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The city and its slums: A sociological study
Book reviews
empowerment and control over their living environment" (p 31). Accordingly, she believes evaluation should include two additional criteria: '(1) Potential for enhancing the well-being of individuals and contributing to a sense of empowerment and control; and (2) Potential for producing social and community benefits, particularly in terms of neighbourhood stability and upgrading without displacement' (p 31). Judged in this light, CBHOs are the summum b o n u m . But can genuine citizen participation be promoted from the top-down? Will the federal, state and local political structure be willing to share power with community groups which often do not share the same views a b o u t ends and means? Although the history of topdown citizen participation in four major federal programmes has not been encouraging, Bratt does find evidence to b e l i e v e t h a t s e n s i t i v e , wellmanaged top-down programmes can promote authentic CBHOs. Let us now review Professor Bratt's larger purpose in writing this book: 'Housing policy in the US should have as its primary objective meeting the shelter needs of the poor" (p 18). Accordingly she turns a sharp eye on the forces that have determined the form and dimension of the national effort to provide housing for the poor, and comes up with some disturbing findings. To begin with, the New Deal public housing programme was conceived mainly as a means of attacking unemployment and providing jobs, and only secondarily to meeting peoples' housing needs. The mandate of the Federal Housing Administration established in 1934 to provide mortgage insurance for home owners made no mention of the poor. And although attempts were made in various programmes in the 1960s and 1970s to expand FHA's mission to include subsidized housing projects, they misfired badly. Housing for the poor took another back seat during the Reagan Administration, not only in the reduction of new housing subsidies but also in the drive to privatize as much of the existing subsidized housing stock as possible. In short, the history of housing has
352
been painful for the poor. Over and over the interests of the poor and the consumer have been overshadowed by much stronger producer interests. Moreover, neither the right to decent housing nor the right to a housing allowance has ever been considered as an e n t i t l e m e n t for all low and moderate-income families who would qualify; that was viewed as costing more than taxpayers were willing to pay. (Although at the same time the federal government extends housing subsidies to middle- and upper-income families through tax deductability of mortgage interest payments on first and second houses many times that provided to the poor!) In the final chapter Professor Bratt presents some thoughtful ideas for rebuilding national low-income housing policy. Above all, the new federal housing policy should be 'multifaceted'. Demand-side programmes (eg housing vouchers, certificates and housing allowances) are essential. But alone they are insufficient. Supplyside programmes are also indispensable. The first requirement is a reinvigorated public housing programme. To avoid past errors, five major changes are in order. 1) It should be financed with 'up-front' capital grants to cover construction costs. 2) Advance provisions must be made to supplement operating budgets and to
meet m o d e r n i z a t i o n costs before financial crises arise. 3) New commitments to tenant participation and management are needed. 4) It should include appropriate social service programmes for the tenant population. 5) All new public housing design should be consistent with the housing design of the surrounding neighbourhood. Another major pillar on the supplyside should be a new and expanded support system for CBHOs, following the four-point model outlined earlier. Public-private partnerships also have a major role to play, utilizing the many innovative models that have been developed in the last decade. Positive involvement of the key actors (builders, developers and bankers) is essential. This is an impressive book. Rachel Bratt tells her story with great compassion, critical insight and a healthy degree of scientific detachment. The proposals which she offers to rebuild national housing policy for low- and moderate-income families are provocative, profound and timely, especially those relating to communitybased housing organizations.
E.J. Howenstine Independent Consultant Arlington, VA, USA
Optimistic findings THE CITY AND ITS SLUMS: A Sociological Study Ranvinder Singh Sandhu Guru Nanak Universi~, Amd~ar, 1989, Rs 60.00 hb, Rs 50.00 pb, 194 pp Poverty has its hidden and its conspicuous characteristics. The real dimensions of food poverty in developing countries are often hidden, being revealed in such statistics as the poor spending some 80% of their household budgets on food. The ratio decreases as household incomes in-
crease. Housing poverty is by contrast much more conspicuous. It evokes graphic images of fetid slums, disease, ramshackle dwellings and masses of tightly packed people. Of course, housing poverty can be defined operationally in social science: it is about unfit dwellings, high occupancy rates, (sometimes) high housing costs relative to incomes, and indicators of disease, social pathology, etc. In countries such as India, depending upon the statistical methods in use and the quality of data bases, some 25"/,, to 40% of the population are poor. In cities such as Calcutta and Bombay, prior to the introduction of
CITIES November 1990
Book reviews
housing policy reforms and World Bank loan programmes some 30% of the population lived in tenements and living areas officially classified as slums. In the past, the very name Calcutta evoked thoughts of gross human indignity, despair and hopelessness. But do such thoughts reflect the sociological and human reality of life in the slums accurately?
