Abstract

This commentary initiates a conversation around new ways of measuring inadequacy in the context of housing in India. It welcomes the expansion in thinking about housing from the Millenium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 11), as well as the focus on adequacy, safety and affordability. The authors briefly assess India’s current housing scenario with respect to the MDGs, outline the current housing policy framework, and ask what ‘inadequate’ housing in India looks like. Drawing on the Karnataka Affordable Housing Policy 2016, they offer an alternative framework for the spatial and empirical mapping of inadequate housing in Indian cities. The commentary concludes with an assessment of the current national housing policy in India and the potential for it to incorporate a more nuanced understanding of inadequacy