Marginality and social exclusion in Punjab, Pakistan: A threat to urban sustainability

Abstract

Urban sustainability depends upon different complex factors and marginality and social exclusion are working as threat to it. Marginality and social exclusion is a complex patchwork that includes different institutional factor and constraints. Marginality is a situation where an individual or a group is at margin in a certain social, economic or cultural characteristics due to some causal complexes and exclude such groups or individual from the rest of population. Recent literature gives much importance to the issue of marginality and social exclusion. This paper in line with the theoretical building of marginality and social exclusion with the socio-economic, cultural, ethnic and spatial dimensions, develop indices of marginality and social exclusion for the urban centers of Punjab province. The paper examines the extent of marginality and social exclusion among the population identified as marginal on the basis of the analytical framework developed. The study uses two datasets of MICS (Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey) for the province of Punjab, Pakistan (2007-08, 2010-11) and ranked urban areas into more to less marginality and social exclusion. GIS thematic mapping is also used to represent marginality and social exclusion hotspot for the 36 urban centers of Punjab, Pakistan.