The Physical Ecology of Slums in Madras A GIS Analysis of the 1986 Survey of Slums Martin J. Bunch Department of Geography, Faculty of Environmental Studies University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Received: February, 1997] The study looks into the organising principles in the environmental characteristics of slums in Madras (now known as Chennai) using the data of 1986 Survey of slums in Madras Metropolitan Area. There were 996 slums with an estimated 127000 families. The Study organised the database in a GIS énvironmental. Using principal component analysis, the slums are classified into six types. Both principal component analysis and exploratory mapping of the database have helped to know the geographic ‘organisation of slums in Madras. Introduction lums are a manifestation of urban poverty in cities, They arise from a combination of factors which include rural-to-urban migration stimulated by poverty and unemployment in the countryside, the high price of land and housing in cities, and inappropriate zoning and building regulations (7). In India, as in other developing countries, these slum settlements are characterized by very poor housing and environmental conditions. Slum dwellers usually squat illegally, without ownership or permission to reside on their plots. Their homes are largely un-serviced by basic urban amenities such as latrines, sewerage, electricity, paved roads and piped water. The magnitude of the problem of slums is huge in India’s fourth largest city, Madras. This south Indian port city, had a population of 3.9 million in the city proper, and 5.3 mil- lion -in..the Madras Urban Agglomeration (MUA) in 1991. One third of these people live in slums. This paper presents part of the results of an analysis of characteristics of slums as provided in the database for the 1986 Survey of Slums in Madras Metropol © The Indian Geographical journal, 71(1), 1996 tan Area (MMDA, 1987). The study involved the creation of a geographical information system (GIS) database from the 1986 survey information, and investigates whether there are organizing principles in the environmen- tal characteristics (i.e., the physical ecology) of slums in Madras. Slums In Madras The Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (14) describes slums as, shutting areas with huts erected in a haphazard manner without proper access, without protected water supply and drainage arrangements and so congested as to. allow of little free air to get in. Slums generally present the most unhygienic, ugliest, nauseating scene. During rainy season, the whole area gets flooded, the path-ways become swampy and the entire colony [becomes a] fertile breeding place for mosquitoes, exposing slum dwellers living in the area to all sorts of diseases. During the summer, the thatched huts are prone to fire accidents. This description alludes to several problems associated with slums. First of all is the poor physical quality of life to which such a largeTHE PHYSICAL ECOLOGY OF SLUMS IN MADRAS B proportion of the Madras population is subject. This alone makes slums a problem of vital importance. Other concerns include the influence of poor environmental conditions on surrounding areas of the city, the problem of providing of _ basic infrastructure to areas haphazardly settled on marginal land and without adherence to city plans, and blockages of the right of way by slums. The number of slums in Madras has in- creased markedly over the years. In 1932 there were 187 slums in the city (12), while in 1991 the number was estimated to be about 2000 (4). There has, of course, been a concomitant increase in the slum population so that in 1990 an estimated 1.46 million people found their homes in slums within the city (12). In 1951 slum dwellers accounted for only 10% of the population while by 1981 this had risen to 37.5% (4). Since that time various sources suggest that the propor- tion of Madras residents living in slums re- mains somewhere between 30% and 40% of the total population. With regard to the physical form and location of slums, the 1986 Survey of Slums in Madras Metropolitan Area(10) revealed that about 24% of slums in Madras were of linear form along waterfronts, roads and rail lines, 66% were scattered hut developments and 10% were of planned hut development form. 86% of these slums had open drains and 72% had uncovered roads. 68.8% of huts in slums were of thatched construction, 12.9% were tinned and 3.9% had asbestos roofs. 11.4% had somewhat more sturdy tiled roofs and 12.9% were ‘pucca’ huts, being made of brick or cement. The Physical Ecology of Slums The term ecology as used in this context stems from the field of human or urban ecol- ogy. In the most important sense, this is the study of characteristics of urban households, (In social geography and sociology, this focuses on economic, social and demo- graphic characteristics of households in cit- ies). The spatial patterns of households in the city are referred to as the human ecology of the city, Researchers attempt to read into these to difine the principles which underlie such an organization. In another sense, the term human or urban ecology is used to de- scribe the study of ecological conditions of, and the relationships between, humen and their environment or habitat. Combining these two concepts, this study focuses on the physical or environmental aspects of aggre- gates of human households, (in the form of slums), and attempts to identify and analyse organizing principles of these. That is, this research investigates the physical ecology of slums in Madras. Data This research analyses the raw data for the slum profile portion of the Survey of Slums in Madras Metropolitan Area which was con- ducted by the Economist Group in 1986 for the Madras Metropolitan Development Au- thority (MMDA). The data employed is an enumeration of slums involving a profile of mainly physical and environmental charac- teristics of the slums, The profile portion of the 1986 slum survey enumerated 996 slums within Madras City, with an estimated 127 000 families and 651 000 persons. The sur- vey excluded 417 slums (43 539 families and approximately 226 000 persons) which had been previously covered under the Madras Urban Development Programme (MUDP) parts | and ll, and by slum clearance schemes. 