Working paper, LEAD Pakistan, March 2017

Transcription

1 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 1 Rapid Urbanization and Environmental Degradation: The Economic Empowerment Impacts on Women in Informal settlements Working paper, LEAD Pakistan, March

2 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 2 Table of Contents ABSTRACT... 3 INTRODUCTION... 4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND METHODOLOGY KEY STAKEHOLDERS SLUM MAPPING KEY FINDINGS UNTIL NOW KEY RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON PRELIMINARY FINDINGS. 25 WORKS CITED

3 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 3 Abstract One of the outcomes of rampant scale of economic growth in South Asia is the emergence of slums, where urban poverty is on a rise and where due to environmental degradation, the poor especially women are facing the negative impacts of economic growth. Poor infrastructure, climate risks and enhanced vulnerability to environmental hazards in slums intersect to define the lives of the urban poor, especially women and acts as a barrier to women s economic empowerment in particular and economic growth of the cities and countries in general. The present study will gather primary and secondary data through mixed research methods and try to establish the relationship and the differential impact of environmental degradation arising out of economic growth on slums dwellers, especially the women. 3

4 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 4 INTRODUCTION Rapid Urbanization and Growing Environmental Vulnerability in South Asia Analysis of World Health Organization outdoor air pollution in cities data reveals that, from a global sample of 381 developing-country cities, 19 of the 20 with the highest annual mean concentrations of PM2.5 are in South Asia. Karachi has the most polluted air amongst Pakistani cities in the sample, with an annual mean concentration of 117 ug/m 3, which is twice the recorded annual mean concentration for Beijing, China. According to the Agglomeration Index, an alternative measure of urban concentration, the share of Pakistan s population living in areas with urban characteristics in 2010 was 55.8 percent. This compares to an urban share of the population based on official definitions of urban areas of just less than 36 percent, suggesting the existence of considerable hidden urbanization. In terms of our research study sites, India has the largest urban population in the world. As per the Annual Report launched by the Ministry of Urban Development, India a total of 377 million, comprising 31.2% of the India s population, resides in towns (Census 2011). This is projected to increase to 33% by About 6343 slums with approximately lakhs households were estimated to be in existence in urban Delhi in 2012 (Government of India, 2015). Zaman, Alam,& Islam, (2010) discuss that unless there are effective policies in place to manage urbanization the he growing disparity in living standards in Dhaka between the slum dwellers on one side and well-to-do urban elites on the other may lead to increased social and political 4

5 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 5 instability. Water and air pollution from poor waste and traffic management poses serious health risks. The already acute slum population is growing further, contributing to serious human and law and order problems. All major cities in South Asia are facing similar problems. In general, poverty, deplorable condition of slums, corruption and inefficiency in service delivery, weak governance and poor finances are characteristic of all South Asian mega cities: Dhaka, Kolkata, Karachi, Mumbai and Delhi. Dhaka probably ranks the worst, however, in terms of infrastructure, service delivery and city governance (Siddiqui, 2004). Most South Asian countries figure within the top quarter of the 193 countries at climate risk and are among the top 20 within Asia. Since 1971, around 825,000 people in South Asian region have died in natural disasters, while direct damages were over 80 billion dollars. In the past decade alone, nearly 700 million people, half of the region's population, were affected by one or more disasters (World Bank, 2013). According to the World Bank s report- Turn down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience (2013), South Asia is likely to suffer the most as the result of Climate Change. The region is likely to be impacted by extreme droughts and floods, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and declines in food production. Warming climate will contribute to slowing the reduction in poverty. While the lives of everyone in the region will be altered by climate change, the impacts of progressive global warming will fall hardest on the poor, women and children. In cities, the poor will suffer with temperatures magnified by the so-called heat island effect of the built environments. Safe drinking water will become increasingly constrained and alternatives, 5