Slum living areas One way to answer this question is to walk through the slum living areas making perceptive observations. One often sees smiling children, women working hard tending the home and all sorts of informal sector economic activity. Poverty is clear but the image of despair does not really fit the reality. A better way of obtaining good information is to undertake a sample survey to explore the sociological truths of a number of slums in a city. Such work will be all the better if it is done by somebody who has human sensitivity as well as pursuing correct survey methodology. R a n v i n d e r Singh S a n d h u has brought refreshing human sensitivities and disciplined methodology to his review and analysis of slums in Amritsar, Punjab. Dr Sandhu set himself three basic questions to examine in his sociological enquiries. Are slum dwellers living in despair? Are they marginalized and cut adrift from mainstream aspirations and social conditions in the wider city? Can we find important variations in the characteristics of slum dwellers in medium-sized cities like Amritsar as compared with large metropolitan areas? Sandhu's study is full of well organized social and economic data on demographical, economic, religious and other issues. The study is a model for investigating and reporting extensive data and information on poverty and housing conditions. As we would expect in growing cities where housing supplies do not match demand and needs, the inhabitants of the slums include not only the very poorest but also some with moderate levels of income. Sandhu is able to report some optimistic findings from his research. Slum living in Amritsar has much personal
CITIES November 1990
and socially positive meaning, notwithstanding the presence of housing poverty. The majority of adults work hard and aspire to improve their lives and especially those of their children. Education is highly rated, although not always accessible and affordable. Families manage their economic allocations to work, to childrearing and to consumption in ways which enable them to deploy resources for saving and modest human capital investments (ie education and childrearing). Many men and some women participate politically in the form of voting for, representing and publicizing their favoured causes. Even if all is not perfect in the slums they are not places of despair, of social isolation and of inert attitudes. Rather they are active and progressive.
Housing policy reform Sandhu's study keeps within the set bounds of the questions he addresses and the meticulous reporting of data. In some ways this is a merit of Sandhu's work: modern sociologists often depart from data and evidence to make wide generalizations based only on theoretical dogma or opinion. This study usefully avoids generalizations outside the evidence it contains. However, it is possible to use Sandhu's study to make relevant comments on economic and policy issues. Sandhu's study was undertaken at a time when India was making progress in steady economic growth. Unlike, for example, some Latin American countries it was not burdened with international debt problems, with restrictive national economic policies, and with stagflation. The economic climate in India in the 1980s was conducive to increased social optimism and the possibility of some poor families making progress towards fulfilling their aspirations. The 1980s were also marked by changes in social aspirations among the middle classes in India. Some sections of the middle class were modernizing, aspiring towards home ownership and spending more to enhance family life. Within tighter budgets the urban poor were also following the path to modernized living, with higher economic aspirations.
Since 1987 the government of India (its central government) has begun a process of comprehensive housing policy reform. It has created a national housing bank to mobilize saving and investment in the housing sector, including low and moderate income housing. In 1988 the government introduced a national housing policy. Its scope covered intended reforms in land policies, in .housing finance and in expanding the impact of the housing sector on the economy. This all coordinates with post-1983 housing theory and practice by the World Bank. The Bank is becoming more concerned with developing housing capital markets, and with whole-sector housing development, than with a project by project approach to sites and services and in situ slum upgrading. Sandhu's work, and especially his findings on the aspirations of the poor to save, to become educated and to live productive lives with their families, augurs well for progress in new housing policy and performance. Large sections of India's population are ready to respond to new opportunities in housing and in life.
Social research in India Sandhu's study itself reflects the situation of social researchers in countries such as India. He did not have available to him large numbers of interviewers, a full range of ancillary staff to process data and total computer support. What he had was mostly his own work effort, encouragement from some academics in India, some use of a computer to process the answers to structured parts of the survey, and a good rapport with the slum dwellers. The study has attributes beyond what it reports to professionals and intellectuals. Sandhu shows the possibilities of researching housing poverty without claiming affluent research grants.
