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McMahon, Philippa Margaret (2016) Phnom Penh's urban poor : livelihoods, housing and the failure of Cambodian development. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/23581 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this PhD Thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This PhD Thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the PhD Thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full PhD Thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD PhD Thesis, pagination. Phnom Penh‟s Urban Poor: Livelihoods, housing and the failure of Cambodian development PHILIPPA MARGARET MCMAHON Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD 2016 Department of Development Studies 1 SOAS, University of London Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work, which I present for examination. Signed: _ _ __ ______ Date: ___ 2 Abstract Cambodia is a predominantly rural country with only 20 per cent of the population (3.2 million), living in urban areas. Of this 3.2 million however, over 50 per cent live in overcrowded, poorly constructed dwellings lacking basic infrastructure such as running water, electricity or sanitation. However due to the dominance of aid and assistance to rural areas and the expectation that those living in urban areas share in the wealth of the city, urban poverty is overlooked in Cambodia. This belief is reinforced as agricultural produce has been over taken by the services and manufacturing industries in the Cambodian economy; industries concentrated in urban areas. This thesis addresses the deficit in urban poverty research by using a political economy perspective to investigate livelihoods and housing concerns of the urban poor, in the context of neoliberal development. Research undertaken for this thesis was guided by two research questions; first, who are the urban poor and what resources do they rely upon? And second, does development policy address the needs of the urban poor? Doctoral fieldwork was conducted in Phnom Penh 2011- 2012. Key informant interviews with tuktuk drivers and stakeholders were conducted alongside life history interviews and a household survey in three urban poor settlements facing forced eviction and four resettlement sites. Assumptions concerning the informal economy underpinning urban poverty and urban poor livelihoods are deconstructed. Following mixed methods analysis; a more nuanced understanding of urban poor livelihoods is argued for and reinforced through two new terms, the urban poor economy and horizontal regulation. It is proposed that policy makers have failed to recognise the reality of urban poverty in which the relationship between where one lives and where one works is of the utmost importance. This failure exposes development plans as little more than rhetoric to attract foreign aid and investment. Combined with the exploitation of the urban poor by corrupt government officials more concerned with the accumulation of personal wealth, urban poverty alleviation efforts are undermined from their conception through to implementation. 3 Contents List of Figures .................................................................................................................. 6 Maps ................................................................................................................................. 8 Acronyms and Abbreviations ........................................................................................ 9 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 10 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 15 1.1 Overview .......................................................................................................................... 18 1.2 Analytical framework ....................................................................................................... 24 1.2.i The political economy of livelihoods ......................................................................... 28 1.2.ii The political economy of development induced displacement and resettlement ...... 41 1.3 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 53 2. Historical Background .............................................................................................. 55 2.1 Cambodia: a brief history, 1950s - present ....................................................................... 55 2.2 A history of Phnom Penh: development and beautification ............................................. 67 2.3 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 90 3. Methodology .............................................................................................................. 92 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 92 3.1.i Objectives ................................................................................................................... 92 3.1.ii Research questions .................................................................................................... 93 3.2 Methods of inquiry and analysis ....................................................................................... 96 3.2.i Mixed methods: The best of both ............................................................................... 97 3.2.ii Case study selection .................................................................................................. 99 3.2.iii Presentation of case studies.................................................................................... 102 3.2.iv Household survey ................................................................................................... 112 3.2.v Life histories ............................................................................................................ 116 3.2.vi Key respondent interviews ..................................................................................... 117 3.2.vii Archival research .................................................................................................. 118 3.2.viii Fieldwork summary ............................................................................................. 119 3.3 Problems and practicalities of fieldwork ........................................................................ 121 3.3.i Field assistants ......................................................................................................... 122 3.3.ii Language and literacy ............................................................................................. 124 3.3.iii Ethics, safety and security ...................................................................................... 126 4 3.4 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 132 4. Who are the urban poor and what resources, networks and mechanisms do they rely upon? .................................................................................................................... 133 4.1 Who are the urban poor? ................................................................................................ 133 4.1.i The household survey .............................................................................................. 134 4.1.ii Household respondents ........................................................................................... 139 4.1.iii Household members ............................................................................................... 140 4.1.iv Rural-urban migration ............................................................................................ 144 4.2 What resources and mechanisms do they rely upon to survive? .................................... 146 4.2.i The informal economy and decent work .................................................................. 147 4.2.ii The Urban Poor Economy ....................................................................................... 163 4.2.iii Horizontal Regulation ............................................................................................ 183 4.2.iv Household livelihood data ...................................................................................... 194 4.3 What are the present housing conditions of the urban poor? .......................................... 208 4.3.i Size, structure,