6 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 6 especially during and after flooding, are likely to contribute to greater water-borne diseases such as cholera and diarrhea (World Bank, 2013). Women s Particular Vulnerability to Environmental Corollaries of Rapid Urban Growth and Climate Change Urbanization has had a dual impact on poverty and especially on poor women. Poverty and social exclusion in South Asia are significant with 35% of the urban population; million people currently living in slums and squatter settlements, the highest proportion in the region (Asian Development Bank, 2012). Women are particularly vulnerable to the risks associated with urban poverty, although urbanization is often associated with greater independence for women, however at the same time, gender inequalities in cities are substantial barriers to development in many, if not most, developing countries. (Asian Development Bank, 2012). UN-HABITAT s State of the World s Cities Report shows that in some countries, woman-headed households suffer disproportionately from inadequate housing in poor urban neighborhoods. In addition, climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of heatwaves in the South Asian region (Huang et al. 2011; Knowlton et al. 2007; Meehl and Tebaldi 2004; Patz 2005). As global temperatures rise, extreme heat events are predicted to intensify in severity (hotter days and nights), regularity (number of hot days and nights), and length (heat waves). The 2015 heatwaves in India and Pakistan claimed nearly 2500 and 2000 lives across both countries respectively (Ahmedabad Heat Action Plan, 2016) (IPCC, 2007). Lower income groups and women are most vulnerable to such losses. Slum residents, the elderly and the young, poor 6

7 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 7 communities, and outdoor workers such as construction laborers are most likely to suffer from heat stress impacts due to prolonged exposure to heat, underlying health status, and lack of access to coping mechanisms such as air conditioning (Knowlton et al., 2007). The report by COHRE on Women, slums and urbanization: Examining the causes and consequences discusses the differential impact of urbanization and the growth of city slums on women. Today, about half of international and national migrants globally are women. While previous studies revealed that most women accompany or join family members, most often their husbands in the city, this trend appears to be changing. New trends show an increasing number of female migrants migrating on their own, as an increasing number of women are now the principal wage earners for themselves and their families. Women move to urban areas for a number of different reasons, ranging from seeking income. Slum life has never been easy for the urban poor insofar as housing and living conditions are concerned. For women, the problems are especially acute (Urbanization: Challenges and Opportunities, 2014). Since women and girls who live in slums are more involved in environment based hazardous livelihoods and responsibilities for instance, much of the work involving disposal of garbage and solid waste is done by women in slums. Additionally, since they spend a large portion of their time at home their exposure to climate induced hazards such as heat waves and water borne diseases caused by flooding and rain is more as compared to men (COHRE, 2008). Due to the urban geographies and spatial structuring of slums, women have been classified as highly vulnerable in terms of not only suffering from environmental hazards but also in their ability cope and recover from them. For the purposes of this study vulnerability includes not only physical 7

8 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 8 exposure to extreme events and adverse outcomes, but also the role of social structures and differential access to resources in making certain groups more disadvantaged. In slums, due to increasing population density, reduced access to basic services, greater vulnerability and financial/livelihood insecurities, exposure to environmental hazards impacts women more due to their position, traditional outlook on gender in South Asia, limited coping mechanism and mobility. The dangers to women and children in slum settlements raise additional concerns. Women living in urban areas are far more likely to report gender based violence than those living in rural areas. According to the COHRE report the absence of safe and private spaces in slum settlements, including amenities as basic as toilets, also has a greater impact on women than men. When forced to relieve themselves in public, women often wait until nightfall, when they have the additional privacy of darkness, but also the added danger of assault. Another major challenge that women face in their daily lives is living with inadequate basic services. Women, being responsible for domestic chores, recognized that this situation represented a bigger challenge for them since they needed to accomplish chores around the house in the absence of basic service (World Bank, 2013). Women carry water in basins from the tanks to their houses in order to cook, clean, and use for daily chores. Since women are the ones who spend more time with the children and in the house, the lack of proper services affects them the most. When there is not enough water or gas, or when there is a power outage, it is the women who need to improvise solutions because, as they said, the cooking, the washing, and the bathing of babies needs to be done anyway. (COHRE, 2008) Women also said that poor sanitation affects them and their children the most, because they stay in the 8

9 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 9 slums longer compared to men. Women work within the slum, and they take primary responsibility for household chores. In terms of women who live in slums and their coping mechanisms in face of climate induced disasters, studies have shown that women who are the sole breadwinners for themselves and their families, are more likely to be poor, they are also more likely to experience shelter deprivation in face of natural hazards. Natural disasters and climate-related changes to the environment, like desertification, drought, or rising sea levels, can also disrupt the common forms of paid work in which women engage, such as home-based businesses or peri-urban agriculture, making postdisaster income generation more difficult and heightening financial insecurity for women (UN HABITAT Study, 2007). Barriers to slum based business growth reduce the availability of goods and services for poor slum dwellers, increasing real and opportunity costs. Slums are often characterized by insufficient service provision from the public and private formal sectors. For example, infrastructure availability is significantly lower in slums as compared to broader cities, with access rates in slums often comparable to or lower than those in rural areas. Inadequate infrastructure can reduce economic productivity by increasing the time required to access basic services and resources (e.g., water collection outside of the slum) and by shortening the workday (e.g., due to lack of light and electricity) (Glaeser & Ghani, 2014). Women are generally more likely than men to be informally employed. Within the informal economy, women typically have lower income and a higher risk of poverty than men. This is largely driven by their overrepresentation as own account workers and industrial 9

