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Showing posts with label Urban. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Urban. Show all posts

10 Great Things About Rocinha, Rio's Notorious Favela

February 17, 2014
•

17 February 2014

There is something special about Rocinha, the dense informal neighbourhood in Rio's South Zone. Newcomers keep arriving and long term residents don't move out despite the infrastructure shortcomings and the security issues of the place. Its convenient location and cheaper rents could explain the phenomenon but there are surely more reasons to add. Personally, I find Rocinha deeply moving and after a closer look, I came out with a few reasons why.

1. The setting
Photo by Globe Traveller

West view to São Corrado

  
Rocinha has a stunning setting. 

It is a 200ha area on a sea facing hang that spans from the Dois Irmãos peak, the majestic rock you see from Ipanema beach. Not sure what the mountain formation is and whether it radiates the heat it absorbs, in any case you get something coming its direction. 

You get an idea of what the place was like right on top of the neighbourhood, when you are still surrounded by fruit trees and a lush vegetation. Rocinha - ie "little farm" - was once Rio's farm land. In the area around it were the sugar cane fields and coffee plantations. The workers, wanting to live close to their work, built small homes in the thick jungle where Rocinha is located today. The rapid growth of the favela in the early 20th century was due to the growing demand on cheap labour to build the infrastructure of the surrounding neighbourhoods and the lack of housing options.   


2. The people

Rocinha has caring, friendly and proud residents.

"What? You don't take pictures of people?" Luciano, a construction worker, complained. "You are missing out the most important part of Rocinha". And right he was.

According to the IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística) Rocinha has 69,161 residents but Léo, the president of a local residents association sets the number between 180,000 and 220,000.

One of these extraordinary residents, and a game changer, is Lino dos Santos Filho, known as Tio Lino. With the motto "trade your weapon for a brush" he set up Rocinha Mundo da Arte, an organization that teaches music and arts to children with the intention of keeping them away from drug trafficking.

I met Felipe, an 18 year old Tio Lino student who was selling his art, lovely miniatures of Rocinha made with recycled materials. There was a wonderful mix of gratitude and pride in Felipe's explanation of his work.


3. The community


Photo by Rocinha em Foco
  
Rocinha residents love their community.

They work hard to improve their living conditions and speak up from the many associations they've created.  

They are proud of the community. First thing you hear is that Rocinha is a much safer place in terms of petty crime than the wealthier surrounding areas, where entrance doors are never kept open or kids don't play unattended.

Their care for each other, the strong bonds, the commitment to the group and the protective spirit, something arising in lieu of state care, have also turned out to be a source of happiness. 


4. The music
Picture by Daniel Hoffman
Rocinha loves music.

Especially samba, forró and funk carioca. You can hear it from the windows while walking around and at the weekends at the Baile Funk (funk dance), an event that has grown so popular that even attracts local celebrities. 

Rocinha has also a samba school, Acadêmicos da Rocinha, that is good enough to parade at the Sambodrome during the Rio Carnival.


5. The architecture
Picture by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

 Rocinha has beautiful constructions.

2010 Rocinha got a pedestrian bridge designed by the Rio-born architect Oscar Niemeyer who, allegedly, did the work pro bono. Funded with the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) resources, the bridge links the community with the new sports facilities. 



  
The same Growth Acceleration Program has financed a lovely social housing complex in the Rua 4. The project by Atelier Metropolitano is built on a former bus depot and houses local residents that have been evicted by the widening of the road (Rua 4). They received the flats for free and will after 5 years get full rights on them.


6. The streets


Rocinha has some lovely streets.

In an extraordinary upgrading operation a small alley, Rua 4, was widened to a 12m landscaped road. Before the works, the alley was 60cms wide and had, according to the Municipal Health Authorities, one of the highest tuberculosis incident rates in the country. The new road is a wonderful space, with brightly painted buildings, small squares and stairs linking the various levels.  Despite it being closed to car traffic, residents and shop keepers love it. According to Rio on Watch there aren't any drug stands (bocas de fumo) or armed guards there either.


7. The squares


Photo by Atelier Metropolitano

 There are many public squares in Rocinha.

