🏚️ When a City Bulldozes Slums, It Doesn’t Solve the Problem — It Displaces It
~ Samarth Krishna Kanakasubramaniam
When a city bulldozes slums, it doesn’t solve the problem. It displaces it.
Residents lose not just their homes, but also their community networks, livelihoods, and dignity.
Informal jobs are often location-dependent, and when people are uprooted, they move to new slums farther out — often worse than before.
Communities that took decades to build can be destroyed overnight.
💡 Why It Matters
Slum residents aren’t the problem — inadequate housing policy is.
The solution must respect people, their rights, and their communities.
🏠 In-Situ Upgrading: The Better Way
When cities invest in in-situ upgrading — improving neighborhoods in place rather than relocating residents — everyone benefits.
❤️ Lives Are Preserved
Residents stay in their communities, keeping their jobs, social networks, and sense of identity intact.
🤝 Social Cohesion Strengthens
When people are part of the process, they invest in their neighborhoods, taking pride in local improvements.
🌟 Dignity Is Restored
Communities work together to improve their lives instead of being pushed out by the system.
🧱 The Solution Actually Works
Upgrading in place leads to lasting improvements, while forced relocation only recreates slums elsewhere.
💰 Costs Are Lower
Community-led development and neighborhood upgrading are more affordable than mass demolition and relocation.
🌆 Real-World Example: Pune, India
Cities like Pune, India, have successfully partnered with slum residents to upgrade essential services — electricity, water, roads, and sanitation — without displacing them.
The result?
Stronger communities
Better infrastructure
Residents who take ownership of their transformation
🌍 The Bigger Picture
A billion people live in slums across the world. They are not going away, but they can transform from within — with respect, participation, and smart urban policy.
Real change comes from listening, not displacement.
When a city bulldozes slums, it doesn’t solve the problem.
It displaces it.
