Kalyany Sankar

Inter-generational Mobility of Slum Dwellers: a Case of Two Slums Kalyany Sankar

Slum-like human settlements are found in almost every town in Kerala, India especially in coastal areas like Thiruvananthapuram which is one of the cities with most true characteristics as of any other slum of metropolitan city. In this book an attempt is made to understand the dynamics of low human development of slums over generations in two Thiruvananthapuram slums taking the cases of Bartonhill Colony and Thekkumudu Bund Colony. The study probed empirically into the question whether there has been an upward socio-economic mobility and identifies the key drivers of upward/downward mobility in the two selected slums. The study indicates that there been very little intra-slum and inter-slums socio-economic mobility. The further it ascertains that vicious circle of low human development in the slums is not due to lack of basic capabilities such as literacy or longevity but because of their inability to translate these gains into upward mobility through which they could have purchased access to tertiary health care, and technical and higher education, which are crucial in maintaining and improving economic and social status of a community.