion on affordable housing for the urban poor . For these reasons , two squatter -sett lements in Ahmedabad wil l be invest igated: one without land - t i t les and one with a de facto tenure s tatus provided under the SNP. To make a good comparison possible , the set t lements have to meet additonal cr i ter ia . Both set t lements should be comparable in terms of :

• Geographical posi t ion: To avoid bias in terms of benefits or disadvantages because of a set t lements geographical posi t ion ( land -use, orientat ion, distance to central services , avai labi l i ty of (public) transport , type of area (bus iness or commercial distr ic t , industr ia l or res identia l area) etc . ) .

• Populat ion s ize : The s izes of set t lements dif fer great ly , which possibly influences socia l patterns within the set t lements .

• Cultural & socia l composit ion: Dal i t Hindus, tr ibes and Musl ims represent the majori ty of Ahmedabad’s s lum dwellers . A comparable compos i t ion of socio -cultural groups can exclude bias by culture .

• Income: S lum -dwellers mainly fa l l in the Economical Weaker Sect ion (EWS) or the Lower Income Group (LIG) . Because of their low income, people from the Economical Weaker Sect ion (EWS) are not l ikely to invest much in their homes.

S imilarit ies and dissimilarit ies between sett lements Sett lement →

Ind icator↓

Sett lement X

Sett lemen t Y

Perce ived tenure secur i ty ( in 2010) yes no Geographica l pos i t ion X ≈ Y Soc io-cu l tura l compos i t ion X ≈ Y Populat ion s ize X ≈ Y

Based on these se lect ion cr i ter ia two sett lements are se lected: Guptanagar I I and Yogeshwarnagar . Both set t lements are located in the Vasna ward and both

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sett lements are comparable in terms of geographical posi t ion, socio -cultural composit ion and popula t ion s ize .

I f perceived tenure securi ty does make a dif ference, wil l i t promote bui lding act ivi ty within squatter set t lements? This leads to the fo l lowing research quest ion: RQ What are the s imi lar i t i es and d i f f erences in bui ld ing s trateg ies r e la ted to

perce ived tenure secur i ty be tween Guptanagar I I and Yogeshwarnagar in Ahmedabad , India? What are explanat ions for those s imi lar i t i es and d i f f erences?

The remaining resources , namely building methods & ma ter ia ls , labor and finance , are used as indicators to determine change in bui lding strategies between the set t lements . I f perceived tenure securi ty makes a dif ference , then dwellers of the set t lement with a legal land status are more l ikely to invest in their houses . They are a lso l ikely to use more sustainable methods for construct ing shelter . The fol lowing subquest ions , regarding the remaining resources apply for both the set t lements ; Yogeshwarnagar , without a non -evict ion guarantee and Guptanagar I I , with a presumably higher perceived tenure securi ty through a non -evict ion guarantee . SQ1 . What financia l resources are used by res idents o f Guptanagar I I and

Yogeshwarnagar in the per iod 2000 -2010? SQ2 . What bui ld ing methods & mater ia ls are used by r es idents o f Guptanagar I I

and Yogeshwarnagar in the per iod 2000 -2010? SQ3 . What k inds o f labor are used by r es idents o f Guptanagar I I and

Yogeshwarnagar in the per iod 2000 -2010?

Guptanagar II i s a c luster o f a b igger s lum-area (5,000 households) in Vasna. Guptanagar I I cons is ts o f d i f ferent communit ies , t r ibes and castes. Th is set t lement has around 800 households and i ts dwel lers obta ined a non-object ion cert i f i cate (NOC) for 10 years under the SNP in the year 2005. Th is is a guarantee that they wi l l not be ev ic ted in the next 10 years.

Yogeshwarnagar i s another c luster w i th in the Vasna s lum-area. I ts soc ia l-cu l tura l compos i t ion is comparab le wi th Guptanagar I I and is s l ight ly smal ler (700 househo lds) . Th is set t lement has not been upgraded by SNP program, nor d id res idents rece ive a NOC.

Source: Jani & Shah (2010)

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Theoretical framework: Self-help housing in a nutshell.

For housing, in the sense of construct ing shelter , access to basic resources is required. These basic resources consist of ‘monetary and non -monetary means’

(Smets , 2004, p . 78) . ‘F inancia l means can be used to invest in land, bui ld ing

mater ia ls , too ls , and construct ions sk i l ls . ’ ( ib id) . Or as John F . Turner (1976) puts

i t , ‘d irec t or indirect dwel ler -contro l depends on the ava i lab i l i ty o f appropr iate too ls

and mater ia ls (or technology) , o f land and f inance ’ (p . 17) . In short , to construct shelter , one needs a piece of land, sufficient financial means and technology in the sense o f bui lding mater ia ls , tools and construct ion ski l ls and labor in order to use them ( ibid , p . 86) . Turner (1976) considers housing not sole ly as a product ; housing has socia l -value as well (p . 60) . The word housing is both a noun , meaning the s tock of

dwell ing units , and a verb , in the sense of the process by which that stock i s

created and mainta ined ( ib id) . Turner s tates that i t is considered reasonable to speak about housing in terms of market value or in terms of housing processes , but to mix these two terms is considered as abnormal ( ib id , p . 61) .