10 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 10 outworkers, informal worker segments that experience lower average earnings. Women also tend to have lower average education levels and greater household and childcare responsibilities relative to men, further constraining their economic opportunities (Swaniti, 2015). RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND METHODOLOGY This on-going research in slums in Lahore, Islamabad, Dhaka and Delhi aims to address the following broad questions: a) what are the negative environmental and climatic repercussions of rapid economic growth and urbanization at the household level in slums of Dhaka, Delhi, Lahore and Islamabad? b) How are these impacts undermining the quality of life and socio-economic wellbeing of the urban poor living in slums? c) Are women in informal settlements more vulnerable to such negative repercussions than men, and if so, what measures can be instituted to reduce their enhanced vulnerability? The research questions will enable us to examine the following hypotheses: a) Rapid economic growth and unchecked urbanization has led to the formation of slums and informal settlements in South Asia; b) The environmental degradation impacts of rapid economic growth and urbanization are particularly severe for slum residents; c) Women in slums are particularly vulnerable to both localized environmental degradation effects such as land erosion, water and air contamination, as well as global climate change shocks such as heat waves, flash floods and epidemics. Women bear the inordinate burden of insufficient access to water and sanitation and health services (WASH), high population density, and poor housing and infrastructure in slum areas. This undermines their economic empowerment across a range of indicators through the loss of time, earning opportunities, and social capital. 10

11 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 11 The preceding hypothesis is being tested using questionnaire-based household surveys. Overall, 1200 male and female respondents are being surveyed from 12 selected slums across Islamabad, Lahore, Delhi, and Dhaka cities, 3 from each city. The 12 slums across the four cities were selected based on a uniformly defined criterion. This included the requirement for each slum to be, a) non-notified, b) geographically dispersed, and c) prone to an environmental hazard. The survey instrument, a structured questionnaire, has been meticulously designed after extensive consultative sessions in each city. The survey data is being collected based on a multistage stratified random sampling strategy. The data from surveys will be complemented by Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with relevant stakeholders such as the representatives of city development authorities in Dhaka, Delhi, Lahore and Islamabad cities, as well as unstructured interviews with community leaders from the 12 slums under survey. The survey interviews are being conducted at the household level from men and women aged 18 and above. Well-defined field protocols were developed and reviewed extensively prior to implementing the survey instrument in the field. In order to ensure randomness in the data collection, a GPS-based methodology was adopted for the identification of starting points for enumerator field work in each slum. Due to the wide variability in the definition of slums across the 4 cities, our study defined slums according to the UN-Habitat criteria. The UN-Habitat describes slums as having characteristics such as over-crowding, insecurity of tenure, densely built and poor housing quality, lack of basic services such as sanitation and garbage disposal, high levels of indoor and outdoor atmospheric pollution, poor safety and health status, high vulnerability to disasters such as water-logging, storms, droughts, earthquakes, fires, and outbreak of contagious diseases (UN-Habitat, 2016). A 11

12 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 12 slum household in our study is defined as a group of individuals who share a kitchen i.e. eat out of/from the same kitchen. KEY STAKEHOLDERS Our primary stakeholders are government agencies since they have the official jurisdiction to affect change within informal settlements such as slums. This is even more pertinent since the areas under our study are non-notified i.e. illegal settlements. The specific stakeholders include city development authorities in the 4 cities. For Pakistan, these include the Katchi Abadis Department of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in Islamabad, the Katchi Abadis Department of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) in Lahore and the Punjab Katchi Abadis Directorate. For Dhaka, the relevant public agencies are Social Welfare and Slum Development Department of the Dhaka North City Corporation and the Dhaka South City Corporation, as well as the Dhaka Capital Development Authority (RAJUK). For India, the relevant public agencies are the Slum Departments of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the New Delhi Municipal Council (NMDC), and the Delhi Cantonment Board. Our stakeholders also include politicians at a broader level, in particular women parliamentarians, since political interference in the decision-making of public sector agencies across all three countries is rife. Relevant city development authorities in all 3 countries are frequently subjected to central government influence vis-a-vis key planning decisions. Although the politicization of decision-making stands in the way of sound policy-making, this is prevailing mode of dealing with key urban planning issues, and taking politicians on board our research results will be important for this reason. 12

