Social and Spatial Fringes

Abstract

The planning and construction of Chandigarh was a defining moment for India because it displayed to the wider world the new country's commitment to "modernization, growth, and progress." However, there was no provision for lowincome migrants in Chandigarh's planned metropolis. These labours were required to build the planned city but were not permitted to live within it or included in its spatial planning. The inadequacy of the master plan to accommodate the urban poor and grasp the economic structure of the community that will inhabit the city had an immediate impact on the greenbelt or the periphery. As regions began to grow, people of labour colonies were relocated to the periphery. Spatial dislocation hampered their mobility, both physical and economical, and, when paired with bad infrastructure and housing conditions, alienated inhabitants from the new settlements and limited their participation in processes of place-making or neighbourhood development. Dhanas is a rehabilitation housing project on the outskirts of Chandigarh. It is one of the projects done by the municipal administration of Chandigarh as part of its programme to become "India's First Slum-Free City." Rehabilitation housing complexes have included varied amounts of government funding and design, but have mostly focused on the apartment blocks themselves. The thesis seeks to inspire individuals' creativity by identifying opportunities for selfimprovement in their local communities and viewing this as a starting point. The idea is to have architecture that progresses toward honest and humble projects that are woven into their social fabric and have a positive influence on the lives of ordinary people. To enhance community participation and thereby develop community relationships by designing areas that enable free and spontaneous usage; "Let's conduct a class beneath the shade of a tree today."