The cross-territorial struggle of migrants during the COVID-19 lockdown is the latest expose of decayed social cohesion and unaddressed inequalities in the peri-urban areas of large Indian cities. To accommodate the rising challenges posed by migration and urbanisation, there is a need to scientifically scrutinise the dynamics of these challenges at a territorial scale and propose new approaches of governance. The population of India tripled since 1950 to 1.35 Bn and extent of urbanization doubled, reaching up to 34% in 2018 (UN, 2018). Sustainably accommodating this surge is challenging for India, given its strained institutional capacity (WB, 2011). As the Indian urbanization is a by-product of rural-urban migration (Jain & Jehling, 2020), it transforms peripheral rural areas into small towns and further into intermediate cities, impacting the cohesion of territory. Such peri-urban areas foster rural-urban links, food chains and circular economy. However, due to infrastructure inadequacy, they develop socio-economic and ecological dereliction. (Schindler & Mukhopadhyay, 2017). Scholars argue that spatial disparities in the Global South exacerbate due to unfair land use planning and infrastructure provision, which is a result of redundant land use norms and outdated institutional system based on colonial legacies (Ansari, 2004). With the immediate lockdown that took effect from 22nd March, 2020, several migrants lost their jobs and basic livelihood options. The lockdown also sparked a catastrophic reverse migration crisis, the economic effects of which will start to be felt in the coming months (Roy, 2020). Many of the migrants were stranded in several parts of the country with absolutely no food to eat. Issues like rapid growth, and mixed physical, environmental, economic and social strains emerge in these areas in a variety of ways, but they also display clear commonalities as well. This depicts the overall impact of social mobilisation and the societal crisis of migrants working in Indian cities. Planning is an integrated process where the focus should be on Planning for ‘people’ rather than planning for ‘cities’. Data reveals that there exists a relationship between economic opportunities and poor households employed as casual workers in the peri-urban areas. The link is attributed to implicit challenges present in these areas stemming from the absence of formal regulations, governing body and laws in place. The link is attributed to implicit challenges present in these areas stemming from the absence of formal regulations, governing body and laws in place. Economic shocks strongly affected those households that were already vulnerable prior to the pandemic – such as people who migrated to the city area for jobs, healthcare services, education and with the onset of the crisis situation, they were forced to migrate back to their homes. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of these peri-urban areas with weak institutional capacities that got exemplified. On this backdrop, the paper aims to examine the planning and governance aspects of migrants’ crises in India’s peri-urban areas and attempts to propose policy solutions aimed at enabling new approaches in regional governance.
The Lisbon Early-Career Workshop in Urban Studies / Girgaonkar, Piyush; Aditi, Anwesha. - (2022). (Intervento presentato al convegno The Lisbon Early-Career Workshop in Urban Studies tenutosi a Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon (ICS-UL), Lisbon, Portugal).
The Lisbon Early-Career Workshop in Urban Studies
Anwesha AditiSecondo
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2022
Abstract
The cross-territorial struggle of migrants during the COVID-19 lockdown is the latest expose of decayed social cohesion and unaddressed inequalities in the peri-urban areas of large Indian cities. To accommodate the rising challenges posed by migration and urbanisation, there is a need to scientifically scrutinise the dynamics of these challenges at a territorial scale and propose new approaches of governance. The population of India tripled since 1950 to 1.35 Bn and extent of urbanization doubled, reaching up to 34% in 2018 (UN, 2018). Sustainably accommodating this surge is challenging for India, given its strained institutional capacity (WB, 2011). As the Indian urbanization is a by-product of rural-urban migration (Jain & Jehling, 2020), it transforms peripheral rural areas into small towns and further into intermediate cities, impacting the cohesion of territory. Such peri-urban areas foster rural-urban links, food chains and circular economy. However, due to infrastructure inadequacy, they develop socio-economic and ecological dereliction. (Schindler & Mukhopadhyay, 2017). Scholars argue that spatial disparities in the Global South exacerbate due to unfair land use planning and infrastructure provision, which is a result of redundant land use norms and outdated institutional system based on colonial legacies (Ansari, 2004). With the immediate lockdown that took effect from 22nd March, 2020, several migrants lost their jobs and basic livelihood options. The lockdown also sparked a catastrophic reverse migration crisis, the economic effects of which will start to be felt in the coming months (Roy, 2020). Many of the migrants were stranded in several parts of the country with absolutely no food to eat. Issues like rapid growth, and mixed physical, environmental, economic and social strains emerge in these areas in a variety of ways, but they also display clear commonalities as well. This depicts the overall impact of social mobilisation and the societal crisis of migrants working in Indian cities. Planning is an integrated process where the focus should be on Planning for ‘people’ rather than planning for ‘cities’. Data reveals that there exists a relationship between economic opportunities and poor households employed as casual workers in the peri-urban areas. The link is attributed to implicit challenges present in these areas stemming from the absence of formal regulations, governing body and laws in place. The link is attributed to implicit challenges present in these areas stemming from the absence of formal regulations, governing body and laws in place. Economic shocks strongly affected those households that were already vulnerable prior to the pandemic – such as people who migrated to the city area for jobs, healthcare services, education and with the onset of the crisis situation, they were forced to migrate back to their homes. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of these peri-urban areas with weak institutional capacities that got exemplified. On this backdrop, the paper aims to examine the planning and governance aspects of migrants’ crises in India’s peri-urban areas and attempts to propose policy solutions aimed at enabling new approaches in regional governance.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.