Consequently , the performance of housing (what i t does ) is not descr ibed by any housing standards, in contrast to the physical aspects of housing (what i t i s ) . In Turner’s v iew, the meanings of ‘housing’ and ‘value’ should be used properly . Human values should be dist inguished from market values ( ib id) .

Furthermore housing needs change, mainly because of the changing family cycle or s tages in the migrant ’s (urban) l i fe . Large inst i tut ions can never adequately meet the endless variety of needs. Therefore , the users should be in charge of the main components of the housing process , individual ly or through small -scale local inst i tut ions ( ib id , p . 41) .

One way to achieve this is (ass is ted) se l f -help housing. Self -help housing is pract ical ly the only strategy for lower - income groups to obtain a home of their own. I t o f fers the opportunity for low - income households to bui ld and improve their house ‘ s tep by s tep , once suffic ient finance i s ava i lab le and once these households dec ide to invest i t in the ir house . ’ (Bredenoord, van Lindert & Smets , 2010, p . 274) . Besides , improvement of housing condit ions has proofed to act ivate dif ferent mechanisms in poverty a l leviat ion (Durand -Lasserve & Selod, 2009) . Or as Cedric Pugh (2001) s imply states : ‘Housing improvements has long - term pay -o f fs ’ (p . 415) .

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The basic resources needed for the construct ion of shelter are interrelated; this is especia l ly the case for finance and technology. As s tated by Peer Smets

(2004) ‘ incrementa l bui ld ing demands incrementa l f inancing’ (p . 12) and ‘ the

methods o f f inancing d ic tate the mode o f construct ion’ (p . 14) . The urban poor arrange financing for their bui lding act ivi t ies in mainly informal ways. Formal ways of financing are avai lable , but they ‘neglect the l ive l ihood s trateg ies o f the poor ’ (p . 14) , which are mainly informal .

Banks and financial inst i tut ions are general ly not eager to grant loans to dwellers of i l legal set t lements . Potentia l c l ients need proof of a regular salar ied income from employment . Poor households that are mainly employed in the informal sector cannot obtain such documents . In India , housing finance for the economical weaker sect ion (EWS) and low - income groups (LIG) are mainly provided by the private sector , such as NGOs, microfinance

inst i tut ions , housing finance companies and banks (UNHSP, 2008) .

Concerning bui lding mater ia ls and construct ion techniques , not much have changed in recent years . The formal Indian market depends on tradit ional high -cost bui lding materia ls . T ime cost ly product ion leads to inadequate supply and high costs , increasing the total costs of housing (Sengupta , 2010, p. 325) .

To decrease housing costs , poor urban households depend on sel f -managed building strategies by construct ing their homes their se lves (with or without hired labor) and by purchasing materia ls and tools themselves

(Bredenoord & van Linder t , 2010) . Self -buil t homes in s lum -areas are ‘be ing constructed f rom whatever

mater ia ls are ava i lab le to hand’ (Lloyd -Evans & Pot te r , 1998 , p . 139) . The materia ls se l f -help constructors use for basic shelter are a wide range of recycled waste -materia ls l ike : packing cases , cardboard cartons , recycled scraps of wood, corrugated iron, flattened t in cans , s traw matt ing and sacking ( ib id , p . 140) . ‘An in i t ia l she l ter may g ive a quite pr imit ive impress ion ’ (p . 281) , but what real ly counts is the abi l i ty of i ts users to incremental ly improve their

self -buil t house over the years (Bredenoord & van Linder t , 2010) . Developmen t of pol ic ies on provis ion of affordable materia ls and

construct ion capacity are important tools to increase access to af fordable housing for the urban poor (Rakodi , 1992, p . 43) . Also , the use of cheaper ‘ indigenous mater ia ls ’ in accordance with ‘proper construct ion techniques ’ should

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be supported and permitted to decrease housing costs for the urban poor (Malpezzi , 1992, p . 16) .

Fina l ly , Darshini Mahadevia’s arguments in favor of poverty a l leviat ion through self -help employment , a lso applies for se l f -help housing. S imply providing credit is not enough, i t a lso includes access to reasonable priced raw materia ls (Mahadevia , 2001, p . 246) .