13 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 13 SLUM MAPPING The tables below depict mappings of each of the 3 slums selected for our field survey in Islamabad, Lahore, Dhaka and Delhi cities. The mapping was carried out based on information from surveyors who carried out a thorough scoping exercise at each slum location. Slum boundaries were delineated using Google Earth and ArcGIS software. Subsequently, 10 starting points were generated randomly within each slum boundary to demarcate starting points for field enumerators using ArcMap. Population estimates for each slum were also obtained during the scoping exercise. The slum mapping and population estimates were based on details provided by the local communities themselves on areas that they considered to be a part of their community. Therefore, we adopted the functional definition of the slum based on each local community s own definition. This approach was adopted as the most viable alternative to census data on nonnotified slums, which is mostly unavailable at present. 13

14 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 14 Dhaka Slums Keranijang Slum, Dhaka Jhutt Patti Tong Basti, Dhaka Population: Approximately 3 million residents Population: Approximately 1937 residents Location: The Keranijang slum in Dhaka is Location: The Jhutt Patti Tong Basti is located in the West City locale of Dhaka city. It located in the Northern part of Dhaka in the falls at the low-lying area of the confluence of Pallabai neighborhood. It falls under the the Buriganga river and the Shittalakhya River. jurisdiction of the Dhaka North City The slum has more than 3 million residents Corporation, Ward No. 2. Slums in this area spread over a sizeable area. The slum is highly mostly rely on contaminated water for vulnerable to flood waters. household consumption. Sattala Basti, Dhaka Population: Approximately 5063 residents Location: The Sattala Basti is located in Banani, Dhaka North City Corporation, Ward No. 19. The Sattala Basti, it is in proximity to Banani-Gulshan lake, which is a common spot for garbage and sewerage dumping. The lake primarily receives domestic sewerage without any treatment and surface runoff. Flooding in the Gulshan lake during the monsoon season also threatens slums in the region. 14

15 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 15 Islamabad and Lahore Slums Basti Esayan, Lahore Population: Approximately 3000 residents Location: The Basti Esayan is located just behind Packages, a major paper and pulp industry, which was earlier located outside Lahore, but has now expanded very much within the city. The slum is vulnerable to the environmental hazards from waste from the factory. Gao Shalla Slum, Lahore Population: Approximately 10,000 residents Location: The Gao Shalla slum in Lahore is located on the brink of River Ravi, so risk of flooding is significant. Altaf Colony, Lahore Population: Approximately 10,000 residents Location: The Colony is located near the Ranger s Headquarters in Lahore. It is located close to a ring road and is also in proximity to a garbage dumping site and an open drain. Chora Stop Slum, Islamabad. Population: Approximately 5000 residents Location: The Chora Stop slum is in Sector E-12 in Islamabad. The slum has been formed on a steep slope and is close to a garbage dumping site. 15

16 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 16 Akram Gill Colony, Islamabad. Population: Approximately 2000 residents Location: The Akram Gill colony in Islamabad is in sector H-9 of Islamabad. The slum is located close to high voltage Power Line and is also in proximity to a Highway. Mera Jaffar slum, Islamabad. Population: Approximately 1000 residents Location: The Mera Jaffar slum is in Sector G-12 of Islamabad. The slum is close to the Kashmir Highway and a garbage dumping site. Delhi Slums Ghazipur Slum, Delhi. Population: Approximately 600 dwelling units Location: The Ghazipur slum is in East Delhi. The slum is located near a garbage dump and landfill site. Tughlakabad Slum, Delhi. Population: Approximately 600 dwelling units Location: The Tughlakabad slum is in the South of Delhi. The slum is located on a steep slope and the surrounding area is used for open defecation and garbage disposal. 16

