The Norman Foster Foundation was invited by the Chief Minister of Odisha, the Honourable Naveen Patnaik, and Tata Trusts to visit several slum areas in the province and to attend the ceremony to mark the passing of the Odisha Land Rights to Slum Dwellers Bill, claimed to be the world’s largest slum land titling initiative.

Lord Foster joined the Chief Minister and Mr Ratan Tata in handing out some of the first ownership certificates to the residents. This initiative could serve as a global template to transform slums from within and it is a radical alternative to the usual approach of bulldozing and relocating communities often to locations remote from their source of livelihood.

Selection of Press cuttings:

• Tata pat for slum land rights. The Telegraph, 10 May 2018
• In historic move, Odisha gives land rights to 2,000 slum dwellers. Times of India, 8 May 2018
• Odisha government rolls out “world’s largest” slum land rights project. The Economic Times, 7 May 2018
• Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik unveils project pilot for world’s largest slum titling mission in Ganjam district. The New Indian Express, 7 May 2018