Methodology

Guptanagar I I obtained a legal land status for ten years in 2005, provided under the SNP. To see whether this s tatus makes a dif ference, an histor ical comparison wil l be made between the two sett lements . A period of five years before , and five years af ter Guptanagar I I gained i ts legal s tatus wil l be compared.

Data wil l be col lected by interviews with the dwellers of the se lected sett lemen ts . The interviews wil l be part ly s tructured (socio -economic data) and part ly semi -structured (his tory of housing improvements) A semi -structured interview or ‘a conversat ion with a purpose ’ , o f fers an ‘opportunity for the construct ion o f contextual knowledge by focus ing on re levant spec ifics in each interv iew’ (Mason, 2002) . Respondents are a l lowed to respond more freely by not being l imited to a set of fixed answers . (Giddens, 2001) . The quest ionnaires wil l first be tested in the field, by interviewing two households in every set t lement . I f necessary, the quest ionnaire wil l be adjusted.

In addit ion key -figures in the field (community leaders , NGOs, academics , officials) wil l be interviewed. I f the respondent agrees , I wil l record the interview. I f not , taking notes wi l l suffice . Especial ly in this last case , I a im to work out the interviews at the same day on which they are conducted.

Next to the interviews, direc t observat ion wil l add extra in depth information about the community’s hous ing circumstances . By direct observat ion I mean observing the bui l t environment of the set t lements while being present at act ivi t ies organized by Saath and while conduct ing interviews. Documental research, by analyzing archived documents , wil l help to get an impression of the set t lements in the past (Giddens, 2001; Mason, 2002) . The gathering of data and ini t ia l analysis of data wil l be employed s imultaneously . ‘ In i t ia l ana lys is determines where to go and what to look for next

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in data co l l ec t ion . Analys is and data co l l ec t ion cont inual ly in form one

another ’ (Grounded Theory Ins t i tu te , 2009) . The gathered quali tat ive data wil l be analyzed through ‘open coding’ , which means ’ the process o f break ing down, examining, comparing , conceptual iz ing and categor iz ing data ’ (Corbin & Strauss , 2004) . This process of data reduct ion wil l result in the discovery of new ideas and broader conceptual frameworks, and wil l final ly lead to general iz ing and theoriz ing from the dataset (Atkinson & Coffey, 1996) .

Regression analysis (with MS Office Excel 2008) of the quanti tat ive data col lected through the s tructured interviews wil l s tat is t ical ly offer evidence for accepting or refut ing the idea that perceived tenure -securi ty has influence on housing investments .

The s ize of the sample will be 25 to 30 respondents per set t lement selected through systematic point sampling ; a sample of a number of points (households) selected from a s tudy area ( the set t lement) in a systematic way by using a transect l ine (Act ion Plan for Geography, 2010) . Considering the t ime avai lable , a sample of 50 to 60 respondents is sufficient ly meaningful to draw a conclusion from the data . Units of analysis are households , with each

respondent representing one household.

A sample of 25 to 30 points will be se lected a long the longest diagonal s tart ing from the southwes t corner of the map . Every 10 t h household on the l ine will be se lected. In real l i fe , i t will not be possible to fo l low this l ine exact ly . I wil l choose a path

as c lose as possible to the l ine , for example , by tak ing a l ternately a le f t or r ight turn. At the beginning of the fieldwork, I wil l draw a map of the area . On this map I wil l mark the intended route a long the diagonal and the number of houses on this route . I f i t is not possible to obtain a sample of 25 to 30 houses by select ing every tenth door on this route , I wil l increase or decrease the number of houses in between. I f there is nobody at home a t a se lected house , I wil l come back at another t ime. I f a household does not want to part ic ipate , then I ’ l l approached the next dwell ing. The t imings of col lect ing data wil l be mainly in the late af ternoon and early evening on both weekdays and weekends.

Systematic point sampling

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For conducting fieldwork , corporat ion of the community is needed. Therefore , i t is important to just i fy and exp la in my presence to the members of the community . Saath is present in both of the set t lements . Before conducting the actual fieldwork, I wil l pay vis i ts to several programs and act ivi t ies organized in the set t lements . Saath wil l a lso introduce me to key -figures (community -leaders) in the set t lements .

For the fieldwork I wi l l need a local trans lator and guide . This ass is tant should have : an open -minded a t t i tude towards culture , rel ig ion and the caste -system , a good level of as wel l Engl ish as Gujarat i , experience with (sc ient ific) fieldwork and he or she should be famil iar wi th the issues in Ahmedabad’s s lums. With these cr i ter ia in mind, I have found a female employee of Saath will ing to help me. She works for the Research & Development cel l and she knows both the areas well . She’s from a high -caste family and is used to work closely with famil ies & youth of dif ferent backgrounds in several s lums in Ahmedabad. I don’t expect that her background wil l have a negat ive influence on col lect ing re l iable data .