24 slums on village sites and 76 slums with less than 5 huts were also left out of the survey(10). Slums were identified by way of a "physical scan" by survey teams in all areas. The profile portion of the survey provides information regarding the ownership of land ‘on which slums are situated, age of slums, the physical form of slums, the number of4 THE INDIAN GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL huts and materials used in their construction, the existence of slum dwellers’ organizations, infrastructure and the nature of non- residential activities carried on in the slums. Constructing the GIS Database For this study a variety of software packages on two hardware platforms were employed to undertake the various geographical informa- tion system (GIS) functions of storing, retriev- ing, transforming and displaying spatial data. These were ARC/INFO v6.1.1 and SAS v7.2 in a UNIX environment, and Paradox for Windows v1.0, Systat for Windows v5.2 and Excel for Windows v4.0 on an DOS and Windows platform. Five coverages (or map layers) were created using ARC/INFO. Coverages representing Madras corporation division boundaries, wa- terways, slum locations, and a city outline were digitized from a 1:200,000 scale map (13). The fifth coverage was created using the slum point locations to generate Thiessen (or Voronoi) polygons which were then "clipped" with the outline coverage. Slum point locations and Thiessen polygon cen- troids were given unique slum identifiers so as to link with the profile database informa- tion. The slum profile information was im- ported into the Paradox for Windows relational database. This database and results of subsequent analyses were indexed, ex- ported and linked to the slum and Thiessen polygon coverages in INFO. Data Analysis Analysis of the profile database was per- formed by way of experimental mapping and visual analysis of the profile variables, a prin- cipal components analysis of these variables, mapping of their component (factor) scores, and by a classification of slums based on their physical characteristics (and derived by way of K-means clustering). ‘A. Experimental Mapping Mapping of variables of the profile database (and simple combinations there of) were per- formed for the following items: total number of shelter units in slums; type of slums (linear, scattered, planned development); ownership of land (government, private, religious institu- tion); age of slums; percentage of huts which were thatched; working latrines per shelter unit; working street lights per shelter unit; working water points per shelter unit; status of drains in slums (open or underground); sta- tus of roads in slums (uncovered or covered); number of shops per shelter unit, and; num- ber of schools per shelter unit (primary and adult) These slum characteristics were mapped using either point or spot symbols, or in a choropleth manner based on the Thiessen polygon coverage. Experimental mapping of these simple variables reveals three general categories into which they may be grouped; those with random distribution throughout the city, variables which display a distance decay trend away from the core, and slum characteristics which seem to follow some other pattern. The latter group consists of the size of slums, land ownership and type of slums. The 996 slums which were analysed in this work had a mean size of 89.9 shelter units and a range of size from 5 to 901 huts, with most slums at the smaller end of this range. Fig.1 displays the spatial distribution of slum sizes through- out the city. Visual interpretation of this map indicates that smaller slums seem to be under-represented at the periphery while larger slums are more dominant. The graph of slum deciles included in Fig. 1 highlights this, observation. This graph maps average slums sizes for deciles (10% groupings) of slums based on proximity to the core of the city at Parry's Corner Bazaar (see Fig. 2). It displays a sharp increase in mean slum size for the last decile, which mostly represents slums sit- uated on the southern periphery of the city. This situation may be related to larger tracts of land and less dense settlement in theMadras City Size of Slums (Total Shelter Units), 1986 3 River/Canal Total Shelter Units © 5 Shelter Units © 100 Shelter Units (©) 500 Shelter Units (©) 900 Shelter Units MEAN TOTAL SHELTER UNITS. 