Session Brief

With significant population growth, while cities have expanded infrastructure, but rarely been ahead of the demand, specially affordable housing. Limited options are then available to the low-income segment, often leading to an increase in slums and squatter settlements. With every sixth Indian living in slums and 65 percent of our urban centres being a slum, slum upgrading or relocation programmes and projects are not unknown to the country. The ‘sites and services’ approach devised by the World Bank in Chennai, India in 1972 is one such approach where the focus shifted from supplying a fully serviced house to that of providing only serviced land. ”Sweat equity" and other resources of the beneficiaries in the actual construction of the house was used instead. With the above in mind, this session intends to give spotlight to the new and innovative elements in slum upgrading that ensure a green, healthy, economically prosperous, and equitable future to all. It also will attempt to unpack relocation and draw attention to key questions such as:

Speakers