Rethinking Urbanisation and the Right to the City

If you missed this event, you can watch the recording here.

You will find the event report here.

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On October 2, 2018, Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG) is organising a one-day conference titled “Rethinking Urbanisation and the Right to the City” to mark World Habitat Day.

World Habitat Day serves as a reminder for the need to reflect on the state of human settlements and people’s basic right to decent and affordable shelter. Every one of us deserves the opportunity for a better future, and that a decent place to live can remove barriers to opportunity, health and success. Every one also has the right to the city. By 2000, more than half of the world’s population was living in an urban area, and it is forecasted that by 2050, more than two-thirds will be living in cities (UN-HABITAT). According to the UN World Urbanisation Prospects 2018, about 34% of the country’s population lives in urban areas. However, more than one-third of them live in slums with poor access to housing, water and sanitation. Since 2005, there has been an unprecedented mobilisation of central and state funds into the urban areas, much of it directed at improving housing, tenure security, and access to services for the urban poor. Yet, nearly two decades later, it is not clear that these investments have been effective at achieving their stated goals. Large numbers of the urban poor, even in the best performing cities, continue to live without water connections, toilets, and land title At the same time, we have cities challenged with poor waste disposal, shrinking water bodies and degrading ecology.

In this one-day event, we seek to draw attention to the lack of access to basic human rights and interrogate the role of legal and institutional frameworks that preclude many from their right to the city. CAG cordially invites you to spend the day with a wide range of students, architects, urban planners, academicians, journalists, and social and environmental activists. Please visit our website for the concept note and programme, and our Facebook page for more details on the event. For further inquiries, please write to Gayathri Pattnam at gayathri.pattnam@cag.org.in