'BY PROXIMITY TO THE CORE Base map: ‘Slums in Madras City, 1986. (1986) 1:193237TNSCB. ‘Source: MMDA, unpublished data (1986). Madras: MMDA. Martin J. Bunch, University of Waterloo, 1995,Madras City Ownership of Slum Lands, 1986 Kilometers @ River/Canal ° Slums on Government or Religous Land * Slums on Privately Owned Land C1 Parry’s Corner Bazaar, a commercial core ‘BY PROXIMITY TO THE CORE Base map: ‘Slums in Madras City, 1986, (1986) 193237.TNSCB. Decie ‘Source: MMDA, unpublished data (1986). Madr : MMDA. Martin J. Bunch, University of Waterloo, 1995‘THE PHYSICAL ECOLOGY OF SLUMS IN MADRAS "7 peripheral areas, especially in the south of the city. Also, Fig.1 portrays several group- ings or clumping together of slums. For ex- ample, there is a linear grouping of slums along the north-south running Buckingham Canal between the Cooum River and the ‘Adyar river. Much of the literature on slums holds that slums typically arise in areas not developed to un-suitability for other uses (for example, due to susceptibility to flooding) This may be a factor in the location of these and other slums along waterways in Madras. The literature also notes the importance of proximity to employment opportunities for slum dwellers. One familiar with Madras will note. (Fig. 1) the clustering of slums near in- dustrial areas, most noticeably in the northern part of the city (for example, moving west from the Buckingham Canal, between the first and second bends of the Otteri Nul- lah Canal). This clustering of slums and a general knowledge of Madras leads to the ob- servation that the spatial distribution of slums is not random but, rather, is likely influenced by factors such as availability of un-devel- oped land and proximity to employment op- portunities Maps of land ownership indicate that govern- ment-owned slums (498 in all) are slightly under- represented nearest the core and at the periphery of Madras City. The 345 slums on privately-owned land display the reverse trend and also have several prominent group- ings in northern Madras (again, these are ob- served near areas zoned for industrial use). Mapping types of slums reveals concentra- tions of a total of 47 linear slums along wa- terways and a scattering of 191 linear slums throughout the city. The 100 planned hut de- velopments are largely concentrated in the north of the city near the core while scattered hut developments, accounting for 658 slums, are distributed throughout the city, displaying several concentrations af slums. Some of these concentrations correspond to the locations of slums on privatély-owned land Fig. 2). Variables describing the age of Madras slums in 1986, the percentage of sums which were thatched, working water points, latrines and street lights per hut, the status of roads and drains and the number of shops per hut, all display to a greater or lesser degree, a dis- tance decay pattern from the core of the city at Parry's Comer toward the periphery of the city. Age of slums ranged from 1 to 150 years with a mean,age of 37.3 years in 1986. Fig. 3 demonstrates a general gradient of slum ages. Older slums are obsérved in the core of the city and these become progressively younger with distance away from this central area. The central area between. the port and Cooum River is an area where Very few slums exist. The gradient observed for age of slums is to be expected. Slums are settled over time as the city’ expands outward in area. Thus, slums on the periphery were mostly less than 30 years old in 1986, while in the core area slums of 30 to 60 years of age and older were common. The other variables displaying some sort of distance decay trend may all be considered indicators of the environmental condition of slums, or of their level of development. For example, the proportion of huts in a slum which were thatched (as opposed to more solid and less flammable structures) may be taken as a quick indicator of a slum’s envi- ronmental condition (8). In 1986 an average of 68.8% of huts in slums were thatched, but there is a distinct gradual trend from lower to higher proportion of thatched huts with dis- tance from the core. That is, housing quality declined in slums with distance from the core of the city. A similar trend was evident in maps describing. access to water, latrines, working street lights, the status of roads and drains and the incidence of shops. PrimaryMadras City Age of Slums, 1986 | River/Canal Parry’s Corner Bazaar, acommercial core Age of Slums (Years) <6 Bee 6-15 > 60 16-30 MEAN AGE OF SLUMS BY PROXIMITY TO THE CORE Base map: ‘Slums in Madras City, 1986/ (1986) 1:193237. TNSCB. ‘Source: MMDA, unpublished data (1986). Madras: MMDA. Martin J. Bunch, University of Waterloo, 1995,THE PHYSICAL ECOLOGY OF SLUMS IN MADRAS 19 and adult schools seem to be distributed ran- domly throughout the city slums. Variables which contribute to an understand- ing of the environmental condition of slums were combined to form an experimental index. To construct the index, variables were transformed to a scale from 0 to 1 and given a sign (4/-), describing whethér the condition represented better or worse environmental conditions. These variables were added to- gether for each slum, and this result was stan- dardized for mapping. Variables used to construct the index of environmental condi- tions were: % of huts which were thatched (.), working water points per hut (+), working latrines per hut (+) and infrastructure status (paved roads and underground drains) (+). Fig.4 presents slum scores on this index for visual interpretation. Perusal of this map indicates that slums in Madras seem to be of better environmental condition near the core and progressively less so toward the periphery. This might arise from the incremental improvement of huts over time, thus older slum areas will have better quality housing. B. Principal Components Analysis The experimental index