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It is expected that the urban population will double between 2000 and 2030 in the developing countries of Asia and Africa. It is also expected that the many of the new urbanites will be poor. Their future, the future of cities in developing countries, the future of humanity itself, will all depend very much on decisions made now in preparation for this growth (UNFPA 2007). Rural to urban migration will be key to the process of urbanisation, given that many of the Asian countries will achieve demographic transition by that. In fact, population policy of China has already resulted in natural population growth in Urban China going below 1 per cent per annum, when the urbanisation rate has been about 4.5 per cent per annum, making migration the single most factor leading to urbanisation level of 42 per cent in mid-2000. Migration has slowed down in the next largest Asian country, India, during the decade of 1991-2001. But, given the high economic growth rate in the country, it is expected to accelerate and by 2030, about 40 per cent of the Indian population is going to be living in urban areas. Other Asian countries have also observed accelerated urbanisation since the 1990s.
In many countries, policy makers have continued to try to prevent urban growth by discouraging rural-urban migration, with tactics such as evicting squatters and denying them services, etc. institutionally as in China through hukou system or other means as in India and other South Asian countries.
Shelter access plays a major role in consolidating the position of the low income population in the urban areas. Shelter security means, legal security of land tenure, including legal protection against forced evictions; availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure; affordability; habitability; accessibility for disadvantaged groups; location, and cultural adequacy. Of all these dimensions, security of land tenure is the most basic of all, next only to food and water as per the various UN resolutions and national policy documents. However, it is this aspect that is given the least importance, given that the urban lands have many competing uses, particularly in the countries that are pursuing rapid economic growth policies. However, there are many local efforts, by the governments and the NGOs to atleast reach de facto (in contrast to de jure) security of tenure to the urban poor.
The process of migration in the developing economies is complex, there is short term migration, long term migration, seasonal/ circular migration and so on. All these different forms of migration pose different types of challenges for ensuring shelter security. Among the urban poor, the recent migrants are at the most disadvantaged position as far as shelter security is concerned.
It is proposed that a Thematic Workshop be held at the Asia level. The proposed theme is Housing Security and Social Protection’, with a sub-theme of ‘Migrants and Housing Security’
The focus would be on Housing Security and Social Protection. In this we would have special sessions on addressing the question of Shelter Security of the low income migrants.
There are four projects in the SPA network that deal either with the concerns of migrants or with the concerns of shelter security, or both. This proposed workshop will give opportunity to bring the first half year research outputs to the fore. It will also give SPA network to bring in other researchers and research institutions working on the theme into the SPA network.
Aim
The workshop is aimed to bring together the SPA network partners and researchers and research institutions outside the SPA network to discuss issues of Shelter Security, Migration and Social Protection; to discuss the initiatives - institutional and financial - towards ensuring urban poor’s and in particular that of the migrants access to shelter; and to explore the links between the shelter security and social protection in case of the migrants in Asia. |
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