Mumbai, an alternative proposal to relocate slum dwellers of Ganeshnagar D.

[ Christina Sam Yue Chi, Yâsimîn Vautor, Aurelia Savery et Irene Fernandez, 2005 yasimin@ifrance.com, saveryaure@gmail.com, perufer2004@yahoo.es ]

According to a specific course following within the Architecture School of Paris la Villette based on urban development issues, we had the opportunity to have a workshop in Mumbai.
A slum rehabilitation program is the current policy established by the government in order to resolve cases of urban poverty. It is based on the implementation of several projects of multi-storey buildings financially covered by private builders. The relocation of slum dwellers increases the availability of usable land in Mumbai, which is diminishing with a rise in the need for the same. So that’s why the scheme concerns only a part of the poor population who lives in the center of Mumbai.
Our researches on the current situation in Mumbai led us to propose an alternative way to relocate slum dwellers according to the current SRS scheme. How to promote the quality of life for the urbane poor, as the major interest is to increase the land use, and build as much as possible? Do we have to maintain the spatial inequity supported by the poor? As they will be relocated in the same portion of land where they currently live, and no more space will be given to them, can we accept to maintain such high density of occupation when it reaches 0.4hbts per sqm (2.5sqm per hbts)?
Our aim was to propose several scenario of intervention based on the specific case of Ganeshnagar D. (…)

click here to see our work.