LEARNING FROM SLUMS



LEARNING FROM SLUMS

Prof. Akhtar Chauhan, FIIA

Introduction

At the Habitat II World Conference on Human Settlements, held in 1996 United

Nations Centre for Settlements (UNCHS) presented the Global Report on An

Urbanizing World. It had some shocking statistics, which should shake any

professional into a positive action. e.g. there are 100 million people

without shelter in the world and about 600 million people are forced to

living in dilapidated and unhygienic living conditions.

It is in this context of homelessness and unhygienic conditions in the human

settlements, that architects, planners and policy makers should understand

the phenomenon of slums through in-depth surveys and analysis of slums, in

order to learn critical lessons for shaping a humane habitat. Every problem

has within itself the seeds of its possible solution, therefore, learning

from slums, is an important step forward in resolving this unprecedented

human and social issue.

What is slum?

Slum has been defined in legislation to include buildings and areas that are

environmentally and structurally deficient. Slums are considered to be the

result of multiple deprivation such as:

a. illegal land tenure

b. deficient environment and

c. inadequate shelter

Slums are the result of the gap between the demand and the legal and formal

supply in the housing market. In absence of deliberate policy intervention

the proportion of slum dwellers may increase in a rapidly urbanizing

nation-scape.

Not long ago, slums were considered to be one of the most serious problems

affecting urban settlements in metropolitan cities in the developed and

developing countries. Since 1987, the Year of the Shelter for the Homeless

programme of the UN there is greater concern for the homeless and

slum-dwellers. This has resulted in policy shift from earlier slum removal

to slum improvement, slum-rehabilitation and slum development programme.

National Commission on Urbanization (NCU)

In Indian context, slums have attained alarming proportions in the large

cities. The National Commission on Urbanization headed by architect Charles

Correa estimated that in 1981 out of the total urban population of 160

million, 32 to 40 million people or 6 to 8 million household were living in

slums. Which worked out to 20 – 25% of the urban population. Since then, it

has gone up to 30 to 50 % in different large cities and metropolitan

agglomeration. It was projected that by 2001, there would be 60 to 75

million people living in slums in India!

The N.C.U. report suggested that rather than trying mere welfare approach,

it would be more important to consider housing and infrastructure as

productive investment. Since they are investment in an aspect that yields a

flow of services over time and they should be evaluated like any other

productive investment. N.C.U. addressed the issue with the following

emphasis for housing as minimum shelter:

a. It must provide shelter from the elements.

b. It must provide living space, along with services like water, sewerage,

roads and electricity, and

c. Its location must afford reasonable access to work-places.

Learning from Slums

During my post-graduate studies at the School of Planning, Centre for

Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), Ahmedabad in 1973-75, I had an

unique opportunity to participate in the struggle of slum dwellers with my

fellow students. In fact, I stayed in Gulbai Tekra slum community for a

year, to consolidate the newly founded voluntary organization and to develop

an in depth understanding of the issues involved. The following are some of

the vital lessons that I have learnt from them:

1. The minimum shelters of slums are some the smallest dwellings possible.

The living spaces are not composed of typical rooms as mono-functional

units. They are conceived as multi-functional living spaces, with

over-lapping functions of living and family interactions. The homes in the

slums are, perhaps, the best examples of the most optimum utilization of

living space.

2. Slums’ utilization of urban land for housing calls for careful studies.

It is observed that slums use up to 80% of the land as ground-coverage for

their housing. This enables them to have much higher densities without going

higher than ground plus one or half storey. As a typology, it is in total

contrast to modernist approach of high-rise development with less ground

cover.

3. Slum dwellings are people’s own solution for their housing needs. They

are cheapest and most affordable minimal shelters made possible in a given

area. The cost of land, basic services and the minimum shelter are not only

minimal but can be paid in parts over a period. Whereas most of the public

and private sector housing is beyond the capacity of slum-dwellers and

therefore, unaffordable.

4. Slums mushroom in parts of urbanizing area with minimum of administrative

control, in other words, they grow in areas which provide them with maximum

of freedom to build. In the process, the slum-dwellers transform most

inhospitable and neglected urban land for housing and community building.

These include land adjoining marshes, creeks, streams, drainage channels,

steep slopes of hills, left over spaces near transportation network of road,

railways and even airports! The slum-dwellers’ local actions to reclaim land

for their shelters and community facilities, teaches us the need for

micro-planning for positive use of natural resources including land, water

and vegetation.

5. Most of the slum areas are no serviced initially by municipal

corporations. However, these services are extended over time as the

slum-dwellers constitute a sizable urban population. The basic services of

access, water supply, drainage and energy are met over period of time. This

incremental infrastructure development is the key to growth of slums.

6. Slums are not built as a result of ego-centric gesture of an individual

or a corporation. Slums are the constructive results of collective efforts

of a group or community. Development and maintenance of slums calls for

on-going collective organization of land development, shelter-making,

obtaining basic services and ensuring social security. It is a positive

expression of people’s participation in development process.

7. Slums are vibrant communities of people. They incorporate a whole range

of social and community spaces and facilities. From the most minimal space

for social interaction at the door step to the optimum community spaces for

various social and cultural activities. They have an ever evolving network

of social institutions. Central to their social well-being is the concept of

sacred space. Every slum has a niche, small shrine or a temple, mosque or

church depending on their faith. This provides them with much needed

spiritual strength to survive and struggle.

