Chennai and its travelling slum dwellers : a case study on mobility patterns of slum dwellers from Old and New Jothiyammal Nagar in Chennai

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By Pleuni Stigter, University of Amsterdam

Image: Wilburonline, 2009

Chennai and its travelling slum dwellers

A case study on mobility patterns of slum dwellers from Old

and New Jothiyammal Nagar in Chennai

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Chennai and its travelling slum dwellers

A case study on mobility patterns of slum dwellers from Old

and New Jothiyammal Nagar in Chennai

By Pleuni Stigter,

submitted june 26

th

2017

Wordcount: 16.176

Student number: 10639659

P.stigter@outlook.com

Bachelor Thesis Urban and Regional Planning

Faculty of Social and Behavioural sciences

University of Amsterdam

Supervisor: Dr. Maarten Bavinck

Second Assessor: Dr. Dennis Arnold

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Abstract

Research on travel behaviour is a rising topic in many Western countries, as it can help shape policies, and give a glimpse of what type of development is necessary in a city or country’s travel network. In this thesis the focus of the research on travel behaviour is not in a Western city, but on Chennai, India. More specifically, it focusses on slum dwellers that live in Jothiyammal Nagar. This is a slum located above the Adyar river, near Saidapet. Slum dwellers still make up a large part of the city’s population, and they are likely to suffer the most of a transport network of low quality. The research shows what circumstances in and outside their own neighbourhoods affects these peoples travel patterns most, and how different parties are involved in trying to upgrade the travel networks in Jothiyammal Nagar, as well as throughout the rest of the city. it also shows the travel patterns of the people that live inside this slum, and maps out on what characteristics these patterns are based.

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A word of thanks…

First, I would like to express my thanks to all the people that helped me with carrying out research and writing this thesis.

First of all, I would like to thank the people that have made it possible to carry out this research, Professor Maarten Bavinck, and Jaap Rothuizen. Firstly because they made doing research in Chennai possible, and secondly for their guidance during the process of writing the thesis, as well as during the preparations and the research period.

Next I would like to thank Mrs. Mutulakshmi, who was my translator whilst carrying out the research in Jothiyammal Nagar. Next to being a translator, she welcomed me into her home and culture and helped me understand India in a unique way. We had many interesting conversations about simple subjects as food and music, as well as more difficult subjects, such as politics and understanding Chennai’s extensive public transport network.

Third, I would like to thank Mrs. Gamga Gowri and her daughter in law, Mrs. Nagarini, who provided Mutulakshmi and I with delicious thali’s, coffee, chai and cake during our period in Jothiyammal Nagar. We shared many laughs and had nice conversations about Chennai as well as Amsterdam.

Last, I would like to thank Heleen Elenbaas, a close friend of mine, who helped create the maps that are provided in the mobility analysis in this thesis. Without her these visualizations of the research outcomes would not be provided, and the story told would be a lot less clear and understandable.

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1 Introduction

Research on travel behaviour is a big topic in many Western countries. Oftentimes however, the traffic issues here barely compare to the traffic issues rising in India’s megacities. Vehicle density and travel time in a city is usually enormous, and topping the charts is the city of Chennai, with over 3.7 million vehicles, and a road density of 2.093 per kilometre in 2015 (times of india, 2015). This means there is 0,8 motorized vehicle per capita in the city, whereas a city like London has only 0,3 per capita (Transport of London, 2012). But what does this mean for a city like Chennai, which is rapidly growing?

Too much traffic can lead to an impairment of the efficiency of a city’s road network, but also to its economic prosperity. When looking at real-time travel maps of Chennai, one can easily see the road networks are carrying a heavy load. It is important for people to keep themselves mobile in the circumstances found, but how does one keep him- or herself mobile in a city with extreme vehicle densities and traffic congestion?

these are important and timely issues, even if they seem to not play a role in the minds of the city’s inhabitants. People choose their homes, modes of transport, supermarkets and the likes all based on how accessible it makes them to the outside world. Your location in the city is what makes your accessibility to the rest of city. Having high mobility and a good location within the city is often thanks to the means one is able to spend on it. Here ‘means’ translates almost directly to money. But what do the urban poor in the city do to keep their mobility within and accessibility to the city as high as possible?

This study aims to focus on the mobility patterns of these people, the people living inside the slums, and have little money to spend on travelling throughout the city. These people might have found other ways to enter the city, possibly with the help of their social skills or creativity, or with the help of governments and NGO’s. Do these urban poor have similar mobility patterns to the rest of the population? And what characteristics affect the mobility patterns of the urban poor? To find answers to these questions, it is necessary to do extensive research the mobility patterns of slum dwellers in the city. This thesis focusses on the subject of mobility patterns of slum dwellers in Chennai, how their surroundings might have influence on this, and who it is that tries to enlarge their realm throughout the city. the research question this thesis focusses on is as follows:

What are the differential mobility patterns of slum dwellers from Jothiyammal in Chennai, and how do they and others upgrade the hardware of their neighbourhoods and the rest of the city to enhance their realms throughout the city?

With the help of a mobility analysis the research shows the daily reach of these people, i.e. their Daily Urban System. Next to that, a narrative analysis shows who is involved in the upgrading

figure 2 Real time traffic on a Wednesday, Google maps (2017)

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of the hardware in the slums, and the rest of the city which may have positive effects on their mobility patterns.

The following sub questions will help with answering the main research question:

- What are the main transport-focused issues that the neighbourhoods are dealing with

internally;

- What are the main transport-focused issues the neighbourhoods are dealing with

outside of the research area;

- Who is, and how are they involved in upgrading the infrastructure of the slums; - How mobile are the inhabitants, and why some more than others?

Research is done as a case study in Old and New Jothiyammal Nagar, two neighbouring slums above the Adyar river, near Saidapet.

1.1 Relevance

Gaining knowledge about the travel behaviour of Chennai’s inhabitants can be helpful for future policy changes and plans implied by the municipality or the government. To improve any system, it is necessary to get insight on what is happening within it. To research the mobility of the entire city at once would give a skewed view of the system, since not everyone faces the same opportunities and challenges within it. Different policies also have different effects on people, so to better the city it is of importance to find policies that are most helpful for different types of inhabitants. This thesis can help show the needs and wants of people living in the slums, who usually have less possibilities and saying in plans made for the city.

But there is an ongoing interaction between the mobility patterns and the way the government and a municipality shapes a city, because changes in the traffic network, means changing people’s mobility patterns. Giving insight on the upgrading of the neighbourhood and the rest of the city may at first seem as a subject that is not closely linked to the mobility patterns of the slum dwellers, so why add this to the research? This is because it helps to show that travel behaviour and patterns are largely influenced by the systems available for use. for instance, a city without public transport would make its inhabitants Daily Urban System small, as many people are unable to travel further than their feet can take them. It thus gives insight on why these travel patterns exist, and how they may change in the future due to changes in the city’s network.

