Architects have to ability to become urbanites and work with the higher political and economic powers which cause constant movements of religious and trade communities in the slum cities. At the street level, architects have no business with clients but they are able to work at a larger scale. I am not saying that there is a need to change the systems that are already in place because they are in some way problematic, but these systems can be enhanced and nurtured to produce even more efficiency to the system.

In “Living in the Endless City” by Ricky Burdett and Dayan Sudjic, Rahul Mehrotra discusses how Mumbai is a Static City and also a Kinetic City. The Static City is all the infrastructure and permanent constructions that define streets and neighborhoods and overlapping with those is the constantly changing Kinetic City. There is the city which is constructed by markets and festivals which changes space and ownerships by the minute. The Kinetic City is out of the control of any political, economic, or even architectural organization, it simply exists in the present. As communities get pushed out of certain areas, others move in and change the Static condition making the Static City affected and part of the Kinetic City. There is potential in this overlapping relationship which can foster opportunities for architectural interventions.

In the case of Dharavi, “’Redeveloping’ a place like Dharavi is no easy matter, as successive government and planning authorities have discovered” (xxiv, Sharma). Slums don’t necessarily need to be redeveloped or gentrified for the higher classes to move in later. Instead, infrastructure can be focused on to benefit existing conditions so that people can stay and thrive rather than be pushed out. Monuments become markers and public transportation offers connectivity. These Static City constructions can be strategically useful for networks like the Dabbawalas which are illiterate and need symbolic markers throughout the city. Architects can recognize the realities of slums like Mumbai and Dharavi and instead of proposing a Haussman plan to destroy and rebuild the land, they can increase the effects of positive cultural systems.

Sources

“Living in the Endless City”, London School of Economics

“Dabbawals, Tiffin Carriers of Mumbai: Answering a Need for Specific Catering”, Marie Percot

“Rediscovering Dharavi: Stories From Asia’s Largest Slum”, Kalpana Sharma