Urban migration drives surge in world´s slum dwellers

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/18/urban.slums/index.html?hpt=Sbin



National, regional and city authorities need to work together to predict growth of cities and provide affordable land and housing for migrants to move into.
--Eduardo Moreno, U.N. Habitat

A complex and diverse India

Kollegorna har åkt och kvar står jag. Jag har fortsatt med ritande av hus för specifika tomter i Nayapalli och börjat nästa steg i Puri att mäta upp tomter där de nu lyckats fastställa ägandegränser. Jag kommer att fortsätta jobba med specifika tomter på distans under vistelsen i Indien. I skrivande stund från Bangalore.

Jag har också tagit mig mer tid till funderingar kring kollektiva boendeformer och genom maildiskussioner med olika personer inom SPARC och kontakter i Indien så kan man nog avskriva vissa former av kollektiva lösningar. Att samlas kring maten och matlagning verkar inte vara optimalt annat än i få fall i teorin. Se mailsvar från Sundar Burra:

The Indian context is totally different from that of Europe. Here is my straight answer. No, It won't work. There are too many barriers between groups for this to work. For example, people belonging to different religions - like Hindus and Muslims - eat different types of foods. Muslims don't eat pork and Hindus don't eat beef. Again there are many vegetarians amongst Hindus which would make eating together - either with Muslims or non-vegetarian Hindus - impossible. By and large, Hindus and Muslims do not eat together because of the deep divisions between them and also because there is no tradition of community cooking and eating in Hinduism though there may be in Islam.

Food cooked across India varies in terms of both content, medium and taste. A North Indian would not enjoy South Indian food and vice versa.

In India the caste system is very important: apart from different types of foods eaten by different castes,there is a deeply held belief about pollution and purity. This is one of the defining features of Hindu society and governs relations between different caste groups.Inter caste dining together by and large does not take place in rural or small town India and even in urban India, this will probably happen only amongst upper class Indians, for whom caste may not matter. Whom you marry, eat with or socialize are all decided by caste hierarchy even though some change has taken place. There is a profound inequality in Indian society and caste is one manifestation of that.

Similarly, people of different economic groups will not socialize or eat together out of choice. If people belong to different economic groups, their affordability will be different and that will stand in the way of your proposal.

If a group of 30 is very similar in terms of caste, religion and economic and social backgrounds, theoretically this idea could work .But the practical problem Is that you do not have a place iIn the slum large enough to accomodate 30 families even if people want to have a cooperative system of cooking and eating together.

Also I think that women are comparatively less literate, educated or empowered than men, It Is because of their subordinate social status and not because of lack of time because of time spent in the kitchen or on household tasks.

Colors of Gokha Sahi