Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their experience in Asia’s biggest slum in comparison to poor communities in their home regions.

By Jibrin Ibrahim, Centre for Democracy and Development (Nigeria)

The majority of people in the contemporary world, including in Africa, have moved from the rural to the urban areas. These people live precarious lives trying to make a living from the informal economy. The proletariat Karl Marx assured us would make the revolution are nowhere to be found. What we have in the rapidly expanding mega cities are the precariat whose livelihood, and indeed lives, are at risk from irregular and insufficient income. Their lives are traumatic as they suffer from the toxicity of the water, air and soil around them. » Continue reading “Dharavi Reflection 7″

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their experience in Asia’s biggest slum in comparison to poor communities in their home regions.

By Tanja Hichert, Hichert & Associates and SA Node of the Millennium Project (South Africa)

Where to even begin in trying to answer the question of what Dharavi signifies about the future of the urban poor? I came away from visiting Dharavi – a most overwhelming experience– with many more questions than answers, and a sense that the complexity governing it cannot be understood, albeit not easily. So suffice to say, I am still thinking and mulling and questioning, and will probably carry on doing so for the time being. » Continue reading “Dharavi Reflection 6″

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their experience in Asia’s biggest slum in comparison to poor communities in their home regions.

By Fernando Prada, FORO Nacional / Internacional (Peru)

Visiting Dharavi has made me reexamine some ideas about social networks, leadership, and sense of community. First, that social networks tend to be strong where conditions are adverse is a common idea but very hard to appreciate in the field, let alone to measure. For every case study supporting this hypothesis, there is another cross-country study showing that poverty conditions erode social networks. Second, that leadership can make the difference does not say anything about how leadership surges and how communities can survive their leaders. Third, that the sense of community can make people work together for their common good regardless of their differences sometimes sound like wishful thinking and an impractical idea to implement in the field. In the three cases, visiting Dharavi has provided clear evidence that social networks become stronger when a group of people face a common problem; that leadership guiding efforts toward a common goal can make the difference and promote the surge of new leaders in the process; and that the sense of community can make communities work more efficiently. » Continue reading “Dharavi Reflection 5″

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their experience in Asia’s biggest slum in comparison to poor communities in their home regions.

By Sowmya Suryanarayanan, Strategic Foresight Group (India)

In the first instance, Dharavi comes across as a typical slum with shacks of varied sizes and shapes piled on top of one another. However, what is remarkable about Dharavi is how this large group of migrant population has managed to create employment opportunities that support them and their families with minimal aid from the government. In addition, they have created markets for their products both within and outside the slum area, which has made the community self sustaining. » Continue reading “Dharavi Reflection 4″

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their experience in Asia’s biggest slum in comparison to poor communities in their home regions.

By Dinh The Phong, National Institute for Science and Technology Policy and Strategy Studies (NISTPASS) (Vietnam)

The problem of the urban poor is a permanent one of all developing countries and an inherent characteristic of these countries. Thomas Friedman’s 2005 book The World Is Flat focused on the idea that countries in the world are getting more equal chances to compete on an increasingly level playing field. However, looking at this issue from another angle might reveal a quite spiky world. The problem is predicting whether the world will be flatter or spikier. If we compare the worst conditions of the present urban poor to those of the past, then we see an improving world. If we, however, look at the gap between the condition of the poorest and the richest in the world, then we might see a decreasing trend. So, it depends more or less on how we want to see and perceive the world. » Continue reading “Dharavi Reflection 3″

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their site visits to pro-poor initiatives in Mumbai. Attendees discuss the need and role of these social enterprises in their current context as well as in the writer’s home region. URBZ is an organization operating in Dharavi that facilitates the production and exchange of information, knowledge, ideas and practices towards better cities for all.

By Mario Bazan, FORO Nacional/Internacional (Peru)

The visit to URBZ in Mumbai was more than interesting.  I come from Lima, Peru’s largest city, and the size and number of people living in Mumbai impressed me. In particular, Dharavi showed a permanent landscape of contrasts, between poverty and entrepreneurship, overcrowding and coexistence, and exclusion and innovation, which clearly presents challenges and the potential for improving the lives of people that live there. » Continue reading “URBZ”

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their experience in Asia’s biggest slum in comparison to poor communities in their home regions.

By Pun-Arj Chairatana, Noviscape Consulting Group & Chulalongkorn University (Thailand)

“Dharavi”: the name associates with a stream, reflects a symbiotic relation between people and water. Dharavi signifies about the future of the urban poor in three aspects: » Continue reading “Dharavi Reflection 2″

Searchlight participants who attended “The Future of the Urban Poor” convening in Mumbai in April 2011 offer thoughts on their experience in Asia’s biggest slum in comparison to poor communities in their home regions.

By Dr. Julius Gatune, Africa Centre for Economic Transformation (Ghana)

Dharavi is the reality that will face many of the rapidly urbanizing populations around the world. However, the future of the urban poor need not be as bleak as Dharavi shows. We saw examples of programs to improve the living conditions in slums, along with actively supporting the growth of slum-based industries. » Continue reading “Dharavi Reflection 1″