Local Action Planning for Pro-Poor Urban Governance in the Southern Megacity of Chennai, India

Abstract

This paper is about the poor of Chennai and in fact slums and how they may be governed by themselves. The paper recognizes that the poor are not only the majority on the planet; they are everywhere and the smallest event speaks of them. And the urge on our part to speak about them—about what they can do and how they may excel in their own governance—is because of the urge they show up to live like the others and, interrupted by moments of illumination in their life of constant grief, to hold hands with other people. This paper retells the story of how a slum community rose to the occasion of self-organizing for its own development through efforts of its own members in the last few years. It is indeed a serious time period in which the pro-poor policies are emerging. And ‘there is a ceaseless spatial negotiation which is considerate or cruel, conciliating or dominating, unthinking or calculated’, to borrow the words of John Berger. Inside the homes of the poor, there is the kindly exchange, accommodation, even physical, and psychological sharing. But, outside of their homes, the space of choices is limited. And in slums of Chennai, every choice is starker. We live in a time of considerable change, which has placed new demands on local governments and raised a number of questions about the ability of these institutions along with other levels of government to address and resolve the problems that arise within contemporary communities. Traditional local governments are being questioned about the ability of their existing expert-driven and fragmented planning processes to resolve the problems that arise within contemporary communities. This has triggered the emergence of local government planning processes aimed at supporting more integrative and inclusive forms of planning that engage public, community and private sector players. This paper provides insights into the emerging local action planning processes from a case study of a Chennai slum which in fact enabled a broader range of players to participate in determining how the slum community self-organized to show the slum people’s capabilities in working together for their own betterment and governance of little that does matter for the community. Drawing on the case study of a slum, the paper provides insights into the problems and possibilities that the slum communities face in their attempts to make the city an inclusive city that supports the development of more integrative and inclusive forms of planning within contemporary Indian urban milieu.