Popular settlements in the city of Allahabad: Findings from three case studies

Abstract

This article is based on research undertaken in three ‘popular settlements’ in Allahabad, India by staff from the International Institute for Development Research. (The term ‘popular settlement’ covers all forms of the housing submarket through which low income groups find accommodation.) It is part of a wider research programme undertaken in four different Third World cities to establish how and why low income, illegal and quasi-legal settlements develop, the extent to which they provide shelter for the city's population and the problems faced by their inhabitants. This article concentrates on three illegal and essentially self-built settlements in Allahabad, looking at the growth and development of Allahabad and the settlements within it; the findings of case studies in the three settlements; and the findings of a survey on the health problems faced by the inhabitants.