1.2 structure

The next chapter of this thesis gives the reader an insight on the terms and discussion around the subject. Chapter three will focus on the methodology used to carry out this research. Hereafter, we will focus on the context in which the research takes place. it first visits the topic of Chennai, the city as a whole, where after it looks at the specific slums in which research is carried out. Then we look at the research outcomes, in the hope to find an answer to the question proposed earlier. Here we turn the research question around, and start with what inhabitants saw as obstacles in their travelling behaviour. Next we look at the who is and how are they upgrading the hardware of the slums and the surrounding areas. With the insights gained on this subject, the last part of the analysis focusses on the mobility patterns of the slum dwellers, divided in sections to see how these patterns are based on certain characteristics of the inhabitants. In the last chapter, a conclusion on the research question can be found, as well as some recommendations for further research.

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2 theory

In this chapter theory that is relevant to the subject is discussed. Every subject comes with a definition, some background information, and the manner in which it is assessed into the research and analysis.

2.1 The Daily Urban System

A daily urban system, further referred to as a DUS, defines a City or agglomeration by the daily commutes of its inhabitants. It connects several markets, that entail almost 90% of the city’s economics and urban environment (Tordoir, 2016). These markets are the labour-, housing- and services markets. Usually a larger DUS creates more wealth within a city or region, but efficiency plays a large role in this. According to Tordoir (2015) a doubling in a city’s inhabitants can lead to a 5% to 10% growth in wealth per capita, depending on its economic structure in the DUS. Note that the growth of a city’s DUS is not the same as an actual growth of the city. A DUS grows when connections between markets grow and run smoothly, and a city grows when its amount of inhabitants grow. For a DUS to run smoothly, the mobility of individuals is of great importance. The larger the mobility of each individual, the quicker they can commute between different markets. To define a DUS, it is necessary to research the mobility of the people that form the system.

In the broad sense of the word, the DUS is shaped by all the commutes made, by all the commuters, which annexes the hinterland of a city to its DUS (Tordoir, 2015). Here we focus on the DUS on a smaller scale, namely on certain slums in Chennai. Therefore this case study can’t be generalized through the whole of Chennai. Non-slum dwellers probably have different priorities and modes of transport than slum dwellers. It will however, show a more detailed view of the DUS of people who are in low income classes.

A downside when defining a DUS, is that is nearly impossible to include all factors that shape it. The defining of one DUS excludes the fact that there are other systems working within it, that may be found in other cities, or even countries. It thus denies some relations that take place within the system. However, in most cases it is impossible to include all relations, as this would take endless research. This is also the case in this research, as it denies the connection the research area may have as a supplier of goods to the rest of the city. During the research it became clear that the main thing the neighbourhood supply to the rest of the city is labour. It did however not fit the time frame given to do research for more elaborate investigation on this subject, and will therefore not be discussed further.

Here the research population’s DUS is defined by researching their daily trips, i.e. the spatial interactions they make through space.

2.2 The triangular relationship between accessibility, mobility and development

When looking at mobility and accessibility, it cannot be denied that there is a strong relationship between the two. If a place is not accessible, there will be no mobility coming to or going from it. Even though they are used interchangeably in literature and discourse, it should be pointed out that they are not the same, as the first is focussed on physical movements, and the second tries to enable this.

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2.2.1 Mobility

The term mobility is found in many different themes and discourses, and has many different meanings. Here we see mobility from a spatial-temporal context. Mobility has to do with physical movements through space. Here we focus on the transport of slum dwellers, and the time it takes them to get from location A to B. This is mostly dependent on their mode of transport, the distance between locations, the quality of roads and the time and money they are willing to spend on travelling (Himanen, Nijkamp & Padjen, 1992). It can be measured through measuring the spatial interactions. A method that can be used to define ones mobility is by doing a mobility analysis. An Origin and Destination Matrix is an example of such an analysis. According to Ross (2000) and Aybek, Huinink & Muttarak (2015), mobility can be seen as something negative, as people may see the need to travel as something they would rather not do, as it takes time an may increase stress (Aybek, Huinink & Muttarak(2015). Tordoir (2016) only sees mobility as a positive, that generates welfare, and denies the fact that even though it may have a positive on welfare moneywise, it may not have a positive effect on the individuals. This shows the importance of not only looking at the DUS of a city as a whole, but cutting it up into pieces. This because what is good for one group, may not benefit others, even though it increases welfare on a citywide level.

This research defines the mobility of slum dwellers through creating an image of their Daily Urban Systems with the help of looking at spatial interactions.

2.2.2 Accessibility

Accessibility has many different definitions within research on transport. here is defined as how a transport network enables individuals or groups to reach activities, services or other destinations with the help of (several) transport modes at any time of the day (Van Wee et al., 2013). Usually improving accessibility is the main reason for creating transport policies. Ross (2000) argues that accessibility is inherently a positive phenomenon, as it opens up a community.

This research defines accessibility through looking at the context the research area takes place in.

2.2.3 Spatial development

According to Himanen, Nijkamp & Padjen (1992) there has been a scientific acceptance of a third factor in the relationship between accessibility and mobility over the past years. They argue sustainable spatial development is of as much importance as accessibility and spatial mobility. It can be translated into the upgrading of quality infrastructure, and other doings to help develop better mobility and accessibility (Himanen, Nijkamp & Padjen 1992).

This subject returns in the thesis as the upgrading of the hardware of the slum. That is, the upgrading that is done or necessary to enhance mobility and accessibility. It also returns as planned developments done in the infrastructure of the rest of the city.

2.4 Spatial interactions

Spatial interactions are the realized movements of people, freight or information between an origin and a destination. It is a transport demand/supply relationship expressed over geographical space. Spatial interactions cover a wide variety of movements, for instance journeys to work or to a supermarket (Rodrigue et al., 2013)

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There are three interrelated conditions necessary for a spatial interaction to occur: - Complementarity: the supply and demand between interacting locations;

- Intervening opportunity: there should not be a better alternative of destination or origin for the commuter;

- Transferability: to make interactions possible, a transport infrastructure is necessary. To measure spatial interactions, several methods can be used, for instance an origin – destination matrix (Rodrigue et al., 2013) where different points that are both destinations and origins are connected based on the amount of trips made among them. Here a simplified method of the origin – destination matrix is used, where only two origins, Old and New Jothiyammal Nagar, are used. This means that in this research there are no interactions between two areas used, but only one side of this interaction.

