Migrant Construction workers' Housing in Ahmedabad: Seasonal Labour Migration, Translocal Lives and Urban Governance - Renu Desai
This paper (developed within the framework of the "Building Inclusive Urban Communities" BInUCom project, funded under EU-Eramus plus program) explores the lived experiences and practices of
seasonal migrants who come from the tribal borderlands of eastern Gujarat,
southern Rajasthan, and western Madhya Pradesh to work as construction laborers
in the city of Ahmedabad. The case study attempts to understand the factors and
dynamics that shape these seasonal migrants’ housing experiences, practices,
choices, and constraints in Ahmedabad. For this purpose, two key analytical
lenses have been used: one is the multilocal and translocal lens; the other is
the urban governance lens vis-à-vis informal housing. The paper elaborates on
three key findings: First, labor recruitment and migration pathways play a
significant role in shaping migrants’ pathways of housing in the city. For
migrant workers who look for construction work through a naka (informal,
roadside labor market), their own kin and other migration-source-area-based
social networks crucially shape these pathways, thus influencing their housing
location and typology.
Second, while migrant naka workers come to inhabit a particular location and informal housing typology through these networks—becoming squatter migrants, homeless migrants, or tenant migrants— urban governance, with respect to these particular typologies, plays a predominant role in shaping their conditions, everyday experiences, and practices around housing. Third, along with urban governance, the translocal lives of these migrants which are forged through multilocal livelihoods and multilocal households— along with the village being the main venue for social events, networks, and obligations and a relatively more secure place to recover in, in case of ill health— shape their habitations in the city in vital ways. In conclusion, the paper discusses the implications of these three findings for urban policies, planning, and governance.