Abstract
Slum rehabilitation in developing countries aims at improving the quality of lives of the people through improved housing resulting in the well-being of the residents. The study aims to investigate the residential satisfaction perceived by the residents of one slum rehabilitation housing (SRH) and examine the factors determining the overall residential satisfaction (ORS) level. SRH in Mumbai developed through private participation using land as a resource under the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme (SRS) for marked improvement in health and hygiene conditions of slum dwellers since 1995 has become one of the slum redevelopment approaches accepted in different cities of India. Mumbai is the fourth largest megacity and has the highest slum population among Indian cities with nearly 42% of its population (identified as vulnerable). Over 50% of the people in the city live in informal settlements (slums, squatter settlement, pavements). Due to urban development or renewal projects of the government to further the vision of a world-class sustainable, resilient city, the landscape of the informal settlements has been changing. Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) alone has displaced nearly 120,000 slum dwellers. Due to MUTP and other ongoing projects in the city – the Airport Modernisation Project, the Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project (MUIP), Metro Rail Project or the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), rehabilitation and resettlement of 1,36,000 project affected households will be required. The planned development and consequent displacement of slum people from the established informal human settlement will further require resettlement & rehabilitation on an enormous scale. So rehabilitation of the people from an informal settlement to slum rehabilitation housing (SRH), a low-income free housing using land as a resource is considered as a right approach. However, the design of SRH lacks ventilation and natural lighting affecting residents’ health. Modification of the dwelling unit, renting/selling out is paramount in SRH. So to do a post-occupancy evaluation of one SRH for the project affected people due to MUTP, 64 "residential environment" (RE) attributes grouped under five components- housing unit features (HUF), housing unit support service (HUSS), social environment (SE), public facilities (PF), and neighbourhood facilities (NF)- were identified through literature review on residential satisfaction of public housing. Then personal interviews were done with 207 households with the help of trained interviewers to understand the residents’ demographic details and their perception based level of satisfaction with the 64 variables under residential environment. Satisfaction indices and habitability indices were calculated to know the level of satisfaction among the residents. Results showed that residents have a moderate level of satisfaction with RE, HUF, HUSS, SE, PF, and NF. The results of the regression model revealed that floor level positively contributes to residential satisfaction while the number of children in the family and present corridor design negatively contributes to residential satisfaction. The study indicated that improvement of satisfaction with three HUF elements (floor level, bathroom, construction quality), one SE element (sense of belonging), one NF element (distance to private health centre) could significantly enhance residential satisfaction. The study recommends for community engagement in public housing for a better quality of life. By exploring the present satisfaction level and the factors that contribute to residential satisfaction with SRH, the present study helps to inform and guide policy makers, planners, and designers.