This is great since (1) organized public space is essential for community building and leisure and (2) it is a bit of a rarity in informal communities where space is scarce and not masterplanned. Most of the favelas I have visited did lack public squares.


8. The leisure activities

Rocinha has plenty.

Besides the dancing, the beach and the stunning hiking, there is also since 2010 a new sports complex. The place has a swimming pool, a gym, sporting courts, a football field, a surf school and a skate ramp. It was built with the purpose of getting kids into sports and forge some Olympic champions.


9. The beach
Photo by Rocinha em Foco

Rocinha shares a public beach.

Just a few minutes walk from Rocinha's São Corrado entrance it's a long stretch of a sandy beach. A wonderful asset regardless of water quality and a place to expand shall high density feel too oppressing.


10. The transport

Picture by Daniel Hoffman
  
Rocinha has a wonderfully efficient transport system. 

This is something Rocinha shares with other favelas but still worth mentioning. There are vans and motorcycle taxis moving people around in the community for R$2,50. The mototaxis work out brilliantly. There are stands in various spots but you can stop them anywhere. They carry a spare helmet and are quite fun to ride.

All in all, Rocinha has aspects residents should be proud of and planners and community workers, take good note of. Granted, there are other aspects far from ideal and in need of improvement. There are still open sewers, uncollected rubbish piles and a heavily armed police marching around, not to mention the drug gangs and the associated burdens. But this should in no case be a reason for denying Rocinha some of its greatness or stigmatizing its community for the shortcomings they haven't created and aren't responsible for. 


 
About
History of Rocinha by Mundo Real

Pictures
by PS unless otherwise stated


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The Multipurpose Cable Car of Rio's Largest Favela

January 30, 2014
•
30 January 2014

 The Complexo do Alemão, a 300ha sprawling neighbourhood in Rio's North Zone, has since July 2011 an additional transport system: a cable car that links five of its hills. The system, already used for connecting communities in Medellín and Caracas, is the new black among city planners. But does it work for the community? I went to Complexo do Alemão to find out.

 
First thing I got to know about the Complexo do Alemão is that it is far more populated than what statistics say. My guide Mariluce, a local resident and a census worker gave me a glimpse: "there are 130,000 dwellings in the Alemão. An average number of 3 people per family household would result 400,000 residents but there are far more people per household than that. In any case, the official estimated population of 60,000* is far from reality."


 
I met Mariluce at Bonsucesso, the first cable car station at the bottom of the hill and the connection to the suburban rail and bus network. We took the cable car to the last station and walked our way down.

Bonsucesso Station
 
There are 6 stations linking a total distance of 3.5km. It takes 16 minutes to reach Palmeiras, the last station. The system consists of 152 gondolas, each taking up to 10 people. The project cost was R$210 million (approximately US$87 M / €63 M) and was built with PAC resources (Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento / Growth Acceleration Program) in partnership with the federal and state governments.

"See?" Mariluce says, "the stations are all at the hilltops and that's an issue. Nothing is under your door here. We have to walk a lot, so when possible we do it downhill. There are already minivans and motorcycle taxis bringing us to the transport hub. There is really no need to make the steep climb to the cable car. We use the cable car for the return trip home when it is an easy stroll downhill." 
 
The steep road to Adeus Station



Apparently not even the free cable car ride is a strong enough reason for doing the 30-minute uphill walk to the station. Each resident gets a free return ticket daily and further trips for R$1; this is cheap compared to the regular fare on bus (R$ 2.75), train (R$ 3.20), tube (R$ 3.50) and boat (R$ 4.80).

But I completely get Mariluce's point: transport was not a pressing matter at the Alemão. According to her, there is only one primary school for the whole community and no secondary school. There are no proper public squares and generally, very few places where the community can get together. This is outstanding especially since new space has been cleared around the cable car infrastructure.


 
"Certain areas around the cable car structure would be great for cultural / social centres but the prefeitura person liaising with the cable car company fears that a one-storey construction would soon turn into a multi-storey one, compromising the safety of the cable car. So rather than doing something out of this opportunity, they do nothing and guess what happens? The place becomes a waste dump," explains Mariluce.

How about the area around the stations? The Colombian city of Medellín has built libraries, vaccination centres, schools and parks around the Metrocable stations, with a very positive social impact.

