Service Delivery to Informal Settlements in South Asia's
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SERVICE DELIVERY TO INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN SOUTH ASIA’S MEGA CITIES The Role of State and Non‐State Actors By Faisal Haq Shaheen H.B.Sc. (University of Toronto, 1995), M.B.A. (York University, 1997), M.A. (Ryerson University, 2009) a Dissertation presented to Ryerson University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the program of Policy Studies Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2017 © Faisal Haq Shaheen 2017 i Author's Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this dissertation. This is a true copy of the dissertation, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I authorize Ryerson University to lend this dissertation to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I further authorize Ryerson University to lend this dissertation to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I further authorize Ryerson University to reproduce this dissertation by photocopying or by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I understand that my dissertation may be made electronically available to the public. ii Service Delivery to Informal Settlements in South Asia's Mega Cities, the Role of State and Non‐State Actors, Ph.D., 2017, Faisal Haq Shaheen, Policy Studies, Ryerson University Abstract This interdisciplinary research project compares service delivery outcomes to informal settlements in South Asia’s largest urban centres: Dhaka, Karachi and Mumbai. These mega cities have been overwhelmed by increasing demands on limited service delivery capacity as growing clusters of informal settlements, home to significant numbers of informal sector workers, struggle to obtain basic services. In the absence of state supports, some informal settlements engage non‐state actors to obtain services. In order to compare service delivery outcomes through these actors, I used a layered, mixed methods approach guided by an interdisciplinary literature review and policy examination. I drew on semi‐ structured interviews as well as pairs of case studies to measure successful and unsuccessful service delivery outcomes in each of the three mega cities. Key findings are that chronic disconnections exists in all three countries, where upper tiers of the state persistently fail to create an enabling environment for lower tier state actors and municipal service delivery machinery. The cause of these disconnections is the persistent colonial impression on the bureaucracy, Neoliberal policies and the appropriation of public resources by organized crime and their backers, urban elites. Non‐state actors have facilitated service delivery to informal settlements, resulting in isolated success and improved levels of human development. However, the case studies demonstrate that the success of non‐state actors is attributed to support from lower tier state actors. A complex political economy of upper and lower tier actors, rooted in unresolved land ownership and elite interests is disabling the capabilities of lower tier state actors to extend services to the urban poor. The study informs our understanding of the role played by technical non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) in facilitating representative community‐based organizations (CBOs) engagement of state service delivery providers. The study illustrates the differential attitudes between upper and lower tier state actors towards informal settlements. The study also separates the ‘development industry’ from grass root representatives of informal settlements. The study also affirms the ability of informal settlements to organize, mobilize and engage municipal service delivery providers. The study emphasizes the need to remove constraints that upper tiers of state and society place on informal settlements in order for equitable development and sustainable levels of service delivery to be realized. iii Acknowledgements I would like to express the sincerest gratitude to my supervisor Professor Tariq Amin‐Khan, whose scholarly knowledge and patience guided the course of my study. He recognized the potential of my research interests and guided its development from a collection of field based observations and data into the final dissertation. Without his insights and attention to detailed analysis, this dissertation would not have been possible. I would also like to thank my committee members, Professor Burke and Professor Galabuzzi, whose advice and reflections on methodology and critical theory allowed this interdisciplinary project to balance depth and focus. My gratitude is also extended to my external and internal reviewers, Dr. Fahim ul Quadir and Dr. Murtaza Haider who both provided extensive comments and insights. Many of which, I will be incorporating into future research. I would like to personally thank my colleagues across South Asia for their support and insights. I would like to thank Dr. Dibalok Singha, Mr. Ranajit Das and Mr. Akhil Das of DSK for their hospitality and engagement on the Dhaka case studies. I would also like to thank Mr. B.N. Srivastava and Dr. Pathak of SI for expressing interest in this comparative work from a distance and providing invaluable information on the case studies in Mumbai. Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Mohammed Younus and Mr. Zahid Farouq at the URC as well as Mr. Fayyaz Baqir, Mr. Arif Hasan, Mr. Tasneem Siddiqui and the team at the OPP RTI for their inspiration, engagement and support all these years. This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of our dear friend, the late Ms. Perween Rahman. May her sacrifice and example continue to inspire and motivate generations of community based organizers in Karachi, Pakistan, South Asia and across the Global South. iv AUTHOR'S DECLARATION .................................................................................................................. ii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................... ix 1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research Focus ...................................................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Research Problem ................................................................................................................................. 10 1.3 Issues in Informal Settlements and Informal Sector Research ................................................................ 13 1.3.1 Informality: Distinguishing between the informal sector and informal settlements ................................. 13 1.4 Research Questions .............................................................................................................................. 16 1.5 Dissertation Structure ........................................................................................................................... 17 1.5.1 Emerging themes ....................................................................................................................................... 18 2 LITERATURE STREAMS AND DIVIDES .................................................................................. 22 2.1 Comparative Public Administration ....................................................................................................... 25 2.1.1 Developments in CPA research and analysis .............................................................................................. 25 2.1.2 Civil Society, the City and the Global South ............................................................................................... 30 2.2 Critical Political Economy ...................................................................................................................... 32 2.2.1 Periods of colonial rule............................................................................................................................... 33 2.2.2 Portrayal of Lower Tier State Actors in the Literature ............................................................................... 36 2.3 Development Studies ............................................................................................................................ 39 2.3.1 Isolated successes in the field .................................................................................................................... 44 2.4 Informal Settlements, Neoliberalism and the Global South.................................................................... 47 2.4.1 Formal‐Informal sector dynamics .............................................................................................................. 49 2.4.2 Neoliberalism and the Global South .......................................................................................................... 51 2.4.3 South Asia’s Mega Cities and Informality ..................................................................................................