Pavement dwellers
As Pavement dwellers (from English pavement - pavement; dweller - residents) are homeless designated people who use public space of the city, especially sidewalks when sleeping. This form of homelessness is particularly common in the metropolises of developing countries .
history
Pavement dwellers are mostly new arrivals from the countryside to the big cities . They came to sell the products of their family farms in town or to find work. Originally this was a type of pendulum. Either there was no means of transport or it was very overcrowded, leaving many with no other option than to spend the night in the city. This phenomenon first appeared in Mumbai at the beginning of the 20th century . Due to a lack of affordable housing, dock workers lived on the streets, especially on the so-called "Eastern Waterfront". They slept along streets, on bridges, on factory walls and on warehouses to be as close as possible to their workplaces.
In principle, sleeping outside in southern India is not uncommon in the warm season. Sleeping on the roof of the house in particular has the advantage that it cools down the fastest after sunset. However, sleeping on the sidewalk has safety risks. By forming groups it was possible for one to stay alert while the others slept. However, this did not prevent disturbances from street noise, insects and rodents.
As the life of the newcomers became more stable, family members followed suit, and with them the desire for at least minimal privacy. So they built a place to sleep with the available materials - informal living in the pavement dwellers had begun.
In 1959, the Mumbai economic survey counted 20,000 pavement dwellers. Their numbers increased exponentially in the 1970s and 1980s. According to official census, there were 200,000 people living on the sidewalks in Kolkata in 1985 . However, unofficial estimates put it at 500,000.
Construction
There are different ways to separate your sleeping place from others, to protect yourself and your belongings. The simplest option is a tarpaulin that is attached to a wall and weighted down with stones on the other side. Corrugated iron or wooden structures, which are covered with tarpaulin during the monsoon season, offer more protection . There are also buildings made of steel or brick, which can even be multi-story. The sleeping areas on the upper floor are usually accessible via ladders.
The life
Most pavement dwellers have a job. This is usually a very poorly paid job that no one else wants to do. In contrast to slum dwellers (residents of the slums ), who have a valid address and thus receive both a voting card and grocery cards to purchase discounted food, pavement dwellers do not receive any state support. The lack of sanitary facilities is a major problem. Men and children mostly use public space; women either go to public toilets or wait for dark.
Life on the sidewalk is not free. Usually local gangs control an area and demand protection money from newcomers or regularly . The materials they use to build their homes also have to be bought. The rest of the money is spent on water, food and possibly electricity. A survey in April 2015 among Pavement dwellers in Kolkata shows that theft, inter-family disputes, lack of sanitary facilities, police harassment and drinking water are among the biggest problems:
| problem | high | medium | low |
|---|---|---|---|
| Police chicanery | 66 | 18th | 16 |
| Drinking water | 62 | 8th | 30th |
| Income and occupation | 49 | 42 | 9 |
| accommodation | 65 | 21st | 14th |
| Sanitary facilities | 67 | 14th | 19th |
| privacy | 40 | 50 | 10 |
| Disputes, fights | 80 | 18th | 2 |
| Seasons, weather | 54 | 30th | 16 |
| Cook | 22nd | 61 | 17th |
| health | 52 | 36 | 12 |
| Disturbances in sleeping | 60 | 36 | 4th |
| theft | 82 | 9 | 9 |
Legal situation
From the beginning there was the problem that the material for the dwellings was bought, but the sidewalk is public space. In addition, the Supreme Court in India ruled that the city government has the right to keep sidewalks free from huts and interference. In 1981, thousands of huts were destroyed on the sidewalks in Mumbai and residents were transported out of the city.
In July 1985 the Supreme Court in India ruled that those who had been present for more than 20 years were either allowed to stay or had to be relocated. This was the first, albeit small, legal claim for pavement dwellers. In 1995 that court ruling became the Slum Rehabilitation Act in India.
