Inclusive Urban Planning and Development Through the Earmarking of Land and Housing for the Urban Poor

Abstract

Inclusive urban planning and development is becoming the necessity of the day in Indian cities given the vast proportion of urban population already living in the slums and also a large number of people still looking at cities as the places of livelihoods, thereby the places for living. Given the scale of issue and its importance, preparedness towards accommodating such large low-income and immigrant population would require both policy and implementation efforts at all the levels of government – Central, State and Local. The current paper reviews such attempts towards it first - both International (USA, UK, South Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific) and Indian experiences (States and Cities); it then suggests the major requirements of such an action. The implementation process of earmarking land/housing for urban poor as JNNURM reform is also discussed.

Keywords: Inclusive urban planning, earmarking, land, housing and urban poor