of environmental conditions in slums is useful for exploratory mapping. However, this index, while providing a quick picture of physical conditions in slums, may not be sufficient in itself to draw strong conclusions regarding the ecology of slums in Madras. Also, the creation of the experimental index was somewhat arbitrary. A more robust method employs principal components analysis to find linear combinations of variables, This can be used both to summarize a large number of variables as a few principal components, and to represent - an underlying latent or real variable for which the original variables. are surrogates (3). In this work, a promax rotation was used to extract four principal components which ex- plained 69.3% of the variance among the correlations of the original variables. These principal components may be thought of as describing, in general, conditions of land ten- ure, environmental quality, services and slum size. The inter-factor correlations for prin pal components of the profile database are presented in Table 1 while the structure ma- trix (product moment correlations of the vari- ables on the’ principal components) for the promax rotation is presented in Table 2. Table 1 Inter-factor correlations among principal ‘components of the 1986 profile database Factor | 1 2 3 4 1 1.000 ]-0.218 |-0.037 |-0.205 2 |-0.218 | 1.000 | 0.164 | 0.096 3 |-0.037 | 0.164 | 1.000 |-0.207 4 [-0.205 | 0.096 |-0.207 | 1.00 Table 2 Inter-factor correlations among princip: components of the 1986 profile database Variable | PCr | pc2 | Pc3 | Pca Age of Slum +0.475 | 0.454 0.473 Linear Slum . 70.726 Shelter Units ee Drain Status 0.804 Road Status 0.722 Housing Quality’ 40.432 | 0.724 0.339 Water Points 0.837 Latrines 0.601 Lighting 0.322 |0.730 Government | 0.924 Private 40.863 * Values less than #/-0.3 are not shown (I). First Principal Component: Land Tenure The first principal component, accounting for about 20% of the variance among 11 vari- ables, most strongly summarizes a dichotomyMadras City Environmental Condition of Slums, 1986 l@@ River/Canal Parry’s Corner Bazaar, acommercial core Environment Condition Index | }-2.0t0-11 [i 1.0t0 2.0 1.0 to -0.1 <2.0 Highe = Hoowos see ssten ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITION OF ‘SLUMS BY PROXIMITY T0.CO*E Base map: ‘Slums in Madras City, 1986! (1986) 1:193237. TNSCB Martin J. Bunch, University of Waterloo, 1995,‘THE PHYSICAL ECOLOGY OF SLUMS IN MADRAS. 2 of slums in terms of government versus pri- vate land ownership. These have correlations with the . factor of 1=0.92 and r=-0.86 respectively. Also, this factor. summarizes some of the variation in age of slums (r= 48) and housing quality (r=-0.43). In general, this factor describes conditions at one ex- treme where slums are situated on govern- ment-owned land and have a tendency to be relatively young and poor in quality of hous- ing (ice, having relatively large proportions of thatched, tinned and asbestos huts). At the other extreme of the factor scores are slums on privately-owned land which tend to be older and composed of pucca (well built) and tiled hut types. The pearson product moment correlations of these variables indicate that this condition will be more strongly pro- nounced for slums on government land. (The correlations between housing quality and government and private land ownership are t=-0.44 and r=0.20 respectively). It should be noted, however, that slum clear- ance and the Madras Urban Development Programmes parts | and II have removed 421 slums from consideration in this analysis. This has had the effect of biasing the popula- of government slums towards younger ages. Yet this does not account for the ten- dency described by the first factor for slums ‘on government-owned land to have poor quality housing (housing quality and govern- ment land ownership have a correlation of t=-0.48). The contribution of age of slums to the first principal component is important in understanding this trend. A moderate corre- lation of r=0.42 may be observed between age of slums and housing quality. This points, ‘not to the tendency for slums on government- owned land to consist of poor quality hous- ing, but for younger slums to have poor hous- ing conditions. Thus, the relationship between slum age and housing quality helps to account for a moderate negative correla- tion of r=-0.40 between housing and slums ‘on government-owned and (which had a mean age of 27.6 years in 1986), and only a low positive (r=0.20) correlation between housing quality and slums on private land (which had a mean age of 44.9 years), Thus, the first factor provides evidence that housing quality improves over time, a process of in situ accretion often attributed to “self-help housing" of the poor, who upgrade 'the qual- ity of their homes incrementally over time as they can afford, The spatial distribution of scores of slums on the first principal component, in general, fol- lows the pattern of land ownership of slums. There is a tendency toward high scores on the periphery, especially in southern Madras, and mixed or low scores in the central and north-central parts of the city. (i) Second Principal Environmental Quality Indications of the occurrence of in situ accretion of slums in Madras are also given by the second principal component which was extracted from the profile variables. This second factor accounts for almost as much of the variance among the variables (19.4%) as does the first, and summarizes conditions described by drain status (r=0.80), road