This paper investigates the contentious institutionalization of building codes in colonial Bombay. Based on original archival research, the paper demonstrates that building codes were inflected with a discourse of moral regulation that masked the material interests of the state. Resistance to these regulations came from many quarters; conflicts within the state, public opinion expressed in the press, and political strategizing of residents and landowners in the public sphere. The paper argues for greater attention to the historically variable interconnections between power and resistance in specific empirical contexts.

Drawing on original historical research and expert interviews, I trace the policy of density regulations in a megacity. I provide evidence on the policy evolution of density regulations and its relation to informal housing in Mumbai, since the late 1800s. I then use counterfactual analysis to analyze how local politics constrain deregulation, and assess whether deregulation would have the proposed effects of affordable housing for the bottom of the pyramid. In the last 20 years, these regulations have been converted into a market-based instrument to redevelop informal housing and achieve a range of urban development goals. Finally, expert interviews suggest that de-regulation is not perceived by key actors as key to a sustainable model of affordable housing.

"The Durable Slum" is a historical and ethnographic account of Mumbai’s slums, seen through the lens of Dharavi, famous in the 1990s as Asia’s ‘largest slum’. Liza Weinstein traces out the shifting fortunes of Dharavi over the last 50–60 years, as the state cycled between ‘violent insurgencies... interspersed with more benevolent programmatic interventions’.

Jeune sociologue indienne, Sukriti Issar, Assistant Professor attachée à l’Observatoire sociologique du changement (OSC), consacre ses recherches aux politiques publiques d'urbanisme en Inde. Elle se penche notamment sur les phénomènes d’urbanisation non planifiée à Mumbai. Faisant remonter ses recherches jusqu’à la fin du XIXe siècle, elle en adopte pas moins une démarche de recherche appliquée en prise directe avec les acteurs de terrain. Aperçu de ses recherches.

Hurricanes pose a continuing hazard to populations in coastal regions. This study estimates the impact of hurricanes on population change in the years 1970–2005 in the U.S. Gulf Coast region. Geophysical models are used to construct a unique data set that simulates the spatial extent and intensity of wind damage and storm surge from the 32 hurricanes that struck the region in this period. Multivariate spatial time-series models are used to estimate the impacts of hurricanes on population change. Population growth is found to be reduced significantly for up to three successive years after counties experience wind damage, particularly at higher levels of damage. Storm surge is associated with reduced population growth in the year after the hurricane. Model extensions show that change in the white and young adult population is more immediately and strongly affected than is change for blacks and elderly residents. Negative effects on population are stronger in counties with lower poverty rates. The differentiated impact of hurricanes on different population groups is interpreted as segmented withdrawal—a form of segmented resilience in which advantaged population groups are more likely to move out of or avoid moving into harm’s way while socially vulnerable groups have fewer choices.