The first interactions of the child with its environment can already have long-lasting impacts on its worldview (weltanschauung) and psychoanalytical state. This makes the architecture of housing, especially in poor regions, such as Nalasopara in Mumbai, a critical key point for the development of the next generations. However, after the economic liberalization of India, affordable housing has increasingly shifted from vernacular environments towards a dehumanizing accommodation of people in redeveloped chawls, so-called “vertical slums”. This thesis aims to investigate the matter and propose an alternative for the chawl redevelopment that can foster children's development and create a sense of community and identity in their dwelling environment without neglecting the pressing issues of density and affordability.