"Here at the Complexo the only buildings allowed next to the stations are the UPPs."

UPP at Alemao Station

UPP at Palmeiras Station

The UPP or the Unidade de Policía Pacificadora (Pacifying Police Unit) is a program created in 2008 in the state of Rio to reclaim territories previously controlled by gangs of drug dealers. UPPs are established after the territory is "pacified" and the BOPE, Rio's elite police force, has left. "Pacification" doesn't necessarily happen smoothly.

The Complexo has 8 UPPs, 5 of them at the cable car stations. The plan is to include schools, health care and leisure activities (UPP Social) around the UPPs. Mariluce is very skeptical that this will ever happen.

Is the cable car project still a meaningful one? Very much so. Although only 30% of the residents uses it, it has become a major weekend attraction bringing up to 7,000** tourists per day. With a return fare of  R$10 for non-residents, the cable car is a good source of income but more importantly: it brings tourism to the community which means increased security, additional revenue (if only more facilities were built!) and social pressure for improvements. 

Stalls at Palmeiras End Station

Having said this, the community feels that, for now, they haven't benefited so much from the cable car and that it would have been far more meaningful to invest the money in improving the sanitation system, which is still in many parts an open sewer. The communities set to receive the next cable cars, such as Rocinha, are fighting the project on similar grounds. They allege that basic sanitation is the priority, followed by an efficient rubbish collection plan. No one who has been to the communities can actually disagree on that: an improved transport system is a great thing but there are other, more important issues to be addressed first. 

Waste spread in Rocinha
About
Cable Car (Teleférico) by Odebrecht Transport, operated by Supervia
Stations: Bonsucesso, Adeus, Baiana, Alemão, Itararé/Alvorada and Palmeiras
Opening times: Mon-Fri 6am-9pm, Sat, Sun & holidays 8am-8pm
Architect: Jorge Mauro Jáuregui at Atelier Metropolitano

Guide via Guia das Favelas
"Conquering Complexo do Alemão" / The Economist / Dec 2nd 2010
"Cable Car Still a Source of Controversy" / Rio on Watch /  Jan 3rd 2014
"Rocinha Says No to Cable Car" / Rio on Watch / July 25th 2013

Pictures by PS

Notes
*Demographics by the Instituto Pereira Passos
** O Globo figures


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The Medina of Fez : Analysis of a Superb Compact Town

September 12, 2011
•
12 September 2011

 The old Medina of Fez in Morocco also called Fez el Bali is a pedestrian medieval town with small-scale buildings and twisting narrow streets. It is a compact and dense place, full with artisans and food stalls. In its 220 ha you can find markets, mosques, universities, schools, hospitals, private gardens and even industry (manufacturing). You can cross town by foot in about 40 minutes. And if urban density doesn't do for you, the countryside is right outside the city walls. 
by Joshua Sy
 
There are many aspects of Fez that impress you. The composure of its people is one of them. Paul Bowles, who seems to share opinion, has an interesting view on it:
"Fez is a relatively relaxed city; there is time for everything. The retention of this classic sense of time can be attributed, in part at least, to the absence of motor vehicles in the medina. If you live in a city where you never have to run in order to catch something, or jump to avoid being hit by it, you are likely to have preserved a natural physical dignity which is not a concomitant of contemporary life; and if you still have that dignity, you want to go on having it. So you see to it that you have time to do whatever you want to do; it is vulgar to hurry."
The absence of cars is partly a result of how the city is structured. In Fez, primary activities, i.e. "live, work and leisure", are all mixed, meaning that you live in the proximity of your work and of your social activities. This reduces the travel distances greatly, making the use of a car unnecessary. Mixed-use results as well in a lively city, constantly in use and rich in social interaction.

A COMPACT TOWN  REDUCES TRAVEL AND INCREASES SOCIAL INTERACTION
 by Google Earth
Leisure
Fez is a city with a dense building fabric. Its streets are narrow (between 0.5m and 5m) and buildings (single-story to 4-story) cover a vast amount of its surface (100% of the total surface is developed). Although there is only one large public square there are plenty of small improvised squares created in the residual space of the irregular urban grid. Most of the socializing happens in the streets and in other public spaces such as the mosque, the hammam and the marketplace.

