This is the last post about the conference "Nature, poverty and power: assessing challenges to sustainable development" organised by the Swedish research network Devnet.
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It is still one more speaker that I would like to tell about and it is Ms. Baviskar which was a very engaging and wise spokeswoman. Her subject was "connecting struggles over nature and citizenship in India". She was the very first to speak on the conference and it was according to me, the most interesting one and best speaker. The reason why I believe so, was probably (because she was... ;) ) because her talk was summing up every aspect of what I have been studied for the last years. She spoke about refugee studies, urban movements, cultural riots and the struggles over natural resources. She stated that planners need to recognise the experience of displacement to be solved, they need to plan also for the people that migrates from the rural areas to the urban. Someone (a major somewhere?) had apparently said something about that you can't spend more money on the ones who steals from you. She continued to (very wisely) say that if you say like that, then you have not understood and acknowledged the problem. People needs somewhere to live, they need something to do (work, hobbies) - earn a living for themselves and their families. It is important to calculate and target these issues when planning the urban landscapes. Because the lack of access to secure employment and legal housings will create displacements of the newcomers. The consequence will be settlements on the outskirts (shanty towns) with bad housings, poverty, starvation, bad health and sanitation which will result into diseases and vermin. Few religions/faiths would improve of letting this happen...
In Delhi you need to have all legal papers else you are evicted and moved. Not many people has all the necessary documents. The city plans in Delhi has focused more on middle class and not to everyone dwelling and coming to the city, but it is important to plan the urban growth for everyone.
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Read more about her book here.
More about this book here.
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