Structure and Mobility in a Delhi Slum: 1988–2013

Abstract

Slums constitute the fastest-growing segment of most developing countries today. Their weight in the economy as well as politics of these regions is also likely to grow with time. The need to understand the changing economic profile and patterns of mobility inside slums of the twenty-first century through intensive longitudinal studies, along with macro surveys of their demography and livelihood patterns, is thus obvious. The present article draws upon my engagement, since 1988, with a Delhi slum called Aradhaknagar to present an outline of shifts in the occupational, income and assets profile of the community based on surveys, personal interviews and group discussions within Aradhaknagar and on comparisons with six other slum reports, from different cities of India, over the same broad period. While a small improvement in the living standards of both formal and informal sector employees is discerned in wages and assets held by concerned families since 1988, spiralling inflation seems to have hurt many informal sector workers in recent years. The article closes with an analysis of factors which seem to pull down workers trying to struggle around the bottom rungs of the urban social ladder and those that help in their efforts, occasionally.