STREETS DUAL PURPOSE: SOCIAL INTERACTION AND MOVEMENT
by Florentina Georgescu
Work
There are allegedly 30,000 artisans in the Medina: Potters and ceramists (zelliges), tanners, copper- and brass-blacksmiths, woodcarvers, embroiders, weapon-makers, weavers... Each guild occupies its own district and has its dedicated market (souq). There is the carpenters' souq and the henna souq; the perfumers' and the shoemakers' souq.

Artisans have small workshops, roughly 2x3m, open to the street. These shops are generally full of stock and equipment.  It is therefore not unusual for artisans to work on the streets, adding interest to your journey. Freight is delivered by donkey or handcart.

LOCALLY PRODUCED AND CONSUMED GOODS REDUCE FREIGHT TRANSPORT
by John Moravec
 
The district of the tanners is quite impressive and worth a description. The Chouara Tannery is the largest in Fez. It is a vast urban hole filled up with vats. The tannery processes manually the skins of sheep and goats and turns them into leather. The skins get prepared for tanning by being immersed in liquid lime and treated with a mixture of pigeon poo and cow urine. They are then soaked by hand in coloured pits for dying and laid atop the rooftops to dry.
It is fascinating to see how an activity that is considered noxious, and has traditionally been relegated outside the city walls, is today a major point of attraction. The unusual structure of the place, the spectacular colours of the liquids and the singularity of the business make a visit to the tanneries worthwhile, notwithstanding the pungent smell. The tanneries are still one of the most important sources of income and trade for the city.
URBAN LIABILITIES TURNED INTO ASSETS

Living
The houses in Fez are conceived around a courtyard. Some courtyards are bigger, nicer and greener than others but the arrangement is similar for all houses. The street facade is a high naked wall with a door more or less ornamented and some grated openings (if at all) somewhere along its height. The inside by contrast is rich and sensuous. I could impossibly come up with a better description than Paul Bowles' so here is what he says:
"When you step into the glittering tile and marble interior of a prosperous Fez dwelling, with its orange trees and its fountains, and the combined pastel and hard-candy colors glowing from the rooms around the courtyard, you are pleased that there should be nothing but the indifferent anonymity of a blank wall outside - nothing to indicate the existence of this very private, remote and brilliant world within. A noncommittal expanse of earthen wall in the street hides a little Alhambra of one's own.  A miniature paradise totally shielded from the gaze of the world."
THE COURTYARD: SOCIALIZING ALSO BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
by Magnum

by Alessandra Grillo
 
Prospect
In spite of its many sustainable attributes, Fez el Bali has had serious urban issues in the past years. When the UNESCO listed the old Medina a world heritage site in 1981, it also stretched that it was threatened with collapse due to overpopulation and neglect. Sylvio Mutal, an urban specialist with UNDP describes the situation:
"Ironically, the city's problems may in part be a result of its past success. The ancient city was not abandoned. Far from that, it remains an essential center of production; some two-thirds of the inhabitants of the metropolis live there. Rather, what happened could be seen as the over-activation of the center of a fragile city that, in many ways, remains an exemplary model. [...] The result is that pressures mounted with which the city could not cope, to the point that precious architectural ensembles became dilapidated, the ecological balance broke down and water supply systems became saturated, and the city's traditional craft industries were threatened."

A plan for a complete rehabilitation of the Medina was submitted after a five years' study by Morocco and UNESCO and 1989 the ADER-Fes (Agence pour la Dedensification et la Rehabilitation de la Medina de Fes) was created. It is a semi-private organization responsible for carrying out and co-ordinating the rehabilitation programme. The estimated total cost of the rehabilitation was around $600 million. Initial funds came from the Moroccan government and UNESCO, then 1993 the World Bank granted a loan.

The "Rehabilitation Project for the Fez Medina" included upgrading dwellings, restoring historic buildings, providing incentives for commercial activities, improving infrastructures and creating an emergency circulation network. Already completed, it is considered to be an exemplary rehabilitation project not only because of the town improvements and the boost to the local economy but also because it has proven that private funds can have their returns investing in heritage.

