In Delhi, the unplanned and the informal are not the exception. A vast section of the city’s residents live in informal settlements, and ei...
In Delhi, the unplanned and the informal are not the exception. A vast section of the city’s residents live in informal settlements, and eight out of 10 workers are informally employed. Insecurity of work and tenure marks their day-to-day existence. Whether it be vending on the streets, picking and sorting waste from people’s homes, manufacturing goods from clothes to shoes (often from within homes and small workshops) or constructing the roads and buildings that make up the city – it is their labour that sustains and makes possible the life of all residents of Delhi.
Yet the recently released draft Delhi Master Plan 2041, the key document that will guide the development of the city for the next 20 years, has scarcely included any provisions for the workers of Delhi.
We have written earlier on the need for a livelihood-centric approach to planning. The devastation of livelihoods during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic further highlighted the need for concerted steps to make cities more equitable and enable an economic recovery for all. The draft MPD 2041 as it is, largely misses this mandate.
However, there is still time. The plan is currently at the draft stage and can be amended to build an inclusive, worker friendly city.