2.5 Slums

A slum is an area within a city that usually houses the poor. The Indian government defines slums in three different ways:

2.5.1 Notified slums

A notified slum is a slum approved by a government. India’s Census 2011 followed the following guidelines to define a place as a slum: “All notified areas in a town or city notified

as ‘slum’ by state, union territories’ administrations or local government under any act including a ‘slum act’ may be considered notified slums”, (CensusIndia, 2011)

2.5.2 Recognized slums

All areas recognised as ‘Slum’ by State, UT Administration or Local Government, Housing and Slum Boards, which may have not been formally notified as slum under any act (CensusIndia, 2011).

2.5.3 Identified slums

A compact area of at least 300 population or about 60-70 households of poorly built congested tenements, in unhygienic environment usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water facilities (CensusIndia, 2011).

Both Old and New Jothiyammal Nagar are classified as notified slums by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB,2014). However in reality distinctions as the one made by the Indian government are not as easily made. Some old slums have been upgraded greatly, and might not even be considered slums by its inhabitants, even though they are still classified as one by the government. Identifying an neighbourhood as a slum is not as easy as it might seem due to the difference in characteristics in any neighbourhood.

2.6 The urban poor

People who have very little assets, and live within a city. They deal with daily issues like unsafe living conditions, little security of tenure, a low income and little employment possibilities (Baker, 2008). Another difficulty they face is bad infrastructure in a city. the quality and layout of road networks influences the accessibility of the urban poor directly. This even though accessibility is usually higher in cities than in rural areas. The majority of these people are either slum dwellers, or live in a different place that is unwanted by other inhabitants of a city. One can imagine that these places have little accessibility to a good (public) transport system, as

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these places are often on the outskirts of the city, or badly connected to the infrastructure in the city.

2.7 Slum Dwellers

The slum dwellers are the people that live inside the slums. In this case we focus on the slum dwellers in a slum in Chennai. Within these slums there is a vast diversity in inhabitants. People have different religions, incomes and social statuses. This has to be taken in account whilst doing the research, since a person’s income can influence their travel modes and behaviour. Oftentimes, slum dwellers also fall under the heading of the urban poor. Chapter 7 shows how based on different characteristics, mobility patterns and spatial interactions differ among slum dwellers.

2.8 Slum upgrading

Slum upgrading is the physical upgrading of slums across the world, founded by local and national governments, and NGO’s like UN-habitat. These institutions try to bring wealth into slums through improving street networks and other physical living conditions. Local participation plays a key role in successful slum upgrading, because it can mobilize inhabitants of the city to better their own environment (UN-habitat, 2012). Here we focus on the physical improvement of slums, which in effect may have positive influences on the mobility of the slum dwellers and accessibility of the slum. What is key to understanding what is happening in slum upgrading, is knowing who is involved in the matter (Angel, 1983), as different parties may lead to different outcomes of the process.

In this research, before mentioned concepts and theories both help understand the situation research is done in, as well as help shaping the analysis that is made.

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3 Methodology

In this chapter the methods behind this research are discussed. First we repeat the research questions chosen, and discuss why sub questions were chosen. The next paragraph focusses in the research design, and why this was chosen. Hereafter follows information about the data collection and analysis. The chapter closes with showing the limitations of the research.

3.1 research questions

As mentioned before, the research question is as follows: What are the differential mobility

patterns of slum dwellers from Jothiyammal in Chennai, and how do they and others upgrade the hardware of their neighbourhoods and the rest of the city to enhance their realms throughout the city?

Followed by the sub questions:

- What are the main transport-focused issues that the neighbourhoods are dealing with

internally;

- What are the main transport-focused issues the neighbourhoods are dealing with

outside of the research area;

- Who is, and how are they involved in upgrading the infrastructure of the slums; - How mobile are the inhabitants, and why some more than others?

The first two sub questions map out the problems that the neighbourhoods are facing, and have a negative influence on the mobility patterns of the inhabitants. The third question focusses on looking into who is trying to solve these issues, which in the long run might influence the mobility patterns in a positive way. The fourth question helps answering what the mobility patterns of the inhabitants actually are, and on what characteristics of the inhabitants their patterns are based.

3.2 research design

This research is a mix between qualitative and quantitative methods. To figure out the travel patterns of the inhabitants of Old and New Jothiyammal Nagar, it is necessary to use quantitative data about their daily travels. To see who is and how they are involved in upgrading, qualitative data has been used. With this the reader gains more knowledge on the issues of transport and accessibility of the urban poor, and how they try to work with these issues. The research focusses on two neighbouring slums due to a lack of time for further research, but when research is done in several slums, or even within different layers of society, it would help increase its validity.

Even though the research shows signs of a comparative case study, because both neighbourhoods are compared to one another, it initially was not meant to be this way. Before the research started, only Old Jothiyammal Nagar was supposed to be the research area, but what will become clear in paragraph 4.4.1 is that it’s population is rather small. Therefore, whilst the research started, New Jothiyammal Nagar was added to the research area. Yet, it is still a singular case study, as neighbourhoods are not compared throughout the entire research, but become one of the characteristics mobility patterns are measured by. Because differences between the neighbourhood on the subject of upgrading of hardware and problems faced vary, they are also separated when discussing these subjects. The research being a case study can help

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find deeper insights of the effects a certain location and social status has on mobility and accessibility within the city(Bryman, 2012:66).

3.3 Data collection

Data on the subject has been gathered through surveys, interviews and observations. The first part of the research will be carried out through surveys, in the hope of finding as much basic information on the people living in the slum, like their age, income, employment, and the like. In these surveys there also have questions focussing on people’s daily commutes. A list of the proposed questions can be found in attachment A. Following the surveys, respondents were asked a few questions based on their answers in the survey. This was done to clear up some of the answers given, or if it was suspected that these people could give extra information on the subjects, or other relevant subjects. From the surveys, both quantitative and qualitative data has been derived.

There are two more in depth interviews with people who answered the survey and are part of a group that governs the neighbourhood on a local level. This group calls themselves the Governing Body Members. A shortened version of one of these interviews can be found in attachment C.

All interviews and surveys were done with individuals, as the mobility patterns of a housewife tend to be different than those of their husbands. The only characteristic that respondents had to have, was to be over 18 years, and to be a resident of the area for over six months. This was chosen because inhabitants under the age of 18 were likely to not be involved on the matter of upgrading. The reason no new inhabitants were chosen, is because they are less likely to know about any upgrading of the area in the past.

The surveys were carried out by convenience sampling, meaning they were done by people who happened to be in the neighbourhood at the time of research. Anyone present on the streets who matched the characteristics needed was asked if they would like to participate. To make sure outcomes could be generalized, the amount of male and female respondents is tried to be parallel. Out of the respondents 55% is female, and 45% male. This because men tended to be less interested in taking part in the research, or they were out of the area during the daytime, which is when the research was done.