17 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 17 Hanuman Camp Slum, Delhi. Population: Approximately 800 dwelling units Location: The Hanuman Camp slum is in central Delhi. The slum is adjacent to an open drain. KEY FINDINGS UNTIL NOW Research on this project began in September, 2015 and is expected to conclude later this year in August Several preliminary findings have been made regarding our main research questions based on the literature review and the pilot tests conducted in all four cities until now. The pilot test data is based on a sample size of 20 respondents from each city. Due to the statistically insignificant sample size available at this point, it is difficult to draw any concrete conclusions about our hypothesis. The currently available data has also not yielded any concrete findings with respect to the differential impact of environmental degradation on the women populations of slums particularly. The complete data from the field survey will be available within a week s time, after which comprehensive analysis of the primary data will be possible. Although advanced findings will be shared with relevant stakeholders in the coming months, the following research findings have been made based on the available information. Challenges in Data Collection 17

18 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 18 A key issue that was faced during our preliminary research in all 12 slums was the lack of data availability on important development indicators and the absence of reliable mapping. This was especially the case since the slums sampled in our study were non-notified areas. Because of the lack of basic mapping and census of slum populations, a considerable amount of time had to be dedicated to identifying the geographic spread and population sizes of the surveyed settlements. Although reasonably reliable estimates on these indicators were obtained from extensive scoping exercises in all 4 cities, the data obtained was based on approximations as opposed to precision. In this respect, Bangladesh maintains the most extensive data on slums. To date, the country has conducted two comprehensive censuses on slums in the region. This has been complemented by wide-ranging surveys on slums. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has maintained a policy of conducting a census on the country s slums every 10 years since The BBS census on slums records data on key indicators such as income, health, education, and the availability of key utilities such as water, electricity, and sanitation services. The Centre for Urban Studies (CUS) in Bangladesh published the most comprehensive report on slums in Dhaka in its 2005 Census and Mapping of Slums (CMS) document 1. In Lahore, the non-notified slums in the city have been mapped by the Punjab government s Urban Unit. Some large, non-notified slums in Delhi and Islamabad have also been mapped recently. Notwithstanding the challenges faced due to the lack of data collection by state agencies, slum residents general reluctance to share information was also a key bottleneck. Most residents were mistrustful of enumerators. They either took large amounts of time to be convinced to respond to the survey or declined outright. This interfered with the speed at which the data could be collected, 1 Centre for Urban Studies, National Institute of Population Research and Training, MEASURE Evaluation, Slums of Urban Bangladesh: Mapping and Census, 2005, Dhaka, Bangladesh and Chapelhill, NC, USA,

19 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 19 and more importantly, indicated the extent to which slum residents feel alienated from the mainstream society. Concentration in Environmentally Vulnerable Sites Most slums in the four cities under study are located at sites that are particularly vulnerable to environmental and climate change corollaries. This includes high risk regions such as flood-plains, land next to open drains, sewerage lines and landfills. This has been underscored in the previous section that details the mappings of the 12 slums. For instance, at the Ghazipur slum in Delhi, an open drain overflows during the rainy season, flooding homes. Such issues are particularly pronounced in Bangladesh, a country that is highly vulnerable to environmental risks such as floods. The large majority of slums in Dhaka have formed mainly due to climate-change related migration patterns. Environmental issues faced by slums are exacerbated by insensitive state infrastructure initiatives, such as the construction of a metro near the Ghazipur slum. This state initiative has led to the inflow of unclean water from the construction site into the slum on a regular basis. The Gao Shalla slum in Lahore is at a high risk from floods due to its proximity to the River Ravi. The Basti Esayan in Lahore is located just behind the Packages factory, which is a major paper and pulp production site. The dumping of untreated chemicals and production wastes in nearby sites in the absence of state regulation puts residents of the slum at a high risk from the environmental hazards posed by this industrial site. The Basti Esayan is also located near a cattle rearing site, which poses health risks to residents due to the widespread presence of animal waste. Increasing Heat Stress as the most pressing Climate Change Corollary Residents of most slums reported that increasing heat stress was the most serious climate change corollary that they had faced in recent years. This was particularly the case with dwellers of the 19

