Policy Opportunities and Constraints for Addressing Urban Precarity of Migrant Populations. (15th October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Siddiqui, Tasneem; Szaboova, Lucy; Adger, W. Neil; Safra de Campos, Ricardo; Bhuiyan, Mohammad Rashed Alam; Billah, Tamim
• Other Names: Bakonyi Jutta guestEditor.; Kappler Stefanie guestEditor.; Nag Eva‐Maria guestEditor.; Opfermann Lena S. guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Global policy. Volume 12(2021)Supplement 2
• Page Start: 91
• Page End: 105
• Publication Date: 2020-10-15
• Subjects: Globalization -- Periodicals; International relations -- Periodicals; World politics -- Periodicals; 327.1705
• DOI: 10.1111/1758-5899.12855
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1758-5880

Abstract

Abstract: Addressing sources and drivers of precarity among marginalized migrant populations in urban spaces is central to making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable for all. Yet dominant policy discourses continue to frame migrants as problematic causes of insecurity and tend to exclude them from policy processes. Deliberative democratic theory suggests that inclusive processes have the potential to create innovative solutions for resilient cities. This study elicits and reports on self‐identified sources of precarity and insecurity as experienced by new low‐income migrant populations. It combines visual ethnography and deliberative democracy tools in an action research process that facilitated dialogue between migrant populations, urban planners and policy stakeholders. The objective is to elicit policy opportunities and constraints for changing dominant discourses, with a view to enhance marginalized lives and to implement sustainable urban infrastructure in Chattogram, the second largest city of Bangladesh. The results show options for addressing precarity, developed through facilitating migrants and planners to engage with each other's perspectives. Priorities include focusing on insecure tenure, exposure to environmental hazards, and representation in planning processes. Integrating the perspectives and lived experiences of migrant urban populations into policy processes potentially leads to more effective, sustainable and legitimate solutions. Abstract : Precarity is experienced by rural‐urban migrants across multiple wellbeing dimensions, which extend beyond material condition and also include social relationships and practices, physical and mental health, dignity, education and nutrition.