Nineteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Migration plays a critical role in the narratives of forced evictions and urban displacement, particularly in Delhi’s context. The vulnerable populations affected by these displacements often consist of migrants from rural areas seeking economic opportunities in urban areas. These individuals, already marginalized, face heightened risks of displacement due to development projects driven by the Delhi Master Plan. Their migration stories intersect with the broader issue of urban development, highlighting the interconnectedness between migration, urbanization, and socio-economic disparities. This has given rise to urban movements representing the collective local voices against arbitrary displacements and exclusion and invisibility of marginalized sections of society from the planning process. The first section of this paper explores the three case studies in the city of Delhi, focusing on forced evictions of the migrant population of Delhi, influenced by the planning and implementation of the Delhi Master Plan 2001-21. The second section looks more closely into the concrete and meaningful movement led by the Main Bhi Dilli campaign, where we examine how it shaped the participatory planning discourse in Delhi by engaging the local communities, migrants, activists, and civil society in the planning discourse and accommodating the issues around housing insecurity, economic distress and socio-political tension within migrant communities. Through these two sections, the paper attempts to explain why the advocates of sustainable urban planning domain need to study the practice of forced evictions in their theory to understand the theory of migration and participatory planning and to challenge spatial exclusion.