Old Jothiyammal Nagar New Jothiyammal Nagar

Number of respondents 22 51

Total population (including < 18)

±60 ±1600

table 1 overview of respondents and neighbourhood inhabitants

figure 3 two respondents in front of their homes in Old Jothiyammal Nagar Source: Author, 2017

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Literature on the subject is found in academic papers, news articles and government reports. There is little literature found on mobility and DUS’s on the global South, meaning that most literature used is based on information from Western countries. Literature on slums that uses Chennai or India as a case is used as much as possible, but relevant theories based on other countries may be used as well. A discussion of the theories used to shape this research can be found in chapter 2.

3.4 data analysis

For the qualitative data used, a narrative analysis has been carried out. This is done by looking at the opinions of inhabitants in the research area. The focus here is less on what actually happened, but ore on how people tend to make sense of what is happening, and how this affects them (Bryman, 2012:586). It is carried out this way because it is expected that the inhabitants tend to have a better view of their own needs and wishes than the government would. This narrative analysis is backed with information published by the government and other written sources, to make sure no information is overlooked.

To analyse the quantitative data, it is necessary to carry out a mobility analysis. This will be done with help from literature on the subject provided by Rodrigue, Comptois and Slack (2013). Because of the timeframe available for this research, a simplified version of this method is used, where there are no exact travel times used to analyse data, but only the distance travelled and the amount of trips made to a certain location, originating only from the neighbourhoods. The outcomes of the research are mapped out with the help of GIS systems, making it easier to understand the outcomes of the analysis. Next to this there are simplified tables of the outcomes from the surveys shown to help understand the figures and the outcomes.

3.5 Limitations of this research

As with any research, there are certain limitations found which makes the outcomes questionable. First and foremost, data collection is done in India, within a timespan of four weeks. This means there is a time limit set for finding information. Due to the short research period, it is also not possible to research several slums on their mobility and accessibility, meaning the outcomes of this research are more difficult to generalize over the slums in the city. The time limit also affects the amount of respondents within the neighbourhoods that can take part in the data collection, again affecting generalization, but this time for the neighbourhood. Yet it is expected the research population of 73 respondents depicts a good picture of the neighbourhoods.

A next problem accounted is a language barrier between the respondents, who mostly only speak Tamil and the researcher. This was overcome with the help of a translator, who speaks both English and Tamil.

Some of the respondents were also expected to give insincere answers to the survey questions, as they thought the nature of the research was aimed to help the inhabitants financially. Even though the subject of the research and was pointed out before starting the survey, this still seemed to be the case from time to time. When this occurred, the translator stepped in, trying to pursue respondents to tell the truth. Yet still, it is possible that some answers the respondents gave are untrue, and therefore give a skewed image.

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4 Context

To understand what is happening in old and new Jothiyammal Nagar, it is necessary to give insight on what the neighbourhoods are like. However, it is also useful to understand the city of Chennai as a whole, and understand how the neighbourhoods are connected to the rest of the city. This chapter focusses on giving a brief description of Chennai, its transport networks, and the neighbourhoods of Jyothiammal Nagar, to help the reader understand .

4.1 Chennai

Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu, one of the southern states of India. The city is said to host around 8,5 million people in 2017 (Indiaonlinepages, 2017). In the past years the city has been rapidly growing due to its increasing importance in the manufacturing and the IT sector. These sectors bring wealth into the city, which goes together with a growing middle class inside the city.

Even though there is wealth coming into the city, there still is a large lower class visible. 28% of the urban dwellers are thought to live inside slums (CensusIndia, 2011). A large part of the people moving into the city come from rural areas to seek jobs as coolies. These people often end up in one of the city’s many slums, and the slums are still increasing in size and numbers. Their living conditions are often poor, with only limited access to basic facilities.

With the influx of these people, the city has also been growing spatially. The city, which was a mere 68 km² in 1901, now takes up a space of over 430 km² (Krishnamurthy & Desouza, 2015). As one can imagine, it is important for a city like this to offer its inhabitants a good network to travel with, by public as well as private vehicles. But because of the rapid and uneven growth of the city, the government has not been able to cope as well as one would hope. Infrastructure throughout the city is poor. In their attempts to make the city’s network better, the government is mainly focussing on expanding their public transport networks.

4.2 Public transport

Chennai has an astounding amount of 857 different public bus lines available throughout the city (Livechennai, 2017). Most of these buses take different routes between one of the 32 bus stands or depots. Throughout the years, bus routes have changed, and the amount of bus lines and stops has increased to make public transport more attractive

for the city’s inhabitants.

The bus depot that is most important for this research is the Saidapet bus depot. There are no bus stops nearer by the Jothiyammal Nagar than this

bus stand.

There have recently been some increases in bus fares, making it less popular (timesofindia, 2011). For a successful network of bus lines it is also necessary to have little congestion of the roads. Traffic issues are a big problem in Chennai, as mentioned before.

figure 4 Chennai Metro railway network source: Wikipedia, 2017

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The metro network in Chennai is growing. Figure 4 shows us both the two existing lines, as well as the extensions which are currently being built. One of the unfinished metro stops is expected to have impact on changes in travel behaviour of the people in Jothiyammal Nagar, as the Saidapet metro stop is being built very near to the neighbourhoods. This network is still however limited, as there are no lines going to the southeast or northwest parts of the city. The Chennai transport network also has a suburban railway network, which offers regular trains throughout the city. this network is further developed than the metro rails, but also shows its limitations. Currently there are four lines available, with a mere amount of 5 interchange stations. These can all be found in the city centre. The city has proposed to make the network more circular, so transfers can also take place on the outskirts of the city. Figure 5 shows both the existing and proposed lines, shows where interchange stations are, and will be in the future. Some of the stops will also connect with new metro stops and existing bus stops.

The nearest stop for the inhabitants of Jothiyammal Nagar is again the Saidapet stop. It should be noted that this stop is further away from the area than the bus stop, or the metro stop that is being built. It takes around 20 minutes to reach the train stop by foot, and there are no buses or the like available between the neighbourhoods and the train stop this is due to the absence of safe crossings from the bus stop to the other side of the road.

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4.3 the road network

The city’s roads are star-shaped with half a ring road going from Tiruvottiyur to Thiruvanmyur, where it goes down into the East Coast Road, which goes along the coast of Tamil Nadu almost entirely. An extra outer ring road is under construction, as well as a by-pass between the two. The government has also proposed a third ring road, which crosses the more peripheral areas. Whether these roads will help to release the city of its pressuring traffic is debatable, as there will still not be a good connection for cars and two-wheelers between the north- and southside of the city closest to the Bay of Bengal.