status (=0.72) and housing quality (r=0.72) as well as age of slums (t=0.45). Thus, the second principal component is an index of certain physical characteristics of slums which tend to vary with the age of slums. This is due mostly to a moderate correlation (r=0.42) between housing quality and age of slums Component: Fig.5 displays the spatial distribution of scores on the second principal component. It can be seen from this map that slums which tend to have underground drains, covered roads and relatively large proportions of tiled and pucca huts, and which show some ten- dency to be older, are concentrated toward the central northeastern section of the city.2 THE INDIAN GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL There is a steep gradient on this summary variable away from this area. (iii) Third Principal Component: Services The third principal component accounts for 16.1% of the variance of the variables. This factor summarizes the environmental charac- teristics of slums which are not accounted for by thé second principal component. These are working water points per hut in slums (r=0.84), working latrines per hut (r=0.60) and working street lights per hut (r=0.73). It seems that while the environmental charac- teristics of slums described in factor 2 may operate with processes of in situ accretion, variables loading strongly on factor 3 vary in- dependently of age and, thus, are not in- volved in such processes. Fig. 6 displays the spatial distribution of scores on this factor within the city of Madras. As with the second principal component, this summary variable scores higher near the central areas of the city, but is more evenly distributed, i.e., the distance decay gradient is evident but less steep. (iv) Fourth Principal Component: Slum Size The fourth principal component accounts for 14.0% of variance among the profile database variables. This factor summarizes variance among age of slums (r=0.47), form of slums (linear versus non-linear) (r=-0.73) and size of slums as measured by the number of shelter units (r=0.70). Thus, slums scoring low on this principal component may be de- scribed as typically small and linear with a tendency to be relatively young. There may also be a tendency for these slums to have larger proportions of thatched, tinned or as- bestos-roofed huts as there is a weak correla tion of 1=0.34 between this factor and housing quality. Conversely, slums which score high on the fourth principal component will tend toward greater numbers of shelter units, non-linear form and will have some tendency to be relatively older slums and possibly also have better quality housing This summary variable is randomly distrib- uted throughout the city with the possible ex- ception of low scores along waterways (which are the locations of one form of linear slum). C. Categorization of Slums from the Principal Components Slums were subjected to K-means clustering using scores on the four principal compo- nents. The purpose of this exercise was to parse out of the data set groups of slums which had similar characteristics in terms of the summary variables produced by the prin- cipal components analysis. Seven clusters were determined and these were condensed into 6 classes of slums as described below. (i) Cluster 1: General Non-Government Slums The first cluster of slums accounts for 304 slum settlements in total. Table 3 indicates that these slums score low on the first princi- pal component, indicating a strong tendency toward ‘nion- government land ownership (and possible tendencies toward older slums and better quality tiled and pucca huts). Other factors for this cluster do not seem to contribute much to its definition, with the possible exception of factor 2, on which this group of slums score somewhat low, This Cluster is composed of 79.6% slums on pri- vately-owned land and 20.4% slums on land owned by religious institutions. These slums are mostly of scattered hut types (88.2%) and are mediurtr-sized or slightly smaller, with a mean size of 67 huts. They are average in age (44 years) and in environmental and housing conditions. Figs. 7a) and 8a) indi- cate that these slums are somewhat over-rep- resented closer to the core of the city. (ii) Cluster 2: General Government Slums The second cluster of slums incorporates 291 slums which score relatively high on the first2nd Principal Component Environmental Quality of Slums, 1986 l@@ River/Canal Parry’s Corner Bazaar, acommercial core Composite Variable Index <-2.00 0.00- 0.99 -2.00 --1.01 1.00 - 1.99 1.00 --0.01 > or = 2.00 MEAN SCORES ON FACTOR 2 BY PROXIMITY TO THE CORE Base map: ‘Slums in Madras City, 1986! (1986) 1:193237. TNSCB Martin J. Bunch, University of Waterloo, 1995,3rd Principal Component Services in Slums, 1986 l@@ River/Canal Parry’s Corner Bazaar, acommercial core Composite Variable Index <-2.00 0.00- 0.99 -2.00--101 [I 100-199 [| -100--0.01 [J > or = 2.00 MEAN SCORES ON FACTOR 9 BY PROXIMITY TO THE CORE Base map: ‘Slums in Madras City, 1986! (1986) 1:193237. TNSCB Martin J. Bunch, University of Waterloo, 1995,THE PHYSICAL ECOLOGY OF SLUMS IN MADRAS 25 principal component. This indicates govern- ment land ownership (and possible tenden- cies toward younger slums with poor quality housing). Low scores on factor 2 would seem to indicate poor quality housing and low provision of drains and paved roads. Factors 3 and 4 do not play an important role in defining this cluster. These slums are almost entirely (96.2%) gov- emment-owned. They are medium sized but tend to be relatively young (with a mean age of 24.4 years), and have low measures on the aggregate housing quality variable (9.4%). All have open drains and almost 90% have unpaved roads. 