Abstract
Instead of criminalizing slums, the global discourse on slums and urban poor is changing towards integration, rehabilitation, and internationalizing cities. As pleasant as it may look, it is important to critically reflect and evaluate the policies of upgradation and rehabilitation, especially in the global south. Is the change from criminalization to rehabilitation and integration true to its spirit or is it just another policy gimmick? This article uses critical discourse analysis to analyze an affidavit produced in an official report on the upgradation and rehabilitation of katchi abadis (slums) in Islamabad. The report describes the affidavit as the most important part of the process through which the urban poor become eligible for applying to the intended benefits of the development interventions, that is, the legalization of their housing. The affidavit is to be reproduced by the urban poor on a notarized stamped paper to be attested to by a magistrate of the first class (a Civil Judge). The discursive analysis of the affidavit shows that the text attempts to naturalize inequalities, criminalization, and essentialization of the urban poor. Further, having constructed their deviant status, the text shows that the urban poor must surrender some of their rights to access their right to housing in Islamabad.
Highlights
This article offers a discursive analysis of the mandatory affidavit that must be notarized by a public notary and attested to by a magistrate of the first class before submission by the slums’ dwellers who want their homes regularized in the first-ever slum upgradation and rehabilitation scheme of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in Islamabad, Pakistan
The affidavit is an outcome of the Local Initiative Facility for Urban Environment (LIFE) and Global Environmental Facility (GEF) programs funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for the upgradation and rehabilitation of slums in Islamabad
The Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICT Administration), Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), nongovernmental organizations (e.g., Paidar), Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority (SKAA), Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UN-ESCAP), UNDP, CDA, and representatives from the slums are the most relevant to the argument proposed in this article
Summary
This article offers a discursive analysis of the mandatory affidavit that must be notarized by a public notary and attested to by a magistrate of the first class (a Civil Judge in the lowest echelons of the judicial branch) before submission by the slums’ dwellers who want their homes regularized in the first-ever slum upgradation and rehabilitation scheme of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in Islamabad, Pakistan. The affidavit is an outcome of the Local Initiative Facility for Urban Environment (LIFE) and Global Environmental Facility (GEF) programs funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for the upgradation and rehabilitation of slums in Islamabad. The Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICT Administration), Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), nongovernmental organizations (e.g., Paidar), Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority (SKAA), Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UN-ESCAP), UNDP, CDA, and representatives from the slums are the most relevant to the argument proposed in this article. Development practitioners and development beneficiaries must interact, offering insights into the development in practice in countries such as Pakistan
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