Cedric Pugh Sheffield City Polytechnic Sheffield, UK
353
empowerment and control over their living environment" (p 31). Accordingly, she believes evaluation should include two additional criteria: '(1) Potential for enhancing the well-being of individuals and contributing to a sense of empowerment and control; and (2) Potential for producing social and community benefits, particularly in terms of neighbourhood stability and upgrading without displacement' (p 31). Judged in this light, CBHOs are the summum b o n u m . But can genuine citizen participation be promoted from the top-down? Will the federal, state and local political structure be willing to share power with community groups which often do not share the same views a b o u t ends and means? Although the history of topdown citizen participation in four major federal programmes has not been encouraging, Bratt does find evidence to b e l i e v e t h a t s e n s i t i v e , wellmanaged top-down programmes can promote authentic CBHOs. Let us now review Professor Bratt's larger purpose in writing this book: 'Housing policy in the US should have as its primary objective meeting the shelter needs of the poor" (p 18). Accordingly she turns a sharp eye on the forces that have determined the form and dimension of the national effort to provide housing for the poor, and comes up with some disturbing findings. To begin with, the New Deal public housing programme was conceived mainly as a means of attacking unemployment and providing jobs, and only secondarily to meeting peoples' housing needs. The mandate of the Federal Housing Administration established in 1934 to provide mortgage insurance for home owners made no mention of the poor. And although attempts were made in various programmes in the 1960s and 1970s to expand FHA's mission to include subsidized housing projects, they misfired badly. Housing for the poor took another back seat during the Reagan Administration, not only in the reduction of new housing subsidies but also in the drive to privatize as much of the existing subsidized housing stock as possible. In short, the history of housing has
352
been painful for the poor. Over and over the interests of the poor and the consumer have been overshadowed by much stronger producer interests. Moreover, neither the right to decent housing nor the right to a housing allowance has ever been considered as an e n t i t l e m e n t for all low and moderate-income families who would qualify; that was viewed as costing more than taxpayers were willing to pay. (Although at the same time the federal government extends housing subsidies to middle- and upper-income families through tax deductability of mortgage interest payments on first and second houses many times that provided to the poor!) In the final chapter Professor Bratt presents some thoughtful ideas for rebuilding national low-income housing policy. Above all, the new federal housing policy should be 'multifaceted'. Demand-side programmes (eg housing vouchers, certificates and housing allowances) are essential. But alone they are insufficient. Supplyside programmes are also indispensable. The first requirement is a reinvigorated public housing programme. To avoid past errors, five major changes are in order. 1) It should be financed with 'up-front' capital grants to cover construction costs. 2) Advance provisions must be made to supplement operating budgets and to
meet m o d e r n i z a t i o n costs before financial crises arise. 3) New commitments to tenant participation and management are needed. 4) It should include appropriate social service programmes for the tenant population. 5) All new public housing design should be consistent with the housing design of the surrounding neighbourhood. Another major pillar on the supplyside should be a new and expanded support system for CBHOs, following the four-point model outlined earlier. Public-private partnerships also have a major role to play, utilizing the many innovative models that have been developed in the last decade. Positive involvement of the key actors (builders, developers and bankers) is essential. This is an impressive book. Rachel Bratt tells her story with great compassion, critical insight and a healthy degree of scientific detachment. The proposals which she offers to rebuild national housing policy for low- and moderate-income families are provocative, profound and timely, especially those relating to communitybased housing organizations.
E.J. Howenstine Independent Consultant Arlington, VA, USA
Optimistic findings THE CITY AND ITS SLUMS: A Sociological Study Ranvinder Singh Sandhu Guru Nanak Universi~, Amd~ar, 1989, Rs 60.00 hb, Rs 50.00 pb, 194 pp Poverty has its hidden and its conspicuous characteristics. The real dimensions of food poverty in developing countries are often hidden, being revealed in such statistics as the poor spending some 80% of their household budgets on food. The ratio decreases as household incomes in-
crease. Housing poverty is by contrast much more conspicuous. It evokes graphic images of fetid slums, disease, ramshackle dwellings and masses of tightly packed people. Of course, housing poverty can be defined operationally in social science: it is about unfit dwellings, high occupancy rates, (sometimes) high housing costs relative to incomes, and indicators of disease, social pathology, etc. In countries such as India, depending upon the statistical methods in use and the quality of data bases, some 25"/,, to 40% of the population are poor. In cities such as Calcutta and Bombay, prior to the introduction of
CITIES November 1990
Book reviews
housing policy reforms and World Bank loan programmes some 30% of the population lived in tenements and living areas officially classified as slums. In the past, the very name Calcutta evoked thoughts of gross human indignity, despair and hopelessness. But do such thoughts reflect the sociological and human reality of life in the slums accurately?