The Millenium Challenge Corporation does know a lot on this. It is a US foreign aid agency that provides developing countries with grants to fund country-led solutions for reducing poverty. The MCC analyzes the likely impact on economic growth of its programmes by the use of an Economic Rate of Return Analysis (ERR). They analyze proposals as investments, with payoffs going to households and firms in partner countries. They seek proposals with high ERR and broad impact i.e. high poverty reduction.

2007 the MCC granted $111 million for the "Artisan and Fez Medina Project" with the aim to stimulate economic growth and reduce poverty among artisans. In the framework of this project, the MCC issued via the "Agency of Partnership for Progress" (APP) an international architectural competition to redesign the area around Place Lalla Yeddouna, key area along the Medina's tourist circuit. The prize was awarded March 2011 and project is due to completion in 2013.

The MCC model expects the project to have an economic rate return of approx 21% over 15 years. Profits will be generated by the businesses on the site, by additional spending of tourists and by transferring large portions of the renovated site to the private sector through sale or long-term lease.

These ERR numbers are estimates and it remains to be seen what the real return will be. However, certain thing is that the Fez Medina remains through the years an attractive place to live and visit, trade and invest. And I dare to attribute it surely to its beauty and people but also to its density, size, mixed activities, absence of cars and cultural heritage... a killer combination very few cities can be proud of having.



 
Fez el Bali's data
Area:  220 ha (UNESCO data)
Population:  300,000 inhabitants in 1980 / 200,000 in 1993 / 156,000 in 2002
Population Density: 136,363 inhabitants / km2 in 1980 /  90,000  in 1993 / 71,000 in 2002
Number of businesses:  5,330 (artisans workshops) making up for 42% of the total workshops in the Fes municipality (2005 data by Al Akhawayn University. The Chambre d'Artisanat de Fes could not provide data!). 
Craftmanship: source of income of 75% of the medina population. Textile and leather employs more than 67% of the regional workforce
Revenue: estimated $1.1 billion a year  (based on figures provided by Invest in Morroco)
Number of tourists/year:  350,000 (2006 data by Observatoire du Tourism) 
Tourists/Year growth rate:  9% (data Observatoire du Tourism)

Sources
"Fez" by Paul Bowles / 1984 
"Fez: Preserving a City" by Josh Martin / 1993
"Medieval Urbanism in Morocco: Lessons for the Modern World" by Randy Ghent
"Morocco: Artisan and Fez Medina" by the MCC
Place Lalla Yeddouna International Competion
"The Medina of Fez" by UNESCO
"The Medina of Fez - Crafting a Future for the Past" by Genevieve Darles, Nicolas Lagrange / 1996
"The Morrocan Medina" by JH Crawford / estimated 2002
"The Rehabilitation of the Fez Medina" by the World Bank / 1999
"Traditional Building Techniques in Fes" by Alessandra Grillo / 1988
"Urban Conservation of Fez-Medina: a Post-Impact Appraisal" by Hassan Radoine / 2008

Pictures
without caption by PS and VB 
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Prefab Housing: Can That Be All?

June 22, 2011
•
July 2011

 Modular living, the upgraded wording for prefabricated homes, seems to be on the spotlight. Small and sexy homes have started popping up in stunning locations, looking so incredibly cool that in relatively no time they have become the ultimate object of desire. But what would happen if this were to become a trend? 

The success of these houses hasn’t caught anyone by surprise: the soaring home prices, the continuing barriers to access financing and the disappearing of the nuclear family have contributed to rethink the traditional living model and to look at alternatives. The early adopters, a breed of professionals looking for exciting living, thank the possibilities offered by the new information technologies and argue that without the facilities given by employers regarding working by home, living remotely wouldn’t be a reality.

In this context, imagine a house that costs a little more than a car, it is delivered in a few weeks, doesn’t require planning permission, adapts to the owners changing needs, has a beautiful design and can be placed anywhere you like. Sounds like the housing world could be on your side again. If the house then comes with the added bonus of being completely independent in terms of services your options of where to live become incommensurable.

Architects have done their homework, teamed up with manufacturers and come up with an interesting range of products. There is a prefab home for every taste and budget.

