Dwellers’ Satisfaction on Slum Rehabilitation Scheme and its Affecting Factors in Mumbai, India

Abstract

This study focuses on a Slum Rehabilitation Scheme (SRS) that has provided tenure and security to more than 150,000 households in Mumbai, India. Private developers have been instrumental in rehabilitating former slum areas, and the new tenements created under the SRS have been both applauded and criticized. This study evaluates how satisfied former slum-dwellers are with their SRS apartments, identifies the factors that affect their satisfaction levels, and makes recommendations on how SRS could be modified. A questionnaire survey was conducted of SRS apartment dwellers in three areas in Mumbai, two of which are in-situ developments, and another that is a relocation-development. By analyzing the results of the questionnaire survey using correlation analysis, nonparametric tests, and structural equation modeling, this study reveals that most SRS apartment dwellers are satisfied with living in a SRS apartment, and the dominant factor affecting their satisfaction is how the SRS apartments are managed. The building’s physical features are the second most-important factor, and include the size of the units for families and the width of the corridors. Additionally, in the case of a relocation-development SRS, not having to change their jobs affected SRS apartment dwellers’satisfaction with the SRS apartments. Therefore, this study recommends that further improvements to SRS apartments should include the establishment of effective and comprehensive corporative housing societies that can improve overall management services, offer a variety of unit sizes, and provide wider corridors. In the case of a relocation-development SRS, areas selected for the relocation should allow dwellers to commute to their original workplaces.