Life Between Buildings

Abstract

The shortage of affordable housing is the biggest challenge of today’s Mumbai. These days, more than a half of the population of Mumbai dwell in the informal settlements, dealing with poor living conditions and low standard of living. Since the nation’s Independence in 1947, India experienced different approaches and policies towards slums: Slum Clearance Act (1956), Slum Improvement Program (1971), Slum Upgrading Program (1985). All of them in some sense are products of evolution of many schemes before11. Eventually, it became obvious that these strategies failed to achieve the required demand due to different reasons. Being unable and unwilling to provide the Economical Weaker Section (EWS) with the adequate housing and with the aim to resolve the problem of informal settlements the state government passed the reins of control of the housing issue to the market. After the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme was introduced in 1995, it quickly became popular among the private sector due to the abolition of restrictions on profits. However, while chasing the profit developer ignored the necessities of the urban poor. Proceeding from the ideas of extreme densification, the redevelopment consumed the whole complexity of existing social and economic networks, which is crucial for the inhabitants of the informal settlements due to the social engagement and income generation. The developer-centric approach neglected the fact that most of the working population of Mumbai is involved in the informal sector, which apart from dwelling is also consists of working areas for the urban poor. Their plans lack of spaces containing different forms of small-scale labor, which play an important role in the informal economy. Therefore, it requires an innovative approach towards dwellings’ design. In chase of higher FSI, the stakeholders did not take into account patterns of social activities. Therefore, it lacks both outdoor spaces and places for gathering that could reinforce the sense of community. Sticking to the same strategy of redevelopment, which provide people with shelters instead of adequate housing is a contradiction to the goals of the Sustainable Development 2030 of the United Nations Habitat commission, which addresses the topic of the housing problem in the Urban Global South. If we do not want to repeat the fate of the Kowloon Walled City, which was demolished due to its unlivable conditions, it is time to reconsider the approach towards housing design for the urban poor.