Policy Press
Eleven Round pegs and square holes: mismatches between poverty and housing policy in urban India
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Sunil Kumar
Abstract
The poverty of the masses in India has been of concern for generations. This chapter documents the mismatch between actual housing policies and the kind of policies needed to assist the poor in India. The poor are excluded from formal housing processes and are made insecure by the mechanisms that are supposed to serve them. The chapter draws on research in Bangalore and Surat to illustrate the broader policies required of the existing development agencies such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the UN Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat). In addition to action on material deprivation, a housing policy that provides a range of tenure options and closely replicates informal mechanisms of delivery is what is needed. The difficulty lies in the ability of the institutions of the state to follow such mechanisms, primarily because they are intricately located within multiple social and political relationships.
Abstract
The poverty of the masses in India has been of concern for generations. This chapter documents the mismatch between actual housing policies and the kind of policies needed to assist the poor in India. The poor are excluded from formal housing processes and are made insecure by the mechanisms that are supposed to serve them. The chapter draws on research in Bangalore and Surat to illustrate the broader policies required of the existing development agencies such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the UN Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat). In addition to action on material deprivation, a housing policy that provides a range of tenure options and closely replicates informal mechanisms of delivery is what is needed. The difficulty lies in the ability of the institutions of the state to follow such mechanisms, primarily because they are intricately located within multiple social and political relationships.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors v
- Acknowledgements ix
- The human condition is structurally unequal xi
-
International anti-poverty policy: the problems of the Washington Consensus
- Poverty, social exclusion and social polarisation: the need to construct an international welfare state 3
- Is rising income inequality inevitable? A critique of the ‘Transatlantic Consensus’ 25
- The international measurement of poverty and anti-poverty policies 53
-
Anti-poverty policies in rich countries
- Social policy in the US: workfare and the American low-wage labour market 83
- A European definition of poverty: the fight against poverty and social exclusion in the member states of the European Union 119
- Welfare state solidarity and support: the Czech Republic compared with the Netherlands 147
- Targeting welfare: on the functions and dysfunctions of means testing in social policy 171
-
Anti-poverty policies in poor countries
- Structural adjustment and mass poverty in Ghana 197
- Social funds in sub-Saharan Africa: how effective for poverty reduction? 233
- Urban water supply, sanitation and social policy: lessons from Johannesburg, South Africa 251
- Round pegs and square holes: mismatches between poverty and housing policy in urban India 271
- Urban poverty in China: incidence and policy responses 297
- ‘A new branch can be strengthened by an old branch’: livelihoods and challenges to inter-generational solidarity in South Africa 325
-
Future anti-poverty policies: national and international
- Human rights, transnational corporations and the World Bank 351
- Are we really reducing global poverty? 377
- 1% of €10,000 billion 401
- Conclusion: constructing an anti-poverty strategy 413
- Manifesto: international action to defeat poverty 433
- Index of material and social deprivation: national (UK) and cross-national 437
- Index 443
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors v
- Acknowledgements ix
- The human condition is structurally unequal xi
-
International anti-poverty policy: the problems of the Washington Consensus
- Poverty, social exclusion and social polarisation: the need to construct an international welfare state 3
- Is rising income inequality inevitable? A critique of the ‘Transatlantic Consensus’ 25
- The international measurement of poverty and anti-poverty policies 53
-
Anti-poverty policies in rich countries
- Social policy in the US: workfare and the American low-wage labour market 83
- A European definition of poverty: the fight against poverty and social exclusion in the member states of the European Union 119
- Welfare state solidarity and support: the Czech Republic compared with the Netherlands 147
- Targeting welfare: on the functions and dysfunctions of means testing in social policy 171
-
Anti-poverty policies in poor countries
- Structural adjustment and mass poverty in Ghana 197
- Social funds in sub-Saharan Africa: how effective for poverty reduction? 233
- Urban water supply, sanitation and social policy: lessons from Johannesburg, South Africa 251
- Round pegs and square holes: mismatches between poverty and housing policy in urban India 271
- Urban poverty in China: incidence and policy responses 297
- ‘A new branch can be strengthened by an old branch’: livelihoods and challenges to inter-generational solidarity in South Africa 325
-
Future anti-poverty policies: national and international
- Human rights, transnational corporations and the World Bank 351
- Are we really reducing global poverty? 377
- 1% of €10,000 billion 401
- Conclusion: constructing an anti-poverty strategy 413
- Manifesto: international action to defeat poverty 433
- Index of material and social deprivation: national (UK) and cross-national 437
- Index 443
