‘SPACE & PRODUCTION’ of Leather in Dharavi

In the midst of continued spatial constraints and the high demand for land, the transformation of Dharavi is an unavoidable phenomenon. The relevance of the change in the lives of its residents and their ability to cope and adapt to the opening up of Dharavi into the existing complex urban fabric of Mumbai is important in this scenario. This much needed permeability has to come from within Dharavi ; emphasizing the unique dynamism of the locale, its strengths and underlying potential.

This realisation focuses my work on the redevelopment of the most thriving, culturally rooted and contextually relevant Leather Industry. The area of study will concentrate on ‘Chamra Bazaar’ ( ‘leather market’ in Hindi) which has been inhabited by the ‘chamakar’ community for many decades.

My attempt here is to unpack the various complexities involved in the relationships and networks of the Leather Industry and the relevance of the system on etching Dharavi/Mumbai on the map of a dynamic process.

Through the understanding of this rather unique relationship, a schematic reallocation of certain phases in terms of location and space is proposed. The process aims to formulate also a set of guidelines from which development frameworks for this traditional industry can be made emphasizing the cultural and contextual importance and without disturbing the redevelopment of the locale or the ecological balance.

 

ADAPTABLE COMMUNITY UNIT FOR DHARAVI

The Redevelopment process of Dharavi is full with complicated issues and it is going to take a very long time to complete. However, the current problems are urgent. Considering in this aspect, the aim of this project is to provide the solution that can support Dharavi in short and long-term period by focusing on one of the urgent problem, which is an urgent need for public spaces and services. The solution is to create community nodes that can be adapt in term of function and space with any outcomes and phases of the redevelopment project.

These nodes or units will create a network of community centers that provide public space for people to exchange their recourses (goods, knowledge, connection, etc.) and strengthen their ‘power’ in order to cope with the redevelopment project and everyday life problems. Guiding by the NGOs, These units should be able to be run by community members themselves.  The main key is to start from something small, which blends in with the fabric of Dharavi in order to preserve its fascinated characters.

HOUSING AS FRACTAL SUPRA/INFRA STRUCTURE FOR INTEGRATION

 

Housing is not about building houses. In Dharavi they may regularize land tenure, support livelihoods and provide basic needs for the slum-dwellers who move into a new unit. However, housing must be also understood as an opportunity for a progressive improvement in the quality of life in the surrounding slum, upgrading the supra and infra structure in a multi-scalar (or fractal) manner.

Consequently, it is proposed a housing development strategy as progressive network of projects next to existing infrastructure. The first stage is located in the ‘grid area’ which represents a non-exceptional case that could be used as a reference for the next ones, replicating and adapting it on the base of each community character and needs.

In this particular case, housing also represents an opportunity in terms of financial resources. The local government and the private sector have designed a strategy of self-financing projects in which sale commercial and residential units subsidize rehabilitation ones through a series of regulatory incentives.

The proposed housing projects are physically and socially integrated buildings which combine sale commercial units, flexible residential rehabilitation units and collective sanitation and facilities in the lower storeys; extendable core residential rehabilitation units in the middle storeys and finished sale units in the upper storeys. Vertical nodes constitute the supra and infra structure of the units and at the same time the buildings constitute nodes of supra and infra structure for the surrounding slum by themselves.

Design guidelines to make PLACES FOR PEOPLE

The design of a space – any space – is a determining influence in human behavior. It is not only the space being shaped, but also the activities and relationships within it. Moreover, people can modify and change the space. So, to what extent can the space be designed without restricting the people’s ability to change or intervene? How might one assure that the people’s imprint will be reflected by the space?

In Dharavi, the importance of the open public spaces when the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) is imposed becomes central. All the activities that are now being creatively performed in the streets -the physical and social connections that at present form a community- could suffer a radical change if redevelopment happens.

The aim of this proposal is to develop a set of guidelines that provoke a design of places for people: open public spaces designed through the collaboration of the community that could encourage the interaction within it, the sense of belonging to a distinctive and meaningful space. At the same time these guidelines will allow flexibility for citizen-driven change: the creativity of Dharavi dwellers reflected in the space.

These design guidelines are intended for use through the participation of Mahila Milan and its existing structures and women’s networks. Their capacity as facilitators is enhanced because these guidelines are designed strategically for woman – as a group that spends more time in neighborhood common space and that are often accompanied by children, being the principal caregivers.

Networking Catalytic Structures

Dharavi’s physical shortcomings and most intensely used spaces are largely visible outside of its structures.  As we’ve come to know, it is a place where many cultures and livelihoods collide in close proximity.  Here, space is at a premium, outdoor public space even more so. The challenges of everyday life become more apparent here as a result of this machine-like producing network. As the slum is composed of many different communities, public spaces can better serve nagars and their individual issues.

This project attempts to exploit these issues while addressing them individually within the realm of public space.  By building a network of structures throughout Dharavi, each structure serves the purpose of emphasizing needs of each community and promoting solutions. Issues of women’s space, youth space, lack of infrastructure and lack of commercial space are among many of these.  These structures of a similar character establish a common identity throughout the large slum and connect these issues directly with the spaces they occupy.  This system strives to serve needs not being met in Dharavi as well as create an opportunity for innovative unanticipated uses of these catalytic structures.

Invitation to sew

Where is the Dharavi door?

