Housing Reform in Kolkata: Changes and Challenges

Since 1991 the housing sector in Kolkata has been the subject of significant reforms based on profound changes in the political economy of the State of West Bengal. The paper reviews four reform initiatives: public-private partnership, privatisation of public rental housing, development of New Towns, and the finance sector deregulation in Kolkata and discusses their relevance to the urban context of the city. It is observed that the new reform measures have been successful in reviving the housing market by attracting private and foreign investment and producing housing for the middle- and upper-income population, but have led to the loss of safety nets, and ignored the informal urban context of the city, resulting in the exclusion of about a third of the city population who live in slums and bustees. As a result, the benefits of housing market growth have been offset by the failure to meet the broader social agenda. While a general consensus in favour of the reform is evident, there is growing concern that the broader ideology of housing the poor is being discounted in favour of capital-driven development fuelled by globalisation and privatisation.