Left Blob VB3 / right Loft Cube

But what would happen if this concept of "affordable living anywhere you want" became so successful that it turned to be the rule for housing rather than the exception? According to the IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research) the UK will face an estimated home shortage of 750,000 by 2025. Imagine for a moment that every citizen in need of a house would buy or lease such a planning-permit-free-home and in line with their acquired rights, would place it anywhere she or he would like to: urban holes, green field sites, roof tops of existing buildings etc. How many of these homes could a rural landscape take and still preserve its beauty? What would happen to the urban fabric? Would we still want to go to nature to relax if it was full of small manmade structures?

An extreme example of this can be witnessed in post-disaster Haiti where many temporary homes (mainly tents) have been placed out of towns creating new settlements following no particular planning other than being efficiently aligned in rows. The emergency of the situation and the temporary nature of the shelters have in this case justified the lack of planning. We do know however that although the term “temporary” implies either an upgrade or demolition followed by new construction, in reality it doesn’t mean more than an option rarely executed. Temporary becomes permanent in a short time. An informal settlement turns into a town sooner than we think it would. And if planning has been neglected or omitted, the town hardly catches up at a later stage. The new town becomes an unsustainable place where distances are big, communal transport and infrastructure inexistent and working opportunities rare. 

Left Treehouse configuration / right Camp Corail, a provisional camp North of Port-au-Price, REUTERS

The lesson to be learnt from the emergency tented camps is that no matter how temporary a structure is, a few serious thoughts have to be given about its context. A mere matter of volume: one single structure randomly placed is no issue, 20,000 are. So how shall temporary structures be organised and where?

Before answering this it is worth revisiting what temporary living may mean nowadays. Is a nomadic lifestyle still desirable? Long time ago there wasn’t an alternative: populations had to move around to protect themselves from enemies and to guarantee their food supply. There are still some communities that move around following their livestock or hunting such as the Tuaregs in the Sahara, the Eskimos and certain populations in Central Asia. Other XXI century nomads include the so-called Gypsetters, upmarket neo-hippies in search for creative travel experiences in remote parts of the world. The term was invented by American reporter Julia Chaplin (gypsy + jet-set) and refers to artists, fashion designers, photographers, musicians and surfers, “whose work is based on and reflected in their lifestyle and whose lifestyle is based on and reflected in their work”. Although Gypsetters spend time in remote locations, their activity is still bound to major cities. 

With the exception of these communities, the rest of the population moving around in search of work opportunities or escaping disasters, aim for a settled life. At least for the whole duration of the period they spend being displaced, emigrants or expats. With this in mind, a home may be temporary but it has to be in a permanent context. And since cities are the engine of economic growth, this permanent context is an urban one.

How can prefabricated homes be part of the urban context? We can think of two ways: by retro-fitting in an existing fabric and by urbanising afresh. Retro-fitting would seek to fill the urban gaps, derelict spaces and even building roofs with the new prefabricated structures. These structures would plug into the existing fabric at designated locations that have been identified to cope with the increased population: larger roads, vicinity of railway stations etc.

Urbanizing afresh would mean gathering a number of prefabricated homes and arrange them according to a masterplan. In order to avoid past urban mistakes - such as urban sprawl, congested streets and polluted air - the community would need to be compact. Compact communities are walkable and reduce the need of a car.  When we think of prefabricated homes we have in mind a single detached home. But prefabricated homes can also be high-rise. A compact city would be made out of high-rise buildings, possibly four or five stories high.

Prefabricated, high-rise, compact living, delivered at a low price and in very short time. Isn't this the real challenge?


Article published under the title:
Homes & Lifestyle Magazine
Summer 2011 / Issue 17

Prefab Houses
Treehouse 
Micro Compact Home
Ego Modulo
Hangar Prefab
Blob VB3
Loft Cube

Pictures by others. Cover picture: Top left Treehouse. Clockwise Micro Compact Home, Hangar Prefab and Ego Modulo
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Dharavi, Mumbai: The Future of Asia's Second Largest Slum

March 14, 2011
•

14 March 2011

 "With India's economic growth hitting almost 9% year on year, property prices in Mumbai, India's richest city, are among the highest in the world and the 2 sq km of Dharavi represent a goldmine. One Mumbai newspaper last week called the redevelopment plan a "jackpot" and quoted gleeful officials claiming that £3bn could be generated for the municipality. The profits for the major construction firms that look certain to win contracts for the work, however, could top £8bn", writes Jason Burke, Asia correspondent for The Guardian.