20 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 20 Tughlakabad slum in India, which is located on a steep, arid area that exposes residents to extreme heat during the summer months. The lack of greenery and vegetation in some slum settlements such as the Ghazipur slum in Delhi exacerbated the heat stress impacts of increasing temperatures. Access to health and disaster insurance services among slum residents was negligible. Health issues from Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution as the most Pervasive Problem Data from the pilot tests also revealed that indoor and outdoor air pollution is the most pressing environmental challenge faced by slum residents in all cities. Respiratory diseases from poor air quality were reported to be the most common types of health repercussions of locating in environmentally vulnerable sites. Skin infections were also a commonly reported health issue, following by vulnerability to contagious diseases. Poor Sanitation and Maintenance Services across all slums, although Variations Persist Across all 12 slums, pungent smell from open drains, nearby waste dumping sites, and garbage accumulation is a common feature. Thus, sanitation conditions across all surveyed slums were mostly poor. However, some slums fared better than others based on the availability of private toilets within the household. In most slums, residents were relying on public toilets that were poorly maintained and mostly dirty. However, slums where private toilets were available within each household, such as the Sattola basti in Dhaka, poor maintenance and lack of waste disposal services meant that sanitation and hygiene conditions were notably poor. However, the worst conditions were observed in slums where there was a complete lack of toilets. This included the Tughlakabad slum in India, where the absence of sanitation facilities meant that residents had to rely on open defecation. Moreover, most slums do not have access to regular waste solid disposal 20

21 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 21 services. For instance, in Lahore, the Gao Shalla slum was characterized by mounds of uncollected solid waste across the site. However, the Sattola basti in Dhaka happened to be an exception in this regard, where residents sampled during the pilot tests reported having access to waste disposal facilities. Infrastructure Conditions are mostly Poor, but Vary Widely across Slums Most slum residents reported bad roads to be one of the most pressing issues they faced. Although infrastructure conditions were observed to be poor across all slums in comparison with the formally demarcated areas of all cities, there was a wide variation in the quality of roads and the built structures in all slums. For instance, most houses and roads in the Sattola Basti and Kerinjang slum of Dhaka were constructed from permanent materials such as bricks and cement. On the other hand, slums such as the Jhutpatti Tong basti in Dhaka and the Tughlakabad and Ghazipur settlements in Delhi were mostly composed of homes and roads constructed from temporary materials such as mud and cow dung/dirt. As a result, residents of such slums were highly to vulnerable to rains, since water could easily seep into their homes. Moreover, the temporary nature of roads in such areas meant roads remain slushy for many days during the rainy season. This interfered with residents ability to commute, and restricted their mobility within the slums. The accumulation of rainwater on streets and inside homes, together with clogged drains, provides a breeding ground for rats, mosquitos, flies, and other disease inducing insects. Contagious diseases were more common in slums with roads constructed from temporary construction materials such as mud, since they tend to retain water over much longer periods. 21

22 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 22 A telling finding that emerged from the pilot survey data from Dhaka was that all slums, regardless of the state of their built condition, had highly reliable access to power and clean water. Moreover, this power supply was purchased legally from government sources, despite of the fact that these slums are non-notified. Similar to electricity, all slum residents sampled during the pilot test in Dhaka reported as having reliable access to clean water supply private sources. Preponderance in Low-paying Jobs that are nevertheless central to the City Economy Most of the male respondents in all surveyed slums were employed as laborers in the waste picking, garbage sorting and recycling industries in Delhi, Lahore and Islamabad slums. Very few male respondents in the 3 Delhi settlements were employed as drivers, carpenters, plumbers and peons. It was noted that waste picking was a common occupation among both men and women in the Ghazipur slum. However, this occupation was hazardous because of the steep garbage dumps residents had to climb for this purpose. The newly set up garbage dumping factory near the Ghazipur slum had also recently provided jobs to a large number of men and women in the slum. On the other hand, many men and women in the selected Dhaka slums were employed in the garments industry. This was due to the preponderance of the garments industry in the city. In addition, a few slum residents in Dhaka were also employed as car and rickshaw drivers and as owners of small businesses. The common forms of occupation among slum residents across the cities took a toll on residents health, especially during the summer months. Dizziness, headaches, nausea, and heat strokes were the common forms of challenges faced at work during summer months. 22