Traffic congestion is a growing issue in the city, as being stuck in traffic is almost becoming a given. The fact that the city is rapidly growing makes the issues even bigger. The growth in wealth may also be problematic, as more people are able to afford cars or two-wheelers. Due to their higher status, these people are less attracted to using public transport. Traffic congestion can also influence the quality of public transport, as buses also get stuck in traffic jams. It should be noted that there are no special bus lanes on the roads in Chennai. This can have a negative impact on the quality of public transport as well as make traffic jams more common.

The quality of the roads in Chennai seems to be rather low. A lot of pits and bumps can be found in the asphalt, which can be difficult to see through the traffic in the city. Sidewalks and safe crossovers seem to be quite an exception, making the pedestrian vulnerable. Recently, the roads have caved in on several occasions, expectedly due to the construction of metro tunnels (Indiatimes, 2017).

4.4 Jothiyammal Nagar

The research area consists of two different neighbourhoods, Old and New Jothiyammal Nagar. The old neighbourhood is the one that is located right next to the Adyar River. The New neighbourhood is a resettlement neighbourhood next to it, built around 20 to 30 years ago. The inhabitants of the old neighbourhood moved here, as it was considered safer due to its distance to the Adyar river. Nowadays the neighbourhood has grown, and new houses have been placed next to the river as well.

4.4.1 Old Jothiyammal Nagar

This neighbourhood used to be a densely populated and unsafe slum for many years. The government has tried to free the neighbourhood of its many inhabitants several times by moving its inhabitants to New Jothiyammal Nagar or other areas in the city. This however, has not stopped other people moving in to the neighbourhood due to its good location in the city. Around 2014 the neighbourhood carried 405 households, with 1422 inhabitants (TNSCB, 2014). But the Tamil Nadu government decided yet again that the neighbourhood area was un-tenable, meaning the people in the neighbourhood had to be replaced. Shortly after the floods that took place in the winter of 2015, the slum clearance board decided to act upon their claims.

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inhabitants who were able to prove they did in fact own their houses with the help of a patta1_{moved to resettlement areas on the}

edges of the city. this left around twenty households in the neighbourhood, of people having no proof of ownership, or whom were reluctant to move. All houses of the inhabitants that moved were diminished, so no new slum dwellers would arrive in the area. The slum clearance board did not remove the debris that came with the diminishing, to make inhabiting here unpleasant for newcomers. The government also closed the neighbourhoods’ public restroom.

The inhabitants that are still living in the neighbourhood, which now carries around 60 people who still live inside their old homes, as the slum clearance board only destroyed the houses of the people leaving.

Fast-forwarding to the present, most people who stayed in the neighbourhood after the actions taken by the government still live there, in the houses that were left standing. The debris in the neighbourhood has not been cleared, only small pathways have been created by the inhabitants, for people to walk or ride a two-wheeler on. The public restrooms are still closed, so most people use the riverbanks as a toilet. Government officials come by the neighbourhood from time to time, to see if inhabitants have fixed their owning status, and are thus able to move to a resettlement area. Houses in the neighbourhood are around 12 m². the houses are made of brick walls and asbestos sheets are used as roofs. Some houses were damaged during the demolishment of the other houses, meaning there are cracks in the walls. This makes the houses more unsuitable for living, as houses may cave in over time.

Part of the people that are still living in old Jothiyammal Nagar were tenants of one of the demolished houses. Owners of these

houses took a home in a new resettlement area , which led to the tenants losing the buildings they rented. Tenants had no possibility to receive a house in one of these areas, since they did not own any house or land themselves. Part of these tenants moved to rent houses in other areas, but others were unable to afford this, and are stuck in Jothiyammal Nagar without a house. These people, ten in total, built tents near to the area on land

1_{A document on land ownership in India, which indicates a person’s rights in relationship to the land (Kennedy}

et al., 2014)

figure 6 old Jothiyammal Nagar now Source: Author, 2017

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that belongs to government officials in the area. This is allowed by the government officials living here, but not by the government itself.

4.4.2 New Jothiyammal Nagar

New Jothiyammal is, as was said before, a resettlement area built 20 – 30 years ago to move people from the old area to a safer place, with wider roads and bigger houses. this was done by the Slum clearance board to ensure their livelihood. People who moved here received a patta, as well as a sum of money to build a house. Over the years more people have received land and money for a house in the area, even in the present. The area currently consists of 384 allotments, with around 1600 inhabitants (TNSCB, 2014). Some people who own an allotment built several floors, and rent out part of the building to tenants. Others might rent out there house completely and live somewhere else. The research carried out here showed that 33,3% of the inhabitants in the new area is a tenant.

Most people in the new area have a higher income than people living in the old area. This is a significant difference, as the average income is almost 7000 rupees per month, where in the old area it is a mere 3700 rupees. What should be noted is that in both areas a lot of people have no income, such as housewives or people who stay at home due to an illness or the like. These people are still included in the calculations of the average income. This because income is often split within families, and people who stay at home use the money their family makes.

The area has a few small shops available, such as two tiffin stalls, two petti shops, a hairdresser and a laundry service. Some of the inhabitants are vendors in other areas, and try to sell their leftover produce in the area at night time. This makes the area slightly less dependent on the Saidapet area. Currently the government is busy building a ration shop on the northwest side of the area. Within the area is a small temple. Near to the area is a small church, and two more tiffin stalls. There is an entrance to the area on the southwest side, from where it takes 15 minutes to reach the Saidapet bus stop by foot, and an entrance on the northeast from where it takes over 25 minutes to reach Anna salai road.

In New Jothiyammal Nagar there is a form of local politics taking place. A group of 21 people, who call themselves the Governing Body Members helps the area on social and political issues. The work they do can somewhat be compared to a union on a neighbourhood level. They help people receive patta, ration cards, make sure the water lorry comes and request the government

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to help on the neighbourhoods most alarming issues. During the research two interviews with governing body members took place, out of which it became clear that they only help house owners, and not tenants. The organisation also seems to not be very democratic, as the last voting for new members in the area took place over ten years ago, and in recent years new members have joined based on connections with other members.

Figure 9 shows how the areas are laid out. Green shows us the old Jothiyammal Nagar area, where few building are visible. The red area shows us New Jothiyammal Nagar, with its two entrance areas. The yellow area consists of government housing, where government officials used to live. These buildings were abandoned after the floods, but in the yellow area that separates the old and the new area, there are still government officials, whom refused to move house. This is also where the tents of the old tenants are placed.