A door is an invitation.

Dharavi is a closed city within a bigger city, Mumbai. However the two cities are strongly linked as Mumbai depends on Dharavi informal economy, there is no physical connection between them. An invisible wall surrounds Dharavi, looking in that sense it could be comparable to a medieval city, which is walled, but Medieval cities has entrance gates. Dharavi doesn’t have wall either entrance gates.

The invisible wall of Dharavi is a void; it is not an addition but a subtraction in the space. How can we think of a void in a place that lack of space?

My intention is to make use of that void to physically connect Dharavi to Mumbai through bridges creating entrance gates.

The bridges-gates are not only connections of two points but it is a new space to be used by communities. The connections can be a green space, a place for community interaction or a landmark to reinforce communities’ identities.

The integration intends to transform the edges and blur the differences of the two cities.

The Politics of Water in Dharavi

Water is one of our most precious resources and one of the most vital resources to our survival, yet water is not easily accessible or available to some citizens in Dharavi. Providing water to Dharavi cannot be solely understood or developed from the stance of accessing greater Mumbai’s water resources and utilizing existing infrastructure, but should also consider the appropriate approach to technologies and water management, as well as amending existing governmental policies.  Thus the necessity for providing adequate water supply to the slums of Dharavi is a combined result of social needs and development progression.

The politics of the ‘Dharavi Redevelopment Plan (DRP)’ draws attention to the ways in which providing water is constrained by political policy, and to an extent how those policies affect sustainable technology implementation, institutional designs, and affordability.  Providing water to Dharavi extends to cover a range of different spatial relationships; however, I want to focus on the distinguishing issues of providing water from issues of place and positions.  Showing different actors’ interest in a spatial, jurisdictional and social scale can help us to understand the need for more inclusive, innovative and sustainable measures, for bringing different parties towards a common medium.

Community Nodes: towards an Autonomous, Self-Organising Civil Society.

Network. The strategy of intervention in Dharavi is to create a Network of Community Nodes throughout the Slum. They represent the link between the present Dharavi and its future transformation. The strategy is to collectively identify existing structures within each Nagar to act as seeds for future community centres. Their role is to create a spatial reference for the community to stay cohesive throughout the process. They are meant to be spaces created by the community for the community according to their specific needs while being open to the participation of a wider public from Dharavi as from the whole Mumbai.

Vision.The idea is to promote “an autonomous, self-organising civil society, active in making claims, resisting and struggling on behalf of the good city within a framework of democratic institutions” [Friedmann, 2000].

Process. During the process different actors, from the

local to the international scale, are to be involved and a support network is to be created in order to build a strong cohesion and consensus within the community which would facilitate the process of negotiation with the institutions for their recognition as well as the allocation of funds for their further transformation into fully developed new structures to serve the needs of the local community.

Aims. Besides their main function of providing space for the fulfillment of collective needs, community nodes are at the same time meant to be a mean to build healthy working connections between community and institutions, as well as a device to reveal hidden resources within the community from which start to build a healthy society.

Integrative Street Extensions: New Social Hubs

Currently there are heightened levels of social exclusion and disassociation between the communities within Dharavi and wider Mumbai. This is ironic as 80% of Mumbai’s economic turnover is produced by the thriving leather tanning, pottery, recycling, and service industries operating in Dharavi, itself an area of prime retail value.

The intervention will extend the dynamic streets of Dharavi out to the peripheries and create linkages with wider Mumbai thus allowing nodes of interaction between the divided communities to become ‘social hubs’. The streets will capture the unique character of the diverse livelihoods and services that Dharavi has to offer to attract the neighbouring citizens of Mumbai.

Through incremental development of community nodes at both ends, the streets will facilitate the crossover of communities otherwise devoid of social interaction. While the streets are constructed the nodes will create a sense of celebration and stimulate mutual interest. The aim is to create a catalyst for a seamless integration with the rest of the city thus allowing for a sense of acknowledgment and appreciation of Dharavi’s contribution and existence within Mumbai.

 

[ BRACKET ]

Dharavi is a city within a city – a labyrinth. Situated in central part of Mumbai, seemed to be invisible and forgotten. Recently, eyes of the world turned in its direction: with the proposal of Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) came realisation that the land of slum is not only worth a lot but is a place where thousands of people work for the benefit of others. However, Dharavi and its inhabitants are still invisible. They needs and culture are silent. Dharavi slum dwellers need to be heard and seen.

In Polish, ‘social bracket’ is an expression describing ‘social exclusion’. Usually it refers to criminals or immigrants- people who are not welcomed in the society, staying on its edges. In writing, brackets are used to put additional information. Similar thing can be observed within Dharavi- a large space surrounded by thick, visible edges is a [spatial bracket]. It does not seem to be a part of a wider city in terms of structure nor livelihoods.

Urban intervention, therefore, is designed to make Dharavi [visibly heard]. The target is to create 8 access points that will open up the inaccessible space. By involving different communities in the creation of  arches/passages/gates  (community action) from daily use materials and in whatever shape/structure they like, arches will become literal BRACKETS to space. It will test reaction of the wider Mumbai, DRP and slum dwellers themselves in terms of ‘immapancy’ and [social/spatial bracket]. As Ranciere said: “aesthetics is at the core of politics”- this action will be a test for it.