74.6% of these slums are of the scattered hut development form while 15.5% are linear slums (36 out of these 45 linear slums are situated along waterways and 5 on rail lines). Slums in this category are found throughout the city but their rela- tive numbers increase with distance from the core. (Figs. 7b and 8b). (iii) Clusters 3 and 4: Linear Roadside Slums The 139 slums of cluster number 3, and the 2 slums in the 4th cluster, have a positive mean for scores on the first factor, but a larger range than slums in cluster number 2. This indicates that while we might expect these slums to be government-owned, other owner- ship categories are also involved. In fact, 86.3% of slums in cluster 3 are on govern- ment-owned land, while 9.4% are on private lots and 4.3% on land owned by rel stitutions. Table 3 indicates that factors 2 and 3 are non-contributors to the definition of these clusters. However, these slums score very low on the fourth principal component, indicating that they are mostly small, linear, young and likely to have relatively poor con- ions of housing. It turns out that 95.7% of cluster 3 slums are linear (these are roadside linear — only 2 are along waterways) and tend to be small (the mean number of huts is 45.4). Also, this group of slums has the low- Table 3 Factor Characteristics of Slums Clusters Variable | min | MIEAN| MAx_| stow. Cluster 1] pcr PC2 11.08 10.35 | 0.94 | 0.43, pez 1.04 $0.17 | 1.43 | 0.51 pcg $1.62 | 0.19 | 2.32 | 0.63 £2.03 }1.06 }0.08 | 0.39 Cluster2{ pcr $0.20 | 0.79 | 1.41 | 0.25 pc2 11.24 0.65 | 0.99 | 039 pc3_ [1.04 $0.30 | 1.50 | 0.54 pcg }0.70 | 0.05 } 1.05 | 0.37 Cluster3} pcr $0.89 | 0.93 | 1.54 | 0.60 pc2 1.06 | 0.01 | 2.28 | 0.67 pc3__ $1.04 | 0.04 | 2.09 | 0.80 pcq $253 [1.59 10.54 | 0.42 Custer4] pcr [0.71 [1.01 | 1.31 | 0.30 PC2 0.05 | 0.68 | 1.41 | 0.73 pcx | 9.27 | 9.70 Nlo.t2 | 0.42 pea }3.07 +-2.38 }1.70 | 0.68, Cluster5] pci [1.96 |0.64 | 1.00 | 0.64 pc2 [0.74 | 1.95 | 3.41 | 0.66 pc3 11.12 | 0.06 | 1.80 | 0.54 pea. -2.03 [0.35 | 2.45 | 0.84 Clusteré| pcr [1.08 | 0.80 | 1.94 | 0.63 pez £0.76 | 0.11 | 2.05 | 0.63 | pea 11.17 f034 | 0.91 | oss Pea [043 | 1.73 | 459 | 0.89 Cluster7| pct bo.is | 1.63 | 0.98 PC2 0.08 | 3.35 | 0.92 2.96 | 6.32 | 1.19 ca [0.52 | 1.19 | 0.79 est mean age (20.9 years) of all seven clusters and scores extremely low on housing quality (8.3%). These small roadside linear slums are distributed evenly throughout the city ex- cept for under-representation along rivers and canals, The cluster 4 slums have very poor quality housing (0% tiled or pucca huts) but score high on access to working water points, latrines and lighting. (iv) Cluster 5: Pucca Slums This group of slums, 143 in all, scores some- what léw On the-first principal componentTHE INDIAN GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL S661 ‘CoLaren Jo Aysianiun ‘Young ‘TUE, suing ews AA gadky, swing awaury, apispeor eadky, suinig aquaumuza409, Te0099) paddy, Fig.7 Distribution of slums types throughout Madras in 1986‘THE PHYSICAL ECOLOGY OF SLUMS IN MADRAS Type 1 Type 2 General Non-Government Slums General Government Slums %0 so a 5 5 5 22 325 — 3 z e 2 & E 0 ms Oh 12345676800) 12846678010 Decile Decile Type 3 - Type 4 Linear Roadside Slums Pucca Slums x © 3 3 5 5 810 50 2 2 2 2 & & ° ob 12a 4¢so7600| 12846678910 Decile Decile Type 5 Type 6 Large Slums Very Small Slums. 0 we > 80 35 8 & o o 0 0 a 12a 4567800) 1286657800 Decile Decile J Fig.8 Density gradients of slum types (decile counts by proximity to the city core). 2728 THE INDIAN GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL but very high on the second. (These will be referred to as "Type 4 slums"). Thus, these slums will tend to be older, situated on land owned by private landowners or religious in- stitutions, and have better housing and envi- ronmental conditions on the physical indicators summarized by factor 2 (housing, roads and drains). Thus, we see that 38.5% of these slums are situated on religious insti- tution land and 49.0% on privately. owned land, and are largely of the scattered hut (60.8%) or planned hut (24.5%) development form. They have a mean size of 97 huts per slum and have the highest mean age of all the clusters at 58.5 years, and the highest measures of housing quality (64.1% of huts are pucca or tiled), drain status (55% having underground drains), and road status (79.7% have paved roads). If any group of slums may experience processes of in situ accre- tion, it would be cluster 5. This cluster of slums is concentrated in north and central Madras, with a steep decline in numbers away form the core. () Cluster 6: Large Slums Cluster 6, (Type 5 slums), is composed of 73 slums which score somewhat high on factor 1 and high on factor 4 (factors 2 and 3 do not contribute much to the definition of this group). Thus, these slums are largely government-owned (80.8%), older (with a mean age of 49.2 years) and very large, having a mean size of 343 huts. These slums also tend to be scattered (69.9%) or planned (24.7%) hut developments. They can be found throughout the city, especially on the periphery, but with an area of under-representation in central Madras south of the Otteri Nullah canal, and along waterways. (vi) Cluster 7: Very Small Slums This last group of 44 slums is defined mainly by very high scores on factor 3 and slightly low scores on factor 4. _ Thus, they have mixed ownership characteristics and average levels of housing quality and road and drain status. 