8. The slum-dwellers use minimum building materials to create their living

space. They use easily available local building materials. Often they use

old and used tin sheets, timber rafters, joists and posts, country tiles,

plastic sheets and other recycled materials. However, their limited

technical expertise is put to the best creative use to meet their shelter

needs.

9. The minimum shelters of slum dwellers are not static houses. They grow

as the needs of the resident increase with growth of the family, limited

only the ability and resources. This freedom to build and meet the social

and economic requirements through incremental growth is crucial to the

success of the slums. This is consistently reflected in the incremental

growth of dwelling units, house-groups / rows and the slum community as a

whole.

10. At the core of the slums is a concept of sustainable development. The

slum dwellers and community make the conscious decisions for every

individual, group or community action through a critical analysis for its

necessity, viability and priority as a sustainable development action. This

enables the slums to sustain its development and consolidate its existence

in an urban area.

Precedents in India

In Mumbai, young and progressive architects have taken initiative in

voluntary action groups to protect, assist and co-operate with the slum

dwellers in their struggle to survive and develop in most difficult

socio-economic and political situations. Architect planner like Datta Parab,

the former chief planner of the City and Industrial Development Corporation

(CIDCO) inspired many a young architect through his sensitive and humane

approach to slums. Jaffarbaba Slum Rehabilitation project in Bandra West,

Mumbai which is situated on a steeply sloping site, is a prime example of

such an endeavour. Here the slum dwellers upgraded their community through a

co-operative effort assisted by young architects like S.K. Das and Neeta

Bhatt. They selected a simple dwelling type with a multi-functional living

space with a kitchen alcove and a semi-private loft under a lean-to roof

using stone foundations, brick walls and roofed with country tiles / roofing

sheets. The project was awarded the first IIA Snowcem Award for excellence

in urban architecture in 1991.

At local level, architects like P.K. Das, Arvind and Neera Adarkar have been

active in the struggle for housing rights in Mumbai. Nivaraa Haak Suraksha

Samiti has been in the forefront of this epic struggle. However, the issues

of slums are not merely architectural or structural. Perhaps, more crucial

issues are social, cultural, economic, legal and political. The struggle for

declaring housing as a basic human right is one of the foremost issue. We,

the architects, need to take a stand on this global issue and pursue it to

its adoption by the world bodies.

In Indore, an important administrative and industrial town in central India,

architects, engineers and planner-researchers from Vastu-Shilpa Foundation

established by Architect Balkrishna Doshi, studied the process and patterns

of slums to develop a concept of slum networking . Based on these studies,

B.V. Doshi designed Aranya Housing for the urban poor which has won Aga Khan

Award for Architecture. Himanshu Parikh, a consulting engineer and

coordinator of the project developed this concept to restructure the urban

infrastructure. This has had a tremendous impact on the transformation of

not only the urban slums but also the other neglected areas and services,

resulting in development of an appropriate urbanscape. The project won

United Nations Habitat award for community up-gradation.

Academic Collaboration

Rizvi College of Architecture, since its foundation in 1992, is engaged in

on going studies of the slum communities in Mumbai. As part of its mission

of developing innovative and appropriate architecture, the students and

faculty involve themselves in these studies at various levels. These

concerns also provide the basis for the technical collaboration with the

Institut fuer Hochbau fuer Architekten, Technische Universitaet Graz,

Austria. The programme on Minimum Shelter is only the beginning of this

on-going quest for humanizing the built-environment.

We need institutional support, infrastructure and commitment to succeed in

this noble endeavour. Specialized academic and research programmes are

required to be developed to sustain these efforts. It is hoped that the

Universities, Industry, Governments and International organizations shall

come forward with generous grants and funding to enable realization of the

innovative and relevant ideas.

Pursuit of Innovation and Appropriateness

In India, one of the most relevant precedents is the movement for “ Building

Centres”. In pursuance of innovation and appropriateness, a voluntary

organization established the first “Nirmithi Kendra” or Building Centre in

Kerala in 1986. The objective was to disseminate information and skills to

the local artisans and social workers about the innovative and appropriate

building techniques. The unemployed youth and socially committed young

professionals came together to chart out a new movement of people’s

participation in housing. The success of the pioneering project inspired the

State Government of Kerala to develop such building centers in all the 14

districts of the State. The Cenral Government encouraged this experiment by

grants. Housing and Urban Development Corporation of India (HUDCO) extended

the fiscal and technical support. At present, 105 building centers are

functional all over the country. HUDCO also extends aid to various projects

through its design consultancy. Under the able guidance of Architect M.N.

Joglekar, HUDCO has developed housing schemes for the urban poor. Some of

these projects have won several awards. This movement has attracted some of

the brightest young architects to involve themselves with the people in

their struggle for minimal shelter and basic services.

In conclusion, I would like to stress that we need a new insight and vision

to evolve a more humane habitat in coming millennium, which may perhaps, be

found in understanding, planning, designing, building and managing the

minimum shelters of the slum dwellers and the rural communities. It may also

infuse the much needed spiritual quality in creation of a humane habitat.

This is the agenda for habitat action.

Learning from Slums:

The article was published in the book “ minimal space – minimal housing” by

Prof. Peter Schreibmayer in collaboration with Johann Grabner.,

published by the Technische Universitaet Graz, Austria in 1996

ISBN –Nr. 3-901351-14-0

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