Anisha
Background
The administrators and the privileged (haves) sing the chorus of development, in the symphony of this choir the ‘have nots’ lose their melody ( ‘haves’ are the wealthy class, while ‘not haves’ are the disadvantaged groups). This is to say that development means different for all, and must be acknowledged. Unfortunately, the policies and urban planning cater only to a specific set of people in the city knowingly or unknowingly.
In this blog I shall share real life observations, relevant knowledge I gained in IMPRI cohort 3.0 and delve on the importance of the role that citizens play in shaping our social understanding, cognition and planning. The focus of this blog will be on stratification, class in particular. The objective is to understand how infrastructure and various policies serve the stratified social milieu; one can use this blog as a way of looking at any provision with scrutiny, and understanding the nuances of the implications of development.
Implications on occupation and mobility in public spaces
All the social classes acquire their livelihood through an occupation. While some social groups have the prerogative of shifting jobs, some classes depend on one type of occupation, e.g.; the agrarian sector, resources become oxygen for their work. While discussing the land use policies, a salient topic was picked up by Prof. Vishal Narain, who shed light on the metabolism of consuming resources in periurban areas ( areas where rural is transforming into urban; an area where the line between “urban” and “rural” is blurred).
The conclusion was that the rich landlords consume the water resources with advanced technology, leaving the poor people, particularly women with the herculean task of getting water for irrigation. One can see how the so-called development in these areas results in cultural lag ( when a social group doesn’t move with the pace of technological advancement) and affects the livelihood of people. The land usage for building roads and public places are now making it difficult for pedestrians and people who don’t own private vehicles to move across the city. Issues like safety of women, traffic and accidents pertain. The land is constantly being modified for development and aesthetic endeavors.
For instance, the park near my locality has wired animal sculptures within its circumference for beautification. This resulted in restrictions for the children to play and use the public space for leisure and socializing. The plight of some cities is that while curating the infrastructure plan the planners often use a standardized model and try to fit it in all the cities. The perpetual construction of the metro in Bangalore is a testimony of this failure, where the land is not sufficient to build such a complex system (as compared to Delhi), this can cause traffic in certain areas and difficulties in mobility.
Anecdotes: the tale of latent realities
Through my observation in the mundane routines of life, the experiences of different people in the same situation became palpable, and I’m here to share them. For instance, while tapping my metro card at the entry booth I witnessed some men shouting at a lady, why? Because she wasn’t acquainted with the working of a metro ticket, not a single person told her how the ticket is to be scanned; it was all clamor and no help.
Or the other instance when I was in my neighborhood market, and saw a girl defecating in open, when the pink public washroom (for women) was right next to her! Upon asking her why she didn’t use the washroom, she said that she ‘didn’t think it was made for people like her’. The first situation reflects the civic sense and level of empathy people have in fast paced metropolitan cities. It also shows the difference in knowledge people have for such a trivial thing; ways of living
stem from a person’s life chances (economic and material state of the person). The second scenario sounds bizarre, but unfortunately reflects the visceral psycho-social notions one develops; the self-fulfilling prophecy of being segregated from one class. What meets the eye is the proper establishment of a working metro and restrooms in the city, what isn’t visible are the normalized behaviors and ideologies that people using these infrastructures believe in. This is where we must enhance our civic sense and empathy to promote more inclusivity and sustainability in the city that we inhabit.
Solutions: realizing our agency as vigilant citizens
First and foremost, it is crucial to acknowledge that the policies impact citizens, and something like urban planning happens while the city moves and breathes. We as citizens are needed in the process of policy making, as we know the ground reality. The best way is to work with NGOs, communities based organizations, resident welfare associations etc.
The right to participate in urban local government is enshrined in the 74th amendment of the Indian Constitution. Mere participation and ideation aren’t enough, as in order to execute any task it is important to have enough funds. For this issue it is important to know how to raise funds through innovative financing ( e.g. through commercial loans, public-private partnership, community participation). Most of the time, due to legal restrictions and red tapism, it is hard to achieve the goals as citizens, in such a scenario we must persevere.
The latest outrage on sending dogs to shelters, and questioning on the conditions and infrastructure of dog shelters was a citizen led movement challenging the law passed by the court. Similarly, the tensions between Hyderabad University students and the redevelopment project demonstrates the role of citizens in the policy making process. The legal history has seen the introduction of PILs as a way of civic participation and its use by the public to protect social groups and individuals. While all the aforementioned goals are explicit, I would like to reiterate the importance of civic sense and empathy towards all social groups. In the quest of radical improvement, these qualities are foundational, guiding our actions and decisions.
Acknowledgement: The author sincerely thanks the IMPRI team for their valuable support.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organization.
Read more at IMPRI:
Beyond Ramps and Rails: Rethinking Accessibility in Urban Spaces Whose City Is It?
Soil Health Card Scheme: Cultivating Sustainability in Indian Agriculture
