Redevelopment of dharavi slums, sector 3, phase-III, Mumbai

Abstract

In India, millions of people flow towards cities everyday in search of better living. However this flow increases the pressure on those cities to fulfil their basic needs. As a result, what those people get is a sub-standard way of living with no proper shelter and infrastructure. In order to provide benefit to other stakeholders who get stuck in this urban encroachments, government launches housing for rehabilitation or relocation of slum dwellers. However, such rehabilitation schemes are insensitive to the needs of the slum dwellers. They are forced to live in conditions which do not suit their lifestyle. As a result, many of them move out and settle or form another slum in some other part of city. At worst, they don’t shift at all in the new housing. Hence, money and resources invested in rehabilitation go in vain. If such situation continues, then all the schemes leading to slum rehabilitation would ultimately fail and ‘Housing for All’ would only remain a far-off dream. Therefore, in order to make such schemes a success, it is important to understand the needs of the slum dwellers and design accordingly. Rehabilitation housing should not only fulfil their basic needs but also empower them to grow. Dharavi, being one of the largest slums in the world is to get redeveloped by the government. However, if the current situation of the slum rehabilitation projects becomes a future of Dharavi, then it would lead to massive failure of huge scheme. Another challenge associated with Dharavi is that it is a densely populated area which makes the rehabilitation more difficult. Additionally, as the land prices in Mumbai are very high, optimum utilisation of space is a key factor governing any housing development in Mumbai. Is it possible to come up with a solution that takes into considerations these constraints and still prove beneficial for all the stakeholders involved? The research attempts in deriving such solution.