Everyday Life in Informal Urban Settlements in Pakistan
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Understanding Urban Informality: Everyday life in informal urban settlements in Pakistan Arezu Imran Bari A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology at Newcastle University January 2016 Eternally Grateful to The Residents of Siddiquia Mill Colony Who accepted me with open arms. To Suzanne, Helen and Peter for making me part of Newcastle University’s community. To Robin Humphrey and Laura Leonardo for introducing me to HaSS. To Nina for mentoring and believing in me. To Matt for being a friend beyond the call of duty. Prologue This PhD has been a journey like no other, this is why, perhaps, it is said that you do it only once in a life time. This journey has been a challenge on multiple levels. On a practical level, I came to the PhD with only basic research and analysis skills. The act of designing and undertaking such a detailed ethnographic study has developed my skills and I now believe I am able to undertake further robust research to a far higher degree and quality than I could have, prior to this study. At a more personal level, to say I have emerged on the other side of this PhD as a better person will be an understatement. The experience has changed the way I perceive life, the world and the people around me. To say the least, it has inculcated in me an inner peace, a calmness, patience and gratitude. I know now how insignificant my being is in the whole scheme of things, but how within each of us, there is immense potential to contribute to this huge cosmos we call life. It has humbled me. Self-recognition is an asset, and this journey has given me that. It has sign posted me to my inner capacities to absorb shocks and stresses. It has given me the confidence to get up and move on, whenever I stumbled. I think I know where I stand now and where I wish to go from here. It is indeed a liberating feeling. Above all, the whole process of ‘doing this PhD’ has trained me to see the world around me without filters, but with empathy and understanding. It has trained me to question things, processes, and invisible and visible structures that shape our social worlds. Nonetheless, it was not a lonely journey. I have had the fortune of having numerous well-meaning, lovely people who encouraged, supported and guided me through this process. My parents are my pillar of strength who invested emotionally and financially in this endeavour. My husband stood like a solid rock to anchor my concerns, worries and self-doubts. My girls bore the worst side-effects of having a PhD mum, but stood steadfast at the side-lines to reclaim their mother on the end of this process. Matt, my dear friend has done more than a fair share of what was required of him. Andrea, Enas and Tessa were the shoulders I cried on. But above all, I am what I am today only because of Suzanne, my supervisor. Had she not taught me how “to see wood from the trees,” I would never have accomplished what I did. She taught me to NEVER GIVE IN. Eternally grateful to all these individuals and numerous others that I have not mentioned, I am indebted to you all for making me the person I am today. Thank You. Understanding Urban Informality: Everyday life in informal urban settlements in Pakistan Arezu Bari (GPS) Abstract Rapid urbanisation and severe housing shortages help explain why informal settlements of self-built housing are widespread in Pakistan today. Failure to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing has led to the steady encroachment of state-owned and private vacant land for informal dwelling. Current estimates are that 67% of the urban population of Pakistan lives in unrecognised settlements (UN-Habitat, 2013). Urban informality is arguably under researched within the South Asian context, particularly Pakistan. This study considers how everyday life unfolds through various forms of extra-legal, social and discursive regulations in this context of pervasive informality. This exploration is developed for the particular case of the Siddiquia Mill Colony, Faisalabad City. A central premise is that we need to develop new theoretical analytic tools that reflect current global urban trends in order to shift the perception of informality from one of deviance and disorganisation to one of alternative functionality and complementarity. The vast majority of new housing and urban economic opportunities around the world occur in informal sectors and unregulated settings. Contrary to conventional understanding, particularly in relation to South Asian informality, the research findings highlight that informal housing and irregular settlements function as enduring modes of urban development, inadequately portrayed as symptoms of economic backwardness. The study provides concrete examples of how informality is co-produced with formal urban development, often filling the institutional, structural and administrative gaps that state-led planning practices leave behind. The empirical research draws on a mix of ethnographic data from a detailed survey of household housing characteristics, in-depth interviews and immersive observations, in a two- tier research design. The