The slum rehabilitation policy in Mumbai has generated fierce disagreements between politicians, developers and slum dwellers associations.

Authorities have been handing out to developers land for commercial use in exchange for building free houses for slum dwellers. Although the concept of free housing sounds enticing, it hasn't been of great appeal to the residents. As it generally works, developers have proposed to pack a lot of floor area in little land, positioning high-rise buildings incredibly close to each other. “There’s no gap between the buildings, no social infrastructure, no services or cross-ventilation,” says architect P K Das. 

However, urban density doesn't seem to be the main reason for the resident's dislike. Golibar, Mumbai's second largest slum, has seen 100,000 homes built in the last 12 years. 35% of those rehoused there have returned to slums. Fled residents blame the reduced size of the living space and high maintenance costs for their departure. With 80% of people self-employed in the slum, having a workshop next door is imperative. Residents say they will not agree to any development plan unless they are allotted the same amount of workspace they currently occupy. Associations battle for a living space of at least 37 sq metres, almost twice that foreseen in the original designs. Residents also prefer to live closer to their community, schools etc.

Besides the disagreements on living space and community preservation, there is the eligibility factor. 70% of slum dwellers in the city are ineligible for a free house. Slum residents are only entitled to free housing if they have lived in the area to be cleared since before 1995 (or, in some cases before 2000), do live on the ground floor (1st and 2nd floor residents are ineligible) and aren't renters. 

With current talks on hold, major players have come up with proposals to improve and ideally eradicate Mumbai's slums:

1 The central government, at odds with Mumbai's policy on slum clearance, says slum dwellers should be given proper rights. If they have property rights, they can access loans to improve their slum home so that over a period of time they will no longer be slums. Furthermore, if residents get property rights, developers can't evict them. At the moment, developers are buying the rights to the property from the landowner – so they can evict tenants and demolish the slums."There is a complete mismatch between the state and central government policy," says Chandrashekhar Prabhu, a former chairman of the state's housing authority. "While the state wants to give free houses through the builder, the centre wants to empower people, give them tenure, which should be the essence of slum rehabilitation."

2 Matias Echanove, urban planner and a founding partner of Dharavi based URBZ, says “the best way to work in a neighborhood where the economy is enmeshed with the urban fabric is to innovate within the existing dynamics of the place rather than introducing something entirely foreign.”

3 SPARC, a local NGO involved in Dharavi since 1986, proposes to "identify clusters of residents who can be brought together on the basis of common social, linguistic, ethnic and other attributes or on the basis of physical location in Dharavi. These clusters could become the nuclei of future housing cooperative societies that could play a proactive role in designing future developments."

Then there is Khushalani Associates proposal: a 1,5 km high development that preserves the idea of a work/live home and community providing plenty of open spaces for activities ...and circulation.





Dharavi's data
Area approx 223ha
Population: between 600,000 - 1 million
Population Density between 270,000 - 450,000 inhabitants / km2 (Manhattan 27,000  Manila 43,000) 
Average rent 185 rupees ($4 / £2.2) /month 
Number of businesses 5,000 and 15,000 single-room factories (Guardian data) 
Revenue estimated to be between $700 million and $1billion a year  
Where do the majority of increased incomes go? Education
 
Watch: 
DHARAVI Mumbai's Shadow City a video by National Geographic

Sources:
Dharavi.org
National Geographic
Sparc
Battle Over Mumbai's Slum  The Guardian 11/03/2011
Money, Power and Politics Collide In The Battle For Mumbai's Slums  The Guardian  05/03/2011 
The Perfect Slum
PoroCity: Rehabilitation for Dharavi by Khushalani Associates India. Honorable Mention at the 2011 eVolo Skyscrapper competition

Photography:
Jonas Bendiksen

More:
Dharavi, India: The Most Entrepreneurial Slum In The World? The Huffington Post 11/03/2011
The photographer capturing the reality of life in the slums  The Guardian 14/01/2009
A Flourishing Slum  The Economist 19/12/2007
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