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figure 10 A map of Jothiyammal Nagar and its surrounding area Source: Openstreetmap, 2017

figure 10 shows where the neighbourhoods are placed within the surrounding area. On the top left both the train station and the planned metro stop are visible. Where the metro stop is planned, is where currently the bus stop is. The Jothiyammal Nagar road, leading up to the Anna Salai, is currently closed because of the metro construction. When wanting to cross the road to Saidapet, inhabitants can walk past the Teacher Training college, where there is a makeshift road which leads directly to the bus stop. The closest safe crossing over the Anna Salai is on the top of the map, where the East Jones Road crosses the Anna Salai.

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5 what are the main issues related to transport these slums are

dealing with?

During the research, some of the questions the respondents answered were focussed on what they see as the big issues the inhabitants are dealing with. Mainly on what may affect their mobility, and accessibility to the city of the neighbourhoods, as well as problems with public transport throughout the city. they were also asked what the government or other parties do to upgrade the area and whether these people saw the help they receive as sufficient. All is discussed in the following two chapters.

5.1 within the neighbourhoods

One of the respondents biggest problems in New Jothiyammal Nagar was that there were no paved streets. This caused several problems for its inhabitants. Bicycle owners complained about it being difficult to cycle on, but also getting flat tyres due to pieces of glass, small stones and other trash found on the streets. Other people were concerned about children getting hurt whilst playing on the streets, again due to stones and trash on the streets. During the research however, the government had started paving the streets, so chances are these problems will soon be gone. However, the trash that was a problem for cyclists and children, may still be present, due to people still littering the streets. Once you leave the neighbourhood into the surrounding area, most roads are paved, and once people leave the neighbourhood, this is not a problem anymore. Because of this, it is expected that this problem only has little influence on peoples mobility or accessibility in relation to the rest of the city.

For old Jothiyammal Nagar one of the biggest problems the neighbourhood is dealing with, is the debris that is left over from the demolishing of old houses. This made respondents feel unsafe as it may be dangerous to climb across. During rainfall the debris bight start moving around, making it more difficult to move through the neighbourhood, but it also causes the water to have difficulty flowing into the river, causing small floods inside houses and on the streets. The demolishing of these buildings also had the effect that there is barely any shade left in the neighbourhood, which some respondents noted as problematic for their health during the summer. One respondent said that due to the debris, he was unable to park his motorbike near to his house, which led to it being stolen because he could not keep an eye on it once he was at home.

Because Old Jothiyammal Nagar is only a small neighbourhood, the debris is unlikely to have an effect on the mobility of its inhabitants, as well as their accessibility. Only short distances have to be travelled through the debris. Other than the before mentioned difficulties respondents mentioned similar problems caused by the debris as the non-paved streets caused in New Jothiyammal Nagar.

A second issue raised was the fact that there are no streetlights in the neighbourhood, as well as on the road towards the Saidapet bus stop. This makes the inhabitants feel unsafe to travel by foot once the sun has set. Next to this, it creates feelings of unsafety within the area during the night time. Whether there are currently any plans on fixing this problem is unclear, but the group of governing body members has put this issue forward to the government. Although this does not affect accessibility directly, people feel unsafe to travel in the evening and night time.

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The city is thus not accessible in the evening hours, unless an inhabitant owns a vehicle which has headlights.

Again, Old Jothiyammal Nagar faces similar issues to New Jothiyammal Nagar. Like the other neighbourhood, they also don’t have streetlights in the area. Here it seems that the government is not approachable to solve any of their issues, as they want the inhabitants to leave the area. A big problem that the residents of Old Jothiyammal Nagar are facing is the government is not willing to help the people in the neighbourhood without a housing permit. The only way they will give help to the people that do own one, is by sending them to resettlement areas. Although this is understandable due to the risks the location of the neighbourhood has because of floods, and the wishes to clear the Adyar river, it is not what most of the respondents wish for. They said to have heard stories from previous inhabitants that have difficulties finding jobs, keeping their income at a good rate, and travelling to the city when they don’t own a private vehicle. This is in line with research provided by Srinivasan and Rodgers (2005), who stated that slum dwellers moved to resettlement areas on the outskirts of the city have difficulties finding employment with the help of a case study in Chennai. Only one respondent who owns a house mentioned wanting to move to a resettlement area, with the primary reason being a safer place to live, and a safer place for her children to play. All of the people who were tenants before are willing to move to resettlement areas, but know they won’t receive Patta, because they don’t have the legislative papers to receive it. Here accessibility to the city is a big part of the deliberation that people make on whether to move from the area or not. Inhabitants seem to be willing to give up a safe and more comfortable home for travel time into the city. Here the main reason people listed for not wanting to move to a resettlement area, is because it would influence their accessibility towards the rest of the city.

During the surveys, a lot of inhabitants mentioned the floods in 2015 being something that has taken a large toll on their livelihoods. People complained about losing their possessions in the floods, from fans and tv’s to bicycles. It can be expected that the floods had effects on the mobility and accessibility of inhabitants of the research area, as well as the entire city. Even though the flood took place several years ago, it still takes a toll on these people. the floods seem to have caused some of the before mentioned problems Old Jothiyammal Nagar faces, such as the evictions and the debris, and therefore still has effects on the inhabitants of the neighbourhood.

5.2 Problems with transportation throughout the city

Not only problems inside the neighbourhoods have effect on the inhabitants mobility and accessibility, but many of the problems take place outside the research area. The second part of the chapter focusses on these issues.

5.2.1 minibuses

Several people mentioned the wish to get a minibus or share auto service from the area to the Saidapet bus stop, or even up to the railway station, and into the Saidapet area. Similar services can be found in other areas in Chennai. The main reason for this is to severely shorten the time it takes to travel the distance to Saidapet. For this issue, only individuals from the neighbourhood said to have approached the government. The Governing Body Members have not raised this issue (interview Mrs Bhagyalakshmi, 2017). Having such services available shortens travel time, and because of this it is helpful for increasing mobility of the

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neighbourhoods’ inhabitants and their accessibility towards the city. It can be considered a safe way to travel as well. What might be problematic for these services is that they are probably non-sufficient. It could be that operating this service will cost more money than it makes, which is likely due to the fact that there seems to be no constant interaction between people leaving and entering the neighbourhood. Most people leave the neighbourhood in the morning and return in the late afternoon, and barely any outsiders enter the neighbourhood during the day.

5.2.2 Pedestrian crossings

Another issue raised by the respondents who often visited the Saidapet market, was that there currently is no safe place to cross the road from the Saidapet Bus stand to the other side of the road, where both the market and railway station can be found. To reach these places, one has to walk northwards, to where the East Jones Road and the Anna Salai meet, and the nearest pedestrian crossing can be found. From the bus stand up to this crossing there are no sidewalks, which is deemed as unsafe by some of the respondents. In one survey it came forward that there used to be a pedestrian tunnel from the bus stop to the other side of the road, but this was closed down a few years ago, due to the building of the subway station. This makes the nearby area less accessible to inhabitants. Problematic here is that the Saidapet market seems to be important for people from the area, since it is the only one nearby.

