SHELTER STRATEGY FOR HOMELESS IN A MEGA CITY

Abstract

An urban system comprises several interacting subsystems, such as, urban area, population, residential and non-residential units, industries, trade & commerce, infrastructure, transportation and administration, and function as an integral whole. All subsystems comprising the urban system are inextricably linked since not only are interconnected but also are interdependent. There are several segments of population confined in the subsystem, 'population'. They are High-income group, Middle-income group, Low-income group, Economically weaker section, Slum dwellers, Squatter settlement dwellers, Pavement dwellers, and Homeless persons. It has been observed that either the Government of India or the State Government of Delhi does not considered the homeless segment of the population while evolving policies or plans or programs for the development of the city, and are treated as social evils. In this present investigation, an attempt is made not only to establish the fact that this segment of population (homeless) is also a part of the system but also, to evolve shelter strategies to provide shelter for this segment of population. An extensive literature survey was done pertaining to this investigation and observed that very less amount of work was done in this field. However, the available literature gave an insight to understand this investigation. New Delhi city, the capital city of India is selected for conducting this investigation, since majority of the homeless persons of this city live in such a vulnerable conditions during the foggy winter, sunny summer and the monsoon seasons that one can not even express by words. An extensive field survey was conducted by using pre-tested schedules and questionnaires to collect the relevant required data, which comprises the socio-economic conditions of the homeless persons, place of origin, reason for migration, occupation before and after migration, their skills, period of stay as homeless, place of defecation, bathing, place of staying, remittances, expenditure for survival, savings, sources of loan, priority in life, willingness to have shelter, affordability to shelter, etc. To organize the survey, suitable sampling techniques, such as stratified random sampling and simple random sampling have been employed to select the required number of respondents for conducting this investigation. There were 306 samples selected and conducted the investigation. Tabulations along with percentage analytical work was done by grouping the respondents based on several income classes. The following interesting points have been observed from the analysis. They are: • Present shelter strategies for the homeless are inadequate . The situation in Delhi provides the basis for a good case study. . The characteristics of the homeless persons in Delhi city are poorly considered during the process of plan formulation and implementation. Virtually, they are invisible to decision-makers. . The homeless are not seen by decision-makers as part of the urban system. System concept is employed in this investigation to establish the fact that this homeless segment is also a part of the system though the Government neglects them. Theory of hierarchy of human needs is employed in this investigation to understand the level of satisfaction or the level of achievement of this particular segment of the population. Amultiple regression model was evolved by considering the following variables, such as, affordability level of the respondents towards shelter, income, expenditure on basic needs, expenditure on entertainment, remittances, age of respondents, and the period of staying in the study area. Among these variables, affordability is considered as dependent variable (y), and the rest are considered as independent variables (x„ x2 x„). This model was used to calculate the affordability level of various income groups of homeless persons towards shelter, and the results are quite interesting. The regression results clearly show that the affordability level of different income groups. Based, on the affordability level, different types of feasible (cost effective) shelter strategies are evolved for providing shelter to the homeless persons of the study area. The study conclude with, plausible and more constructive recommendations to provide affordable shelter to the homeless persons in the study area.