23 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 23 Income Levels, Risk Aversion and Dedication to Work Most slum residents reported to have income levels that were equivalent to their expenditures. Very few slum residents across all 4 cities reported to have any savings. Similarly, very few residents reported as having accessed loans. A surprising, yet preliminary finding from slums in Dhaka was that the few residents who had tried to access credit and loan facilities had been able to do so easily. It is important to probe this finding further and discover whether this is because of the easy availability of microcredit facilities in the country. Contrary to the common perception of slum populations as reprobate, pilot tests revealed that most slum residents were highly prudent about how they spent their incomes. Most respondents reported to prioritize goals such as spending on the purchase of durable household assets, on marriages and dowry, and saving to be able to better face future disasters or unforeseen shocks. Pilot test data revealed that most slum residents were hardworking individuals who were busy with productive work of different kinds throughout the day, and only look minor breaks in the middle. A number of men reported as working in night shifts. Across all 12 slums, the lack of employment opportunities and extreme poverty were reported to be the most serious issues faced by residents. Literacy Levels Data from the pilot tests revealed that most slum residents ranked low on literacy indicators, even though variations persist across slums with regard to this indicator. Very few of the respondents reported to have received secondary education. Most residents of slums such as the Jhutpatti Tong basti in Dhaka reported themselves to be illiterate. Literacy rates were noted to be higher in slums 23

24 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 24 such as Dhaka s Keranijang and Sattola bastis. Across all 12 slums, more men were found to have received primary education as compared to women, who were mostly illiterate. Women s Contribution to the Domestic Economy The domestic contribution of women across all slums as paramount, and did not rely on help from their spouses. Women, on average spent 6-7 hours on domestic chores, and most women with small children or toddlers stayed at home to look after the kids as opposed to working. Those women whose kids are above the age of 4-5 mostly left their children behind and went to work. These children were either looked after by other female family members or by neighbors, indicating strong community bonds in the area. Women also reported relationships with neighbors as being particularly strong, and their most common form of entertainment. Regular Conflicts with State Authorities across all Surveyed Slums Although slum dwellers are in perennial conflict with state authorities. Public agencies grapple with the dimemma of whether to leave slums as they are, demolish them or upgrade them in view of the limited resources available for dealing with the issue. The New Urban Agenda was recently adopted by the UN-Habitat to help tackle the issue of informal settlements and affordable housing challenges. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 of the UNDP s Agenda 2030 underscores that national social protection programs should address the specific needs of slum dwellers through the provision of primary health care, safe water and sanitation and clean living environment. The construction of a metro near Ghazipur slum has threatened the people that they will be removed from the area. 24

25 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 25 Despite of such conflicts however, the slum populations of all four cities under study continue to expand rapidly. Islamabad, despite being a well-planned city of over a million residents, has experienced a dramatic rise in the number of slum residents in the last decade. The population of Lahore, the second largest city of Pakistan, has almost doubled to 10 million residents since According to the Lahore Development Authority s (LDA) estimates, almost 30 percent of the notified localities in Lahore fall in the category of slums. In India, it has been estimated that a total of 33,510 slums exist in the country s urban areas. Around 40 percent of these informal settlements are registered with state authorities and the remaining are unregistered. According to a 2013 study conducted by the Indian National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), an estimated 8.8 million households with some 65 million residents in the country lived in urban slums. Of all the slums in India, 5.6 million were estimated to be notified and 3.2 million were non-notified. In Delhi alone, almost 50 percent of the city s residents live in slums. The slum population of Bangladesh is also sizeable, with a total of some 2100 slums countrywide. The country s slum population is estimated to be nearly 5.3 million, with Dhaka alone home to some two million slum inhabitants. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON PRELIMINARY FINDINGS Our analysis should contribute constructively toward these stakeholders' work and decisionmaking, since currently there is a dearth of studies on slum livelihoods within a climate change and women's empowerment nexus at a broader level and in the four cities under study. Several studies have been conducted in Dhaka, Delhi and Lahore slums to examine slum livelihoods and women's empowerment issues. However, very few of these have focused expressly on the climate change, environmental degradation and women s empowerment nexus. 25