5.2.3 buses

According to the respondents, bus fares in Chennai have been rising in the past few years, and are now almost double the price they were before. These big fare rises started in 2011, and are according to the government due to the high needs of extra tax money the government needs to better the city (Government of Tamil Nadu, 2011). This gives difficulties for the inhabitants of the neighbourhoods, as well as for other slum dwellers in the city. having to spend more money on the bus, means it takes up a larger part of one’s income. People thus have less money left to spend on other things. It can also be problematic for people unable to pay for these higher prices, as they are now unable to use public transport, and need to walk wherever they go. The rise of bus fares in Chennai thus influences the livelihood of slum dwellers, as well as others in the city.

Another problem some of the respondents came across is that in recent years, they are not allowed to bring cargo into the buses anymore. Mostly vendors complained about this, as they used to take their products from the wholesale market to their own vending spot by bus, but are forced to hiring an autorickshaw or taxi for this nowadays. This is as you would expect, a lot more expensive. The reason the government gave is that buses are meant to be used for the transport of people, and not for produce. By not allowing cargo into buses anymore, the government feels they can use less buses for the same amount of people.

What should also be noted is that other respondents were positive about the ‘no cargo’ rule. They said buses feel less crowded, and there is more room to sit, since vendors often placed their cargo on the seats. Some also said it is easier to get on and off the bus when not having to walk past bags of produce. They agreed with the point the government has made about the cargo, and are happy the rule has been stated.

Even though some respondents mentioned buses being less crowded due to people not being allowed to take cargo into public buses, most people who use the bus still think they are overcrowded. People who owned their own vehicle said that they don’t want to travel by bus

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due to the crowds. Several respondents also expected their realm throughout the city to grow if the government were to find a solution to this problem. Especially if the government were to make the bus services more frequent throughout the whole city, and not only from the Saidapet bus stand.

It is clear that the inhabitants from both neighbourhoods are have very different opinions when it comes to the MTC buses. Some said that bus services were very frequent from the area, and they did not have issues at all. Others said buses were not frequent enough because of the crowd. Some said that even though there are a lot of services to and from the area, but there is a limited amount of buses going down south, which is where they travel to most. There could be no clear distinction made between the satisfaction on this subject, and the respondents gender, age, income or frequency of use. In most cases, except for the three respondents mentioning the problems for travelling to the south of the city, even the destinations did not seem to matter. Only people who often travelled with cargo, whom were mainly vendors, found the newly stated rules on cargo were problematic.

5.2.4 Problematic autorickshaws prices

A problem the respondents that use rickshaws to drive through the city regularly raised, is that there are no rules on the maximum fare the rickshaw drivers are allowed to ask for. The rickshaw drivers and the government of Tamil Nadu have so far been unable to reach a deal on fixed prices which both parties are satisfied with, leading to the drivers being able to ask any price for a trip they wish to. Drivers even operate vehicles that don’t feature a meter, or will say it doesn’t work, only to be able to ask for higher prices. This makes it less attractive for people to travel by autorickshaw, leading to people to travel by foot or public transport, even if they were able to afford autorickshaws at a fair price. This dependency on prices, for bus fares as well as autorickshaw fares also influences the neighbourhoods inhabitants mobility and accessibility to the city, again because people are unable to afford the high prices.

5.2.5 Excitement about the subway

Every respondent that mentioned the upcoming subway station was positive about this development in the area. People said that even though it may have a bad influence on their mobility for now, due to the pedestrian tunnel closing and other difficulties that are temporarily in place, they are pleased with it coming near their neighbourhood. Most people expected to travel in a more comfortable and less crowded environment, even if they did not expect to be using the subway, but because of others skipping buses and using it. Most people also expect to arrive at their destinations faster than with a bus. When asked if they thought it would be cheaper or more expensive, respondents didn’t have a clue. The Hindu stated that fares are expected to start at Rs. 10, making it more expensive than the current bus fare (theHindu, 2016). It can also be expected that less buses will cross the Saidapet stop, as the subway will take similar routes. The respondents were unaware this might happen.

5.2.6 Roads

Mostly respondents who have their own vehicles mentioned the quality of the roads in the city as problematic. Dents can be found in the roads throughout the city, which can cause accidents. One extreme example of low quality roads is when a road caved in due to construction work on the city’s metro network on april 9th_{this year (Timesofindia, 2017). But dents in the road can}

also cause smaller accidents. Respondents said to be aware of the dangers this causes, and drive around more carefully in streets where they know road impairments are found. Low quality of

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roads have a negative effect on safety, as well as on the speed people can drive across it. According to Edquist, Rudin-Brown and Lenné (2009) a crowded road environment, meaning busy roads and road sides, also affect driver speed and safety in a negative way. Busy roads and road sides is something that unarguably can be found in most cities in India. This affects mobility as people are likely to restrict their speed due to being frightened of getting in an accident.

5.2.7 Traffic

Traffic throughout Chennai tends to be rather crowded at most times during the day. This has become clear both through observations as well as statements made by the respondents. Traffic jams are a daily sight in the city. This affects the mobility of both private vehicle owners, as well as inhabitants that use public transport, as buses get stuck in traffic as well. This causes delays during travelling, which can make travelling through the city unattractive, and make it more tempting for people to stay near their own homes. It thus makes their realms throughout the city smaller, and makes being spatially mobile less attractive. The traffic jams in Chennai thus have a direct effect on the mobility of not only the neighbourhoods’ inhabitants, but on the entire city. The growing metro network, suburban railway network and the building of ring roads are expected to have positive effects on traffic, as it takes the current weight of traffic off the existing roads.

Most people however said to either be satisfied or not satisfied for one and the same reason. They simply have no choice or voice when it comes to public transport. the government decides on these matters by itself. When asked why they were either satisfied or unsatisfied with this fact, people again said ‘they just have to live with it’ or ‘just had to accept they can’t change things like this. Even when asked whether they, or anyone they know had approached the government to talk to the government about this, they again said it would not have an effect in any way, so no one took the effort. No one said to have made complaints to government officials about bus frequency, bus fares rising or anything else related. Elaborating on why people were satisfied or not satisfied, even though they had the same reasoning behind it is difficult, as there can be no correlation found in neighbourhood, gender, income and the other independent variables. It could be that this is due to a variable that is not considered in this research, but what seems is that as these are issues throughout the city, the entire population is dealing with them. Most respondents seem to not care enough about the subject to make complaints about it, even if they are not satisfied.

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6 who is involved in the upgrading of the slum to benefit

mobility and accessibility?