Possible solutions
In 1985 the NGO SPARC (Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers) was founded. Their philosophy is learning from precedents. Together with other NGOs, they try to solve a problem locally for a small group, then adapt the solution and expand it. An important partner was and is Mahila Milan . The name means "women together" and it is an organization that 600 women from Pavement dwellers founded as self-help.
- Toilets
There were toilet facilities in some areas, but they were not used. SPARC investigated the reasons and found that the facilities were too far away and poorly preserved. There were too few toilets for the large number of people, especially children were pushed aside and relieved themselves in the open air.
SPARC carried out a survey with Mahila Milan among the women concerned and quickly found that individual toilets were out of the question for reasons of cost. The water supply was neither sufficient nor could the sewer connection be financed. Together they determined how big the communal toilets should be and what distance is reasonable. SPARC planned the toilets, the state provided the land and built the facilities. The women helped with the construction and did the maintenance. After starting in Mumbai in 1993, the project was expanded to Kanpur , Bangalore , Madurai and Cochin .
- electricity
By 1995, 80% of the pavement dwellers had no electricity. After the state legalization of the pavement dwellers through the Slum Rehabilitation Act in 1995, it was possible to sign contracts with the energy supplier . SPARC and other NGOs agreed to pay the bills and collect the money from users. Electricity is important for cooking and also for ventilation in the hot season. It also increases safety, as many accommodations are built from easily flammable materials like wood and plastic and are otherwise cooked over an open fire.
- Apartments
A difficult but central point is the creation of affordable housing. This is a lengthy process that started in 1995. The approach taken by NGOs is again to involve those affected in the projects. One possibility is for the state to provide the building land and the pavement dwellers to build the houses themselves with loans.
Pavement dwellers - worldwide
It all started in Mumbai in India, today there are pavement dwellers in many cities, especially in India, but also in other Asian and African cities, for example in
- Rio de Janeiro
- Johannesburg
- Dhaka
- Kolkata
- Mumbai
Life on the street has improved in many areas. Pavement dwellers are a part of the history of many cities and they are an indispensable workforce today. In the public and in politics, however, they are still largely ignored despite advances in legislation, so pavement dwellers are not included in the Indian development plan 2014 to 2034.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Sytse de Maat: Pavement Dwellings. Retrieved February 15, 2019 .
- ↑ urbz.net, Mumbai's pavement dwellers and their homes. Retrieved February 15, 2019 .
- ^ A b c Letitia Allemand & Marie Sagnières: Along Bombay's Streets, On Pavement Dwellers and Their Homes . Énoncé théorique EPFL - ENAC - SAR - MASTER. January 2015, p. 87-91 .
- ^ A b Letitia Allemand & Marie Sagnières: Along Bombay's Streets, On Pavement Dwellers and Their Homes. January 2015, pp. 120ff , accessed on February 15, 2019 (English).
- ↑ Letitia Allemand & Marie Sagnières: Along Bombay's Streets, On pavement dwellers and Their Homes. January 2015, p. 100 , accessed February 15, 2019 (English).
- ↑ Falguni Dey, Kannya Kumari Majumder: Pavement Dwellers in Kolkata, Issues and Challanges. April 2, 2015, p. 10 , accessed on February 15, 2019 .
- ^ A b Letitia Allemand & Marie Sagnières: Along Bombay's Streets, On Pavement Dwellers and Their Homes. January 2015, p. 92f , accessed on February 15, 2019 (English).
- ^ SRA India, Slum Rehabilitation Authority, Mumbai. Retrieved February 15, 2019 .
- ↑ a b SPARC, How We Began. (PDF) Retrieved February 15, 2019 .
- ↑ SPARC Annual Report 2017-2018. (PDF) p. 27 , accessed on February 15, 2019 (English).
- ↑ Letitia Allemand & Marie Sagnières: Along Bombay's Streets, On pavement dwellers and Their Homes. January 2015, p. 237 , accessed on February 15, 2019 .