26 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 26 Specifically, a read through our analysis will convince policy-makers that slum residents, in particular women, are important contributors to the informal economy. These women (and men) are at the forefront of devising innovative solutions for overcoming the special challenges posed by slum environments, both in terms of income generation and the provision of basic services. This should provide some necessary policy-backing for women s economic empowerment initiatives in the informal sector. In an era of growing environmental degradation and climate change effects, the tenuous, if inventive, livelihood strategies of these informal settlement residents are increasingly under threat. To this end, our research should a convince the various stakeholders about the growing need for climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in their urban resilience strategies, with particular attention to the case of slum residents. Our research should demonstrate that the sampled slums in Dhaka, Delhi, Islamabad and Lahore are the direct offshoots of ill-conceived urbanization policies, or the lack thereof. These include the failure to provide affordable housing solutions, among other factors. To this end, our research should convince state authorities to own their responsibility for providing affordable housing provision, either through the allocation of property rights to the non-notified slums under study or through a greater role of the public sector in low-income housing provision. Our research should also convince the various stakeholders to invest in scaling slum residents', in particular women's, enterprising livelihood solutions and contribute toward their human capital 26

27 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 27 development. This is worthwhile goal when one views cities as "engines of growth" and considers that a sizable population of Delhi, Dhaka, and Lahore is housed in informal settlements. Moreover, the key contribution made by slum residents to the city economies, underscored in the previous section, necessitates their integration into the formal urban structure. The achievement of the New Urban Agenda goals of the UN-Habitat should not automatically mean the tearing down of slums. Instead of demolition, slum upgradation processes need to be aided by interventions that empower slum dwellers to map their communities and collect relevant data on key development indicators. The process of upgradation and property rights allocation in slums should be aided by the identification and mapping of all notified and non-notified slums using satellite based technologies and physical surveys. Periodic mapping of non-notified slums is necessary to identify key changes in population size and migration trends. Remote sensing technologies such as Quickbird, IKONOS, Google Earth and SPOT analysis may be used for this purpose. These represent relatively simple and inexpensive solutions to the issue for two reasons. Firstly, anyone with GPS equipment can now identify the geographic coordinates of any location on the planet. Secondly, mapping with Google Maps is freely accessible to anyone with internet access. Google Earth displays high-resolution imagery from various time periods. This can be enormously helpful for presenting alternative solar illumination angles as well as seasons for easy interpretation of city blocks under different lighting conditions. GIS data on slums should be complemented with comprehensive physical surveys and geo-located photographs. This is because remote sensing on 27

28 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 28 its own cannot give insights into internal slum conditions or slum microstructures beyond the spatial resolution of the sensor. Physical surveys are necessary for identifying the true scale of the development issues faced. This includes details such the durability of the housing structures, the number of people living in each room, access to toilets and water, and access to services such as health and education. The collected data can subsequently aid planners in devising context specific policy blueprints for each slum under study. Subsequent to the data collection, each slum dwelling can be provided with a unique postal address. This will help planners to ensure the inclusion of all households in development interventions. Slum dwellers can also use their new postal addresses for opening bank accounts, obtaining ID cards, and claiming various social benefits. Slum dwellers can aid the above process by working in collaboration with NGOs, local public representatives, and government officials. Community and local councilors can also play a key role in furthering this process. Local NGOs can use the data gathered to identify slum households and ensure that they are all able to access primary health care and education. It has been observed that where slum dwellers have been actively engaged in such processes, vast improvements in socioeconomic wellbeing have been achieved with very little help from the authorities. 28

29 Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women, LEAD Pakistan 29 Works Cited Asian Development Bank (ADB) Urban Poverty in Asia. National Institute of Urban Affairs. Web. Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) Women, Slums and Urbanisation: Examining the Causes and Consequences. Geneva. Web. CSIS Centre for Strategic and International Studies The Challenges and Opportunities of Urbanization. Conference. Web. Glaeser, E., & Ghani, A Urban Imperative: Toward Shared Prosperity. Jstor. Web. Government of India Report of the Working Group on Urban Poverty, Slums, and Service Delivery System. Steering Committee on Urbanization, Planning Commission, New Delhi. Government of India Report of the Expert Group to Review the Methodology for Measurement of Poverty. Planning Commission. New Delhi. Web. Siddiqui, Rehana Energy and Economic Growth in Pakistan. The Pakistan Development Review. 43:2. Web. Swaniti. (2015). Issues with Affordable Urban Housing in India- An analysis. Swaniti Initiative. New Delhi. Web. World Bank. (2013) Disaster risk management in South Asia: A regional overview. (GFDRR project highlights) no. 6. Washington DC: World Bank. Web. Z Zaman, H. U., Alam, T., & Islam, J. (2010). Urbanization in Bangladesh: Present Status and Policy Implications. ASA University Review, 4(2). Web. 29

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