Arghya Mandal

UP4002

Rapid urbanization and the enormous investments done in cities of developing nation attracts a huge population into the urban areas in search of a better way of living. This burdens the cities in terms of space as a commodity and puts natural resources in danger due to over exploitation. This mismatch in demand and supply often results in scarcity of resources and forces a huge population to live in slums with an acute shortage of space, water, and sanitation, just in the hope of employment. There has been a disparity between the acceptance of this migrant population into the city and the urban fabric. The informal settlements which accommodate this population face neglect from the corporation and this forces them to arrange for their basic amenities from secondary sources. This creates markets of these amenities and gives rise to local politics. This publication focuses on urban settlement in the periphery of Ahmedabad in an industrial neighborhood - Narol, Isanpur on the banks of Chandola lake. It also discusses the life of urban poor living in adverse conditions.