findings reinforce the notion that informality is ordinary rather than deviant. Inhabitants exhibit a sense of attachment, a recognition of alternative property rights and a perceived sense of entitlement in relation to their properties. It is noted that, while a desire to ‘own’ their property could be perceived as falling in line with neo-liberal ideals, the drivers and objectives underpinning ‘ownership’ in this context are far removed from the desire, or need, to be part of a capitalistic, neo-liberal, propertied citizenship. Rather, these aspirations are based on ideas of security and perpetuity. This is evident through a close reading of well-defined but complex webs of horizontal and vertical social relations. Social relations internally differentiate the inhabitants of Siddiquia Mill, highlighting the persistence of unequal power relations. The insights gained from this case study contribute deeper understanding in geography and planning debates by demonstrating the multiple ways that urban informality functions simultaneously as a social field of competition and cooperation. This work makes two significant contributions to scholarship. First, it explores the previously neglected context of informality in urban Pakistan, which is quite different from informality in other, more-well documented countries of South Asia. Second, it argues in favour of informality as a counter to neo-liberalist ideology. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 THE GAP IN THE RESEARCH 8 1.2 THE AIMS 10 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 11 1.4 ROADMAP 11 CHAPTER TWO: URBAN INFORMALITY: EXISTING FRAMES OF UNDERSTANDING 15 2.1 CHALLENGING EUROCENTRIC AND UNIVERSALIST DISCOURSE 15 2.2 URBAN INFORMALITY: WIDESPREAD, PLURAL AND DIVERSE 25 2.3 AN INTERNALLY GOVERNED, SOCIO-SPATIAL PHENOMENON 39 2.4 SUMMARY 54 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGYY 55 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN 55 3.2 RESEARCH METHODS 63 3.3 SAMPLING FRAMEWORK 75 3.4 DATA MANAGEMENT 83 3.5 DATA ANALYSIS 85 3.6 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 87 3.7 LIMITATIONS TO FIELDWORK 88 3.8 SUMMARY 88 CHAPTER FOUR: SETTING SIDDIQUIA MILL AS THE RESEARCH CONTEXT 89 4.1 PAKISTAN: HOUSING SHORTAGES AND INFORMAL HOUSING PRACTICES 89 4.2 THREE TYPES OF HOUSING INFORMALITY: THE CASE OF FAISALABAD 95 4.3 SIDDIQUIA MILL COLONY: KEY SOCIO-ECONOMIC INFORMATION 101 4.4 THE ORDINARY AND EVERYDAY IN THE MILL 123 4.5 SUMMARY 132 CHAPTER FIVE: THE STORY: FROM A MILL TO A KATCHI ABADI 134 5.1 PHASE I 135 5.2 PHASE II 139 5.3 PHASE III 141 5.4 PHASE IV 156 5.5 SUMMARY 163 CHAPTER SIX: UNDERSTANDING URBAN INFORMALITY: THE MILL AS THE CONTEXT 164 6.1 THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN STYLING URBAN INFORMALITY 164 6.2 URBAN INFORMALITY: PERCEPTIONS AND CLAIMS 167 6.3 CO-PRODUCTION AND FILLING THE GAPS IN FORMAL URBAN PROCESSES 177 6.4 INFORMAL REGULATIONS AND CONTROLS IN INFORMAL SPACES 186 6.5 SUMMARY 187 CHAPTER SEVEN: URBAN INFORMALITY: A MEANINGFUL, FUNCTIONAL URBAN PROCESS 189 7.1 URBAN INFORMALITY: FUNCTIONAL AND AFFORDABLE; ENABLING AND FLEXIBLE 189 7.2 EVERYDAY GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL EXCHANGES 211 7.3 HOUSING, LIVELIHOODS AND SOCIAL ENCOUNTERS: 226 7.4 SUMMARY 228 CHAPTER EIGHT: URBAN INFORMALITY: MULTI-LAYERED GOVERNANCE, UNEQUAL RELATIONS 229 8.1 GOVERNANCE AND POWER 230 8.2 FORMAL POLITICS IN INFORMAL ARENAS 245 8.3 TRAVERSING OPPORTUNITIES 250 8.4 SUMMARY 255 CHAPTER NINE: OFFERING TO KNOWLEDGE AND DISCOURSE 256 9.1 REVISITING THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS 256 9.2 MAIN CONCEPTUAL CONTRIBUTION 261 9.3 INFORMALITY AND NEO-LIBERAL OBJECTIVES 262 9.4 POWER AND GOVERNANCE 265 9.5 CONTRIBUTION TO CRITICAL AND POSTCOLONIAL GEOGRAPHIES 266 9.6 CONCLUSIONS 267 9.7 FUTURE RESEARCH 268 REFRENCES i Appendix A xxxiv Appendix B xxxv Appendix C xli Appendix D xlv Appendix E li List of Tables and Maps TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE NO. Table 3.1 Criteria for Site selection 60 Table 3.2 60 households selected through Criterion 77 Sampling Table 3.3 The Pioneers 78 Table 3.4 Oldest residents (since 1976) 79 Table 3.5 First Wave incomers 80 Table 3.6 Second Wave incomers 81 Table 3.7 Third Wave incomers 82 Table 3.8 Recent incomers 83 Table 4.1 Education enrolment in the Mill 106 Table 4.2 Wages per week 108 Table 4.3 Monthly rent comparison 110 Table 4.4 Property price comparison 110 Table 4.5 Physical attributes of properties 115 MAPS/DRAWINGS TITLE PAGE NO. Map 4.1 Pakistan Administrative Divisions 91 Map 4.2 Siddiquia Mill Colony-2013 103 Map 4.3 First Half of the Mill 125 Map 4.4 Second Half of the Mill 126 Map 5.1 Land use within the Mill-1976 137 Map 5.2 First wave occupation-1980-89 138 Map 5.3 Second & Third wave occupation 142 Map 5.4 Consolidated Mill-2000-13 156 Map 5.5 Development around the Mill-1976-80 138 Map 5.6 Development around the Mill-1980-90 145 Map 5.7 Development around the Mill-1990-2000 151 Map 5.8 Development around the Mill-2000-13 158 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.0 Context of Research: Critical debates around urban informality date back to the 1950s (Parnell and Robinson, 2012).