Mumbai's Urban Metabolism and the Role of Waste Management Through Informality
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The Bartlett Development Planning Unit DPU WORKING PAPER NO. 183 Mumbai's urban metabolism and the role of waste management through informality Mariangela Veronesi dpu Development Planning Unit DPU Working Papers are downloadable at: www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/dpu/latest/ publications/dpu-papers If a hard copy is required, please contact the Development Planning Unit (DPU) at the address at the bottom of the page. Institutions, organisations and booksellers should supply a Purchase Order when ordering Working Papers. Where multiple copies are ordered, and the cost of postage and package is significant, the DPU may make a charge to cover costs. DPU Working Papers provide an outlet for researchers and professionals working in the fields of development, environment, urban and regional development, and planning. They report on work in progress, with the aim to disseminate ideas and initiate discussion. Comments and correspondence are welcomed by authors and should be sent to them, c/o The Editor, DPU Working Papers. Copyright of a DPU Working Paper lies with the author and there are no restrictions on it being published elsewhere in any version or form. DPU Working Papers are refereed by DPU academic staff and/or DPU Associates before selection for publication. Texts should be submitted to the DPU Working Papers' Editor Étienne von Bertrab. Graphics and layout: Luz Navarro, Giovanna Astolfo and Paola Fuertes Development Planning Unit | The Bartlett | University College London 34 Tavistock Square - London - WC1H 9EZ Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 1111 - Fax: +44 (0)20 7679 1112 - www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/dpu DPU WORKING PAPER NO. 183 Mumbai's urban metabolism and the role of waste management through informality Mariangela Veronesi [email protected] September 2016 (Based on dissertation written in 2012) ISSN 1474-3280 Abstract. As cities in the Global South continue their expan- of Mumbai, India. The paper aims to identify the contribution of sion, waste increases accordingly as a by-product of urban life. the informal sector in managing waste by determining: a) what Although public authorities tend to aim to deal with disposal role does informal waste management play in improving urban through formal waste management (municipal or private con- ecological sustainability and resilience?; b) how does informal tractors), this often proves to be insufficient to deal with the vol- waste management respond to historical transformations of ur- ume of waste and to cover all areas of the city. Hence these ban nature?; c) what forces govern distributional flows of urban systems are usually paralleled by informal solutions that in turn transformations and how can these be negotiated by informal provide important ecological and economic contributions to the waste management actors? The paper concludes by drawing city and its inhabitants. Informal waste management takes place lessons on how understanding the value of informal waste man- through a network of actors that collect and/or transform waste agement can relate to the evolution of Mumbai into a just and in order to sell it, using discarded material as a resource for the sustainable city through urban planning. In fact, in a world of creation of recycled goods. Nonetheless, the recognition of the scarce resources and increasing income disparity, it is impor- contribution of the informal sector and its actors is often lacking, tant to understand the contribution of informal waste manage- with little emphasis on the benefits generated by informal waste ment in order to improve urban sustainability, not only from an pickers and the related industries. Through the paper, I analyse environmental perspective, but also in terms of livelihood and the role of informal waste management in the urban metabolism wellbeing for all citizens. Content 1. Introduction 5 Annexes 27 1.1. The issue of waste: problem or resource? 5 Annex 1: Glossary 27 1.2. Research questions 5 Annex 2: Two levels of dissipation in core/ 1.3. Research structure 5 peripheryanalysis 28 1.4. Methodology and limitations 5 Annex 3: Overview of Mumbai – the megacity 29 Annex 4: Summary of the Dharavi Redevelopment 2. Overview of informal waste management Plan (DPR) 29 and recycling 6 Annex 5: Location of dumping grounds and relevant areas 30 Annex 6: Indian GDP per capita growth between 3. Literature review and analytical 1961 and 2013 30 framework: 7 List of images 3.1. Urban metabolism and its variations through the literature 7 Figure 3.1. A layered analytical framework 3.2. Urban metabolism: which conceptualisation is Figure 4.3. Location of the ‘13th Compound’ within Dharavi most appropriate? 