“Intra-City Variations in Socio-Economic Status and Quality of Life: A Study of Inner and Peripheral City Squatter Settlements/Slums in Siliguri Municipal Corporation Area (SMCA) of West Bengal (India)

The mushrooming growth of squatter settlements/slums due to rapid pace of urbanization in the cities of the developing countries like Siliguri Municipal Corporation Area (SMCA) in India is the major concern for the researchers, policy makers and the governments. The area of such urban slums/squatter settlements are the place where the people struggling extremely to make a living. They also tend to suffer more from the lack of basic amenities, inadequate drainage, solid waste disposal facility, illness, infectious disease, etc. In recent times, the studies on Quality of Life (QoL) are of great importance because they demonstrate the demographic, social, and economic conditions of an urban poor particularly for squatters/slum dwellers that ranges from “bad to good”. So, the multidimensional condition of life of the urban squatters/slum dwellers needs to study the QoL to get a better understanding of their situation as well as to help the local government and other bodies for implementing, evaluating and monitoring the policies and programmes for the socio-economic development of the poor. The objective of the paper is to focus the socio-economic status and the assessment of QoL using a composite index in the inner and peripheral city squatter settlements of Siliguri Municipal Corporation Areas (SMCA). For modeling a composite inde