Slum Rehabilitation Through Public Housing Schemes in India: A Case of Chandigarh

It is a widely accepted fact that sustainable development cannot be achieved without sustainable human settlements. Cities cannot be made sustainable without ensuring access to adequate and affordable housing to all and improving informal settlements. According to the Census of India (2011), 13.75 million urban households, that is, 65–70 million people live in informal settlements and about 1.77 million people were homeless in India. The goal of sustainable cities cannot be fulfilled with such a large number of populations still being deprived of their basic right to adequate housing. Chandigarh is one of the first planned cities of modern India and has the second highest percentage (89.8%) of urban population to its total population among all the states and union territories in India. This article endeavours to analyse the adequacy and affordability of public housing for urban poor in the Union Territory of Chandigarh.