8 Figure 5.1. Structure of the ecosystem: circulation of goods 3.3. A layered analytical framework 9 and waste at the international, national and local scale Annex 2 Figure 1. Two levels of dissipation in 4. Case study: informal waste core/periphery analysis management in Mumbai 11 Annex 5 Figure 1. Location of dumping grounds and relevant areas 4.1. Mumbai and the issue of solid waste Annex 6 Graph 1. Indian GDP per capita growth between management 11 1961 and 2013 4.2. Slums in the city 11 4.3. Dharavi – a hub for the recycling industry 11 Acronyms 5. Informal waste management in Mumbai ALM Advanced Locality Management through the lens of urban metabolism 13 CBO Community Based Organizations CRZ Costal Regulation Zones 5.1. The city as an ecosystem 13 DRP Dharavi Redevelopment Plan 5.2. A historical-materialist approach to informal FORCE Forum of Recyclers Communities and Environment waste management 15 FWM Formal Waste Management 5.3. Governing urban flows 17 ICT Information and CommunicationsTechnology IWM Informal Waste Management 6. Conclusion: urban planning through the MCGN Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai understanding of metabolic flows 21 MFWM Municipal Formal Waste Management NSDF National Slum Dwellers Federation 6.1. Scenarios for redevelopment: 21 OCG Organised Criminal Groups 6.2. Lessons learned 21 SAS Slum Adoption Scheme 6.3. Concluding thoughts 21 SMS Stree Mukti Sanghatma SPARC Society for the Promotion of Area Resources References 23 WM Waste Management 1. Introduction ‘Bombay is the postmodern city par excellence, • How does IWM respond to historical transforma- where past, present, and future collide and frag- tions of urban nature? ment, where the local and the global and everything • What forces govern distributional flows of urban in between mix together in a heady masala all the transformations and how can these by negotiated city's own. The most astounding contrasts meld by IWM actors? into combinations that are impossible to decode.’ • How does this relate to the evolution into a just and sustainable city through urban planning? Kamdar, 1997 The urban metabolism theory will be understood as the body of knowledge exploring the flux of tangible and intangible resources between the city and its external environment, its 1.1 The issue of waste: problem or resource? transformations through the urban space, and the dynam- ics and structures that influence and determine these fluxes. As cities in the Global South continue their expansion, by-products of urban life - namely waste water and solid waste - consequently increase in parallel (Smit and Nasr, 1992 in Satterthwaite 1999). So far, in order to deal 1.3 Research structure with waste accumulation, there has been a tendency for public authorities to aim to replicate waste handling I shall present a brief overview of IWM in Chapter 2, fol- procedures of the Global North. This occurs despite the lowed by a review of academic literature on urban me- evidence that these might not be adequate to serve all tabolism in Chapter 3, in order to construct a layered citizens equally and to ensure environmental sustainabil- notion of urban metabolism that will guide our analysis. ity (UNCHS, 1996, in Satterthwaite 1999, Sharholy et al, Chapter 4 introduces the case study of Mumbai and 2008). Moreover, in many instances insufficient credit is Dharavi as a recycling hub, while Chapter 5 applies the given to those who contribute to waste recovery pertain- layered construction of urban metabolism to the case ing to the informal sector. Although waste is known to study, encompassing an ecosystem analysis, along with be a source of concern for cities in terms of health impli- dialectical views on historical, distributional and govern- cations, environmental degradation and costs to society ance processes which affect the transformation of nature. (Sudhir et al. 2003), in recent years there has been a par- This leads us to Chapter 6, where I conclude on lessons adigmatic shift towards considering refuse as an unused learned for sustainable and just urban planning with re- resource to take advantage of. This acknowledgement spect to IWM, with specific reference to Dharavi’s future. has been termed “resource recognition” (Furdey, 1992). Interestingly, the actors in informal waste management (IWM) have traditionally practised resource recognition as an inherent part of their activity. In a world of scarce 1.4 Methodology and limitations resources and increasing income disparity, it is important to understand the contribution of IWM in order to improve The methodology consists in research through secondary urban sustainability, not only from an environmental per- data based on work on IWM systems in India and interna- spective, but also in terms of livelihood for all citizens. tionally, and writings on Mumbai and Dharavi. My lived expe- rience in Mumbai and the visits to Dharavi have guided my understanding of the issue. Email correspondence with Vi- nod, the head of the Dharavi Project, helped elucidate some 1.2 Research questions points that were not clear in the literature. Additionally, Boo’s work Behind the Beautiful Forevers (2012), a fictional novel Through this work, I aim to identify the contribution of IWM based on years of sound research and interviews with waste in the city of Mumbai through the lens of the urban me- collectors in Mumbai, provided an insight into daily lives of tabolism in order answer the following research questions: waste-pickers.