68.2 percent of these slums are scat- tered hut developments while the remainder are linear (in mostly roadside situations). They are not unusual in their mean age of 40.1 years but are extremely small, having a mean size of only 17.1 shelter units, and have high scores on access to water, latrines and lighting. (The access of these slums to such facilities may be due to their small size, as such slums, existing among weal ibourhoods, will have access to the fa- cilities of surrounding areas. Also, even pro- vision of one water pump, for example, will result in high scores on access to water due to the small number of shelter units in the slum). As indicated in Figures 7f) and 8f), these small slums are centrally located and under-represented along watercourses, and sharply decline in numbers with distance from the central area. Usefulness of the Slum Classification The clusters of slums described above form a typology of six types of slums which is sum- marized in Table 4. This classification em- phasises physical differences among slums. For example, the two general categories of government and non-government slums are physically quite different. Among other dif- ferences, Type 1 (general non-government) slums tend to be a little smaller and almost twice as old as Type 2 (general government) slums. Type 1 slums also tend to have better housing conditions. While some of these dif- ferences between the Type 1 and Type 2 slums may be exaggerated by the exclusion of slums addressed by government programs, this does not reduce the usefulness of the classification, especially if one’s aim is to ad- dress the remainder. The four other types of slums defined in this work are usually ‘implicitly subsumed under‘THE PHYSICAL ECOLOGY OF SLUMS IN MADRAS 29 one of the first two categories in informal cat- egorizations of slums in Madras (Bunch, 1994). In contrast, this classification not only defines the first two general classes as differ- ent from each other in land ownership and physical characte but separates out about 400 slums as distinct from either of these first two slum types. The K-means pro- cedure is an exclusive (not hierarchical) parti- tioning exercise, For example, while linear slums along waterways and rail lines are clumped together with the general govern- ment category (Type 2), roadside linear slums are distinguished separately, as are very large non-linear slums. Similarly, older slums of better environmental and housing conditions and very small slums with (internally) consis- tent environmental characteristics are parsed out of the overall slum population. One of the most important characteristics of this classification is that it has been derived from actual data on the entire population of slums in Madras (aside from exclusions from the Survey of Slums in Madras Metropolitan ‘Area which are noted above). This means that actual figures can be applied in the de- scription of these categories. This should aid in tailoring prograrames to particular types of slums as well as facilitating the comparison of the Madras situation with other cities and tracing change in these characteristics over time. This categorization of slums may have partic- ular utility with regards to formulating and implementing policy. Depending on the ob- jectives of policy makers, certain types of slums, as identified above, may be included or excluded from programmes. For example, if the aim is to address the slums most in need, then the policy may be directed toward Type 2 and Type 3 slums, which are charac- terized by very poor environmental con tions and are mostly located on (accessible) government-owned land. Alternatively, if one wishes to affect -the largest number of people with limited resources, then Type 5 slums should be targeted. These are also largely government-owned (and thus accessi- ble to government agencies and pro- grammes), and they are very large so that economies of scale may be achieved in the provision of basic infrastructure and services. Organizing Principles in the Ecology of Slums In Madras Both principal components analysis and ex- ploratory mapping of the database allow con- clusions to be drawn about the geographic organization of slums in Madras. First, many of the environmental characteristics of slums follow a gradient from the central area north of Fort St. George {in the area of Parry’s cor- ner). These vary with distance from the core. Overall environmental condition progresses from better near the core, to worse toward the periphery of the city. Also, the age of slums progresses from older to younger with distance from the core. Housing quality, access to working water points, latrines and electric lighting and access to small-scale ser- vices provided by shops in slums, generally deteriorates away from the central area. Finally, roads in slums tend to be unpaved, and drains to be open away from the core. These findings contradict those of Michael de Wit (5) for Bangalore. De Wit concluded that slums in Bangalore do not differ much in terms of environmental characteristics, ex- cept that centrally located slums stand out negatively. Aside from general gradient trends, some other patterns are observable. Large slums may be found throughout the city but are es- pecially prevalent at the periphery, Slums on privately-owned land are somewhat’ under- represented at the periphery and very near the core, while slums on