Research article

VEGETATION IN SLUMS - BOOSTING LIVELIHOODS, WELL-BEING AND SOCIAL CAPITAL: A CASE SCENARIO OF MIDNAPORE CITY, WEST BENGAL

Madhumita Ghosh

Online First: December 22, 2022


Urban greenery provides ecosystem services that play an important role in the challenging context of urban deprivation and poverty. This study assesses the social importance of vegetation through empirical assessment of 8 urban slums rapidly develop along the fringe areas of Midnapur City, West Bengal. Vegetation played a major role in supporting nutrition by its role in food consumption, and in promoting health through the planting of species with medicinal use. Trees in slums also formed nodes for social activities including conversing and playing, domestic activities such as cooking and washing dishes, and livelihood activities such as the manufacture of broomsticks and tyre repair. Innovative methods of gardening were widely adopted, with kitchen gardens found planted in plastic bags, paint cans, old kitchen utensils and buckets indicating the importance given to planting in environments with limited finances. Short and narrow trunked trees with medium-sized canopies and high economic value, such as Pongamia pinnata, were preferred. The basic objectives of the study are to assess the species-specific characteristics (medicinal, culinary, ornamental, shade-giving etc.) of the vegetation encountered in slums, relating this to their contribution towards health and well-being. Employment opportunities, income level reduces the nutritional deficiencies among the slum dwellers. Species distribution and composition are strongly interrelated with social, cultural and economic activities in slums. Urban greenery is often positively correlated with better health and mental well-being in the slums

Keywords

Livelihood, Income, Social ecological systems, Urban Ecology, Urban Vegetation.