Reshaping Mumbai’s cityscape- technologies of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA)

Abstract

Surveying (of both people and land) has been a key tool of the state to make the ‘slum’ legible and plan for its redevelopment. The design and use of digital and geospatial technologies in surveying has produced a new governance paradigm for informal housing. In this paper, I look at how technology enabled survey of informal housing has increasingly powered the state’s role as an enumerator, planner, facilitator, arbitrator, and is aiding state surveillance. I examine the extent to which digital technologies meet their design goals, particularly their goal of increased transparency. I finally contend that both exclusion and inclusion from these data systems could be counterproductive to the interests of people. I look at the case of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) biometric survey in Mumbai, India which is purportedly the world’s largest ‘slum’ survey. The findings from this research contribute to understanding of the dynamics of technology driven urban redevelopment in the era of smart cities and platform urbanism and contributes to literature on the material impact of technology in policy in cities of the global South