Client / Financial Support: Max Lock Centre, University of Westminster, London

Duration: 22 mts

Most cities in the Third World have enclaves or pockets of slum dwellers, often located within the heart of a rapidly expanding city. Over the past decade, as economies have opened up and cities have attempted to modernize, the pressures to more optimally use scarce space have mounted. The presence of a slum cluster on prime real-estate is increasingly seen as unacceptable and a poor rationalization of resources. Inevitably, and as has been documented in cities across the Third World, governments have worked to relocate these slums to the periphery. Land on the outskirts of cities is cheaper than the centre of town, but also, there is aesthetic relief for a city that sees itself on the move.

We are documenting on video the drivers and consequences of such forced relocation. We have focused specifically on the experience of the Motia Khan slum formerly located in close proximity to Connaught Place, New Delhi (the heart of the city), now moved to Rohini approximately 30 kms to the north, on the very outskirts of the city. Working with footage collected five years ago in the Motia Khan slum as well as more recently following the relocation to Rohini, we are exploring the economic, sanitary and other consequences of such forced displacement.