Reclaiming the Public Trust: Constitutional Limits of Urban Exclusion

This article interrogates the role of the Public Trust Doctrine in adjudicating urban land disputes, particularly in the context of informal settlements. Through a comparative analysis of Indian and South African jurisprudence, it argues that Indian courts have often invoked or mirrored a fiduciary logic that underlies the Public Trust Doctrine. This logic has helped justify evictions and prioritise environmental or planning imperatives over socio-economic rights, thereby reinforcing exclusionary models of urban governance. In contrast, South African courts, despite lacking a formal Public Trust Doctrine, have developed a rights-sensitive and procedurally robust approach that centres reasonableness, participation, and proportionality in eviction decisions. Drawing on urban studies and legal theory, including the proportionality framework and the Right to the City, the article proposes a reconceptualization of the Public Trust as a dual-fiduciary framework, obligating the state to uphold both environmental protection and urban inclusion. This reframing seeks to align environmental law with constitutional values of dignity, equality, and participatory governance, offering a pathway toward more just and inclusive urban constitutionalism.