VIRTUAL London.

Abstract

Conceptions of livability in urban areas employ a wide spectrum of elements, from environmental (physical and social) characteristics to that of population groups that demand various goods and services. These conceptions vary across space and time. While housing affordability (consequently, livability) has been observed to be a determinant of residential sorting across cities, city cores or older areas in Indian cities of pre-industrial origin present a significant exception. These areas usually have highly congested environments that do not lend themselves easily to major change or drastic renovation due to the sacrality of such cores as well as the durability of built and social environments. However, despite the seemingly lower levels of livability, households belonging to higher income groups and capable of better residential environments choose to stay. An initial look at one such city (Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India) through a rapid reconnaissance survey and semi-structured interviews revealed a few explanations, including – (1) high status associated with living proximate to the sacred city center, (2) attached sentimentality, and (3) inertia due to convenience or lifelong familiarity of location. We plan to extend the exploration, investigating as to the extent to which residents find these areas livable and what makes them so.