| Viewed as the
backbone of the ‘informal city’, migrant labourers and low income communities
represent the largest populations of many medium and large sized cities in South Asia.
The expanse and density of Karachi,
Mumbai and Dhaka are testament to this
unrelenting growth. Continued migration
to urban centres and the services oriented skill set of transient workers will
feed urban growth and class polarization in the years to come. The policy aims
and intergovernmental efforts to address service delivery to low income
communities need to be harmonized.
This paper
reviews the literature and case study research on state and non state efforts
to extend municipal services to informal sector communities in South Asia using
‘process tracing’ which maps service delivery experiences across the three mega
cities, reflecting differentials between municipal and provincial power
relations. Within the case study contexts, the agency of individuals and
interests are seen to outpace the processes of institutions in addressing the
needs of low income communities.
The findings
from the ‘process tracing’ exercise reveal the importance of foundational
elements for low income urban development. Furthermore, the complexities of
obtaining services, through a labyrinth of municipal and provincial actors with
opposing interests, points to the need for clearly defined boundaries between
intergovernmental jurisdictions and more specifically, service providers. Civil society actors can monitor the flash
points of such efforts, bringing more transparency to the urban development
process.
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