In this chapter we discuss who is involved in upgrading the slum according to the respondents, and whether they actually saw this help as sufficient. It should be noted that opinions and the reasoning behind them varies quite a bit between respondents. Since it is impossible to mention all of the respondents reasoning, the most important are mentioned. Upgrading of slums is important to improve access to the rest of the city, and possibly improve the mobility of slum dwellers as it increases their living conditions ( Field& Kremer, 2005)

6.1 The government

the government seems to play the largest role in the upgrading of the neighbourhood. Most of the inhabitants see the upgrading of the hardware of the neighbourhood as a job that belongs to the government, and are therefore do not feel the need to do it themselves. Few people in the new neighbourhood who took part in the survey have worked on cleaning the sewage system, but none have taken part in the paving of roads or fixing streetlights.

From the interviews it became clear that the Governing Body Members don’t take part in this either. They see their job as informing the government about these problems, on which the government would react upon. Their role is thus more as a mediator than a partaker.

But as the government is barely responding to requests from the Governing Body Members or individuals, it seems that there is little improvement taking place inside New Jothiyammal Nagar.

As came forward in the previous chapters, in old Jothiyammal Nagar the government is doing nothing to help the neighbourhood upgrade, except for helping residents with a permit receive a house in resettlement areas. The inhabitants also said to not do anything to upgrade the neighbourhood, except for cleaning debris off the paths, to keep houses accessible. Respondents said that they didn’t feel the need to upgrade the neighbourhood, as they were scared of being evicted anytime.

I don’t want to do a lot of work in the neighbourhood, because it doesn’t make sense. We feel there is a chance we are not allowed to live here anymore sometime soon. So why would I do this work, if I might not even live here anymore tomorrow? (Respondent 37, 2017)

On the city scale however, the government is trying their best to keep the city accessible. As said before, they are busy expanding the public transport network by giving the city more metro- and suburban railway lines. They are also creating more crossover stations to increase interconnectivity between different types of transport. Once finished, it is probable that the city is more accessible for the neighbourhoods’ inhabitants, and inhabitants could become more mobile as it’s easier to travel throughout the city.

The government is also working on creating ring roads, mainly to help traffic congestion in the city dissolve. The making of new ring roads around the city is not very likely to have a lot of influence on the inhabitants of Jothiyammal Nagar, as most people do not own a vehicle, and will not use these roads.

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6.1.1 Satisfaction with the government

when asked whether the government carries out work in New Jothiyammal Nagar, 32 people said the government has never done anything to upgrade the neighbourhood. One survey took place next to a truck that was paving the road, but the respondent still said the government didn’t do anything so far. When asked why the respondent said the following:

the government doesn’t do this to help the neighbourhood. They do this because they want us to vote for them in the upcoming elections. So this is not upgrading, this is buying the

neighbourhood” (Respondent 30, 2017)

Most respondents that said the government did help also mentioned the paving of the roads, but this time as an actual sign of upgrading done by the government. Most respondents that said the government did involve mentioned mainly things that are of less importance for the subject, such as water lorries and public toilets, and will therefore not be discussed further.

Does the government involve in upgrading the neighbourhood?

yes A little No unaware

Old Jothiyammal Nagar 4 6 10 2 New Jothiyammal Nagar 15 4 32 0

table 2 respondents answers to whether the government involves in upgrading their neighbourhood

As can be seen in table 2, some respondents from Old Jothiyammal Nagar said the government did involve in upgrading the neighbourhood. All respondents that answered said that this was in the past, before the evictions or during the floods, and not happening currently. Respondents that answered that the government helped ‘a little’ mostly said to mean that they helped because of the 2015 floods, by giving a sum of money to help people get back on their feet, but it should be noted that this is not physical upgrading of the area. What the government has done in the past remains unclear, and therefore can’t be considered as upgrading either.

Are you satisfied with the help the government offers?

Yes no

Old Jothiyammal Nagar 5 17

New Jothiyammal Nagar 13 38

table 3 Respondents answers on their satisfaction with the government help

When asked whether people were satisfied with the upgrading the government does, only 24% of the respondents said they saw the help delivered as sufficient. Interesting is that even though the respondents from Old Jothiyammal Nagar say they don’t receive help from the government after the evictions, some still say they are satisfied with the government. When asked why, they answered that it is because they don’t expect any help from the government, as they want them to leave the neighbourhood. All people who are took part in the survey and are part of the Governing Body members said the government takes part in upgrading, and said to be satisfied with the help received.

In New Jothiyammal Nagar Some people that said the government does take part in upgrading also thought the help they receive is not sufficient yet, and wish to receive more. Others have a

Chennai and its travelling slum dwellers : a case study on mobility patterns of slum dwellers from Old and New Jothiyammal Nagar in Chennai

By Pleuni Stigter, University of Amsterdam

Chennai and its travelling slum dwellers

A case study on mobility patterns of slum dwellers from Old

and New Jothiyammal Nagar in Chennai

Chennai and its travelling slum dwellers

A case study on mobility patterns of slum dwellers from Old

and New Jothiyammal Nagar in Chennai

By Pleuni Stigter,

submitted june 26

2017

Wordcount: 16.176

Student number: 10639659

P.stigter@outlook.com

Bachelor Thesis Urban and Regional Planning

Faculty of Social and Behavioural sciences

University of Amsterdam

Supervisor: Dr. Maarten Bavinck

Second Assessor: Dr. Dennis Arnold

Abstract

Table of contents

A word of thanks…

1 Introduction

1.1 Relevance

1.2 structure

2 theory

2.1 The Daily Urban System

2.2 The triangular relationship between accessibility, mobility and development

2.2.1 Mobility

2.2.2 Accessibility

2.2.3 Spatial development

2.4 Spatial interactions

2.5 Slums

2.5.1 Notified slums

2.5.2 Recognized slums

2.5.3 Identified slums

2.6 The urban poor

2.7 Slum Dwellers

2.8 Slum upgrading

3 Methodology

3.1 research questions

3.2 research design

3.3 Data collection

3.4 data analysis

3.5 Limitations of this research

4 Context

4.1 Chennai

4.2 Public transport

4.3 the road network

4.4 Jothiyammal Nagar

4.4.1 Old Jothiyammal Nagar

4.4.2 New Jothiyammal Nagar

5 what are the main issues related to transport these slums are

dealing with?

5.1 within the neighbourhoods

5.2 Problems with transportation throughout the city

5.2.1 minibuses

5.2.2 Pedestrian crossings

5.2.3 buses

5.2.4 Problematic autorickshaws prices

5.2.5 Excitement about the subway

5.2.6 Roads

5.2.7 Traffic

6 who is involved in the upgrading of the slum to benefit

mobility and accessibility?

6.1 The government

6.1.1 Satisfaction with the government