Slum living areas One way to answer this question is to walk through the slum living areas making perceptive observations. One often sees smiling children, women working hard tending the home and all sorts of informal sector economic activity. Poverty is clear but the image of despair does not really fit the reality. A better way of obtaining good information is to undertake a sample survey to explore the sociological truths of a number of slums in a city. Such work will be all the better if it is done by somebody who has human sensitivity as well as pursuing correct survey methodology. R a n v i n d e r Singh S a n d h u has brought refreshing human sensitivities and disciplined methodology to his review and analysis of slums in Amritsar, Punjab. Dr Sandhu set himself three basic questions to examine in his sociological enquiries. Are slum dwellers living in despair? Are they marginalized and cut adrift from mainstream aspirations and social conditions in the wider city? Can we find important variations in the characteristics of slum dwellers in medium-sized cities like Amritsar as compared with large metropolitan areas? Sandhu's study is full of well organized social and economic data on demographical, economic, religious and other issues. The study is a model for investigating and reporting extensive data and information on poverty and housing conditions. As we would expect in growing cities where housing supplies do not match demand and needs, the inhabitants of the slums include not only the very poorest but also some with moderate levels of income. Sandhu is able to report some optimistic findings from his research. Slum living in Amritsar has much personal
CITIES November 1990
and socially positive meaning, notwithstanding the presence of housing poverty. The majority of adults work hard and aspire to improve their lives and especially those of their children. Education is highly rated, although not always accessible and affordable. Families manage their economic allocations to work, to childrearing and to consumption in ways which enable them to deploy resources for saving and modest human capital investments (ie education and childrearing). Many men and some women participate politically in the form of voting for, representing and publicizing their favoured causes. Even if all is not perfect in the slums they are not places of despair, of social isolation and of inert attitudes. Rather they are active and progressive.
Housing policy reform Sandhu's study keeps within the set bounds of the questions he addresses and the meticulous reporting of data. In some ways this is a merit of Sandhu's work: modern sociologists often depart from data and evidence to make wide generalizations based only on theoretical dogma or opinion. This study usefully avoids generalizations outside the evidence it contains. However, it is possible to use Sandhu's study to make relevant comments on economic and policy issues. Sandhu's study was undertaken at a time when India was making progress in steady economic growth. Unlike, for example, some Latin American countries it was not burdened with international debt problems, with restrictive national economic policies, and with stagflation. The economic climate in India in the 1980s was conducive to increased social optimism and the possibility of some poor families making progress towards fulfilling their aspirations. The 1980s were also marked by changes in social aspirations among the middle classes in India. Some sections of the middle class were modernizing, aspiring towards home ownership and spending more to enhance family life. Within tighter budgets the urban poor were also following the path to modernized living, with higher economic aspirations.
Since 1987 the government of India (its central government) has begun a process of comprehensive housing policy reform. It has created a national housing bank to mobilize saving and investment in the housing sector, including low and moderate income housing. In 1988 the government introduced a national housing policy. Its scope covered intended reforms in land policies, in .housing finance and in expanding the impact of the housing sector on the economy. This all coordinates with post-1983 housing theory and practice by the World Bank. The Bank is becoming more concerned with developing housing capital markets, and with whole-sector housing development, than with a project by project approach to sites and services and in situ slum upgrading. Sandhu's work, and especially his findings on the aspirations of the poor to save, to become educated and to live productive lives with their families, augurs well for progress in new housing policy and performance. Large sections of India's population are ready to respond to new opportunities in housing and in life.
Social research in India Sandhu's study itself reflects the situation of social researchers in countries such as India. He did not have available to him large numbers of interviewers, a full range of ancillary staff to process data and total computer support. What he had was mostly his own work effort, encouragement from some academics in India, some use of a computer to process the answers to structured parts of the survey, and a good rapport with the slum dwellers. The study has attributes beyond what it reports to professionals and intellectuals. Sandhu shows the possibilities of researching housing poverty without claiming affluent research grants.
Cedric Pugh Sheffield City Polytechnic Sheffield, UK
353