Urban Sustainability and the Politics of Exclusion: Slum Settlements and SDG 11 in India

• ATHITHA SUNIL

  Central University of Kerala

• LIRAR PULIKKALAKATH

  Mahatma Gandhi University

Urban sustainability in India cannot be meaningfully examined without addressing the persistence of slum settlements and the politics of exclusion that shape them. This paper aims to explore how slums, far from being incidental outcomes of urbanisation, are politically produced spaces of vulnerability that challenge the inclusive aspirations of Sustainable Development Goal number 11. Grounded in the theoretical lenses of informality and just sustainability, the paper situates slum settlements within the broader debates on citizenship, governance, and equity in urban planning. This paper argues that slum settlements are not accidental by-products of rapid urbanisation but politically and institutionally produced spaces of vulnerability, shaped by inadequate urban planning, insecure land-tenure arrangements, unequal access to basic services, and processes of socio-political exclusion. Methodologically, it adopts a qualitative case study approach, drawing on secondary data and policy analysis across four major cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai. The findings reveal that flagship programmes such as PMAY‑U and the Smart Cities Mission often reproduce exclusion through forced relocation, weak participatory mechanisms, and technocratic bias. Updated indices, including the Sustainable Development Report (2025) and the Global Hunger Index (2024), highlight the persistent gap between policy discourse and the lived realities of slum residents, particularly in housing, sanitation, and health. These outcomes point out the structural nature of exclusion in India’s urban governance. The scholarly contribution of the article lies in integrating critical urban theory with empirical evidence to argue that slums must be recognised as legitimate urban spaces and that their residents are citizens entitled to rights and protections. By reframing slum settlements as central to the politics of sustainability, the paper advances a justice-oriented perspective that challenges bureaucratic planning and calls for equity‑centred, participatory approaches to achieving SDG 11

1. ATHITHA SUNIL, Central University of Kerala

   Athitha Sunil is a research scholar at the School of International Relations and Politics (SIRP) at Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala, India. In her academic pursuit, she diligently pursues a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Political Science under the guidance of Dr. Lirar Pulikkalakath. Her doctoral research focuses on the social status and political engagements of youth in urban slums in Kerala. She is working to understand better how exclusions shape society’s marginalised sections. Her scholarly interests extend comprehensively across the domains of migration studies, public policy analysis, research with marginalised communities and the study of informal settlements. She has qualified for the NTA UGC-NET in Political Science. She has a Master’s in Political Science from Sree Kerala Varma College, affiliated with the University of Calicut in Kerala and a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Politics and International Relations from SIRP. Her academic pursuits also encompass an additional Master’s degree in History, which she acquired from the prestigious Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in New Delhi.

2. LIRAR PULIKKALAKATH, Mahatma Gandhi University

   Dr. Lirar Pulikkalakath is an Assistant Professor at the School of International Relations and Politics (SIRP) at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India, where he has been serving since 2014. He currently holds several additional academic and administrative positions at the University, including Honorary Director of the Institute for Multidisciplinary Programmes in Social Sciences (IMPSS), Chairman of the Centre for India Diaspora Studies, and Coordinator of both the K.P.S. Menon Chair for Diplomatic Studies and the C.H. Mohammed Koya Chair. He also serves as the Social Science Coordinator at the International Centre for Polar Studies (ICPS) at Mahatma Gandhi University.

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