Implementing the Right to the City : A Legal Tool for Improving the Rights of Refugees in Indian Cities

Refugee crises in South Asia have shown that refugees who flee persecution and seek refuge in Indian cities face discriminatory treatment from the cities’ inhabitants and the authorities, forcing them to lead lives well below basic human rights standards. This is due to urban problems in Indian cities like overcrowding, lack of land space and limited resources caused due by poor urban planning and legislation. This paper envisages that the right to the city can serve as a solution to refugees in the region as it guarantees ‘equal cities for all’ and is an effectual combination of the human rights perspective, sustainable science, and the urban planning perspective. The right to the city was formalised in the international sphere through the World Charter for the Right to the City. It is a right possessed by all the inhabitants of a city, to occupy, use and produce inclusive, just and sustainable cities covering all the aspects essential to the quality of life. The right to the city also imposes responsibilities upon governments, including local self-government institutions, and the public in general, to claim, defend, and promote it. In furtherance of this, it is argued that assimilation of this right into the Indian domestic legal structure will not only enable Indian cities to have resilient and planned cities for their own citizens, but also allow them to cater better to the needs of refugees