government- owned land display the opposite pattern. Govern- ment-owned slums in the 1986 Survey ofnH ooLANBN ueIW a Sutsnoy Anyend> find M6 uO x 220% “DORAL reneds uora pue suompuco usnoy pue jewauuoutAua Fesane aney 9504 92!5 afr Kon pu uo se2U1}-u0U cee 669 SS] USL Cb ee] ez | yoswins s9pjoIeymawos ‘poumo-waunsAand® AjSOW 7 BURL am spo IE 9 PPO oo oO oo} oo OO OM Z| pue Arofare> ¢ adAy ay jo ssaypno aue suns Om) 35UL “sna jen Boje woneorxdauapi sas ainqunsip AyuaA3 “suopipuco Bussnoy 400g “suis es St 556] Cy ¥6 E98] GEL] —_2B—UN oprsPeD! ‘poumo-wouLiERdB “a8uNOK Ay THE INDIAN GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL oor 9 ssi] we 00 796) L6z ong ened arg suon;poo Busnow poe eusuioyu Seany oy aoe Pame>s os ree ¢9| vor 962 00] roe | Asouo suns oxs-upaus YonsonoS-UON, a es adi unig wend sadk uunjs yo sonsuaperey, vane.‘THE PHYSICAL ECOLOGY OF SLUMS IN MADRAS 31 Slums in Madras Metropolitan Area tend to be young (due to exclusion of slums which have been addressed by government pro- grammes), and private slums have a (weaker) tendency to be older. Linear slums tend to be less old and small, while larger slums tend to- ward non-linear forms and are relatively older. Provision of water, latrines and street lighting vary independently from the age of slums. However, three environmental variables, (housing quality, road status and drain status), vary together with age. This relationship is most pronounced with housing quality, and provides evidence of the occurrence of in situ accretion of housing in slums, The theory of self-help housing, which attempts to explain in-situ accretion of dwellings, recognizes the rationality of the actions of poor urban dwellers in constructing what are generally considered to be inadequate structures in slum and squatter settlements. However, these are seen as adequate to meeting the current needs of the poor urbanite. Over time the slum dweller will incrementally improve his or her hut (1, 9, 15). Until now this process was not thought to play much of arole in Indian slums. Conclusions This work has analysed the database of physical characteristics of slums from the 1986 Survey of Slums in Madras Metropolitan Area. It has been determined that many of the —_ environmental characteristics of slums vary with distance from the central area of Madras. In general, it may be stated that the environmental condition of slums is best near the core of the city and deteriorates the further a slum is situated way from it, It may also be concluded that processes of in-situ accretion, or self-help housing, occur within Madras. That is, with respect to the quality of housing, and the condition of basic infrastructure in slums as indicated by the state of roads and drains, the environmental condition of slums is improved over time. Finally, this work has produced a typology of slums based on physical characteristics. The six types of slums include general categories of slums on government and privately-owned land, "pucca" slums of better environmental conditions, very small and very large slums, and linear roadside slums. Each of these cat- egories are mutually exclusive and physically distinct from one another, making the typol- ogy potentially very useful in the planning and implementation of programmes directed toward the problem of slums in Madras, and perhaps slums in other Indian cities as well. References 1. Abrams C (1964). Man’s Struggle for Shelter jin an Urbanizing World, Cambridge MA: MIT Press. 2. Bunch M (1994). The Physical Ecology of Slums in Madras, India, 1986. Master of Arts Thesis. Waterloo: Department of Geography, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo. 3. Cliff N (1987). Analyzing Multivariate Data. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers. 4. de Wit J.W- (1993). Poverty Policy and Politics in Madras Slums: Dynamics of Survival, Gender and —_ Leadership. ‘Amsterdam: Centrale Huisdrukkerij. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. 5. de Wit MJ. (1992). "The Slums of Bangalor Mapping a Crisis in Overpopulation” Geolnfo Systems, October, 1992. 6. de Wit MJ (1992), Geographical Information Systems, Remote Sensing and Slums in Indian Cities: The Case of Bangalore. New Delhi: Indian Council of Social Science Research. 7. Hardoy JE and D. Satterthwaite (1989). Squatter Citizen: Life in the Urban Third32 10. uu. 12. THE INDIAN GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL World. Limited, Lowder $ (1986). The Geography of Third World Cities. Totowa, New Jersey: Barnes & Noble Books. London: Earthscan Publications Mangin W (1967). *Latin American Squatter Settlements: A Problem and a Solution" in Latin American Research Review 2: 65-98. MMDA (1987). Survey of Slums in Madras Metropolitan’ Area. Madras: Madras Metropolitan Development Authority. MMDA (1986). Data from the Survey of ‘Slums in Madras Metropolitan Area. Unpublished. Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board, 1993. 13, 14, 15. Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board: Performance and Prospects. as on 31.03.1993. Madras: TNSCB. Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (1986). Slums in Madras City, 1986 . [1:193, 237 map sheet} Madras: Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (1975). Slums of Madras City: A Socio-Economic Survey. Madras: Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board. ‘Tumer J.F.C (1967). "Barriers and Channels for Housing Development in Modernizing Countries" in the journal of the American nstitute of Planners, 33(3): 167-180.