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Static/Kinetic: An Intertwined Boundary

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Reading about the static and kinetic components of a city is a fascinating idea that creates a multitude of opportunities. The relationship between the two means for unique moments of interventions in the interstitial space between the two city identities. More opportunities come up when one considers the temporary characteristic of the kinetic city. It constantly modifies itself, and therefore is naturally created by materials with a temporary characteristic; as opposed to the more permanent, and common, building blocks of the static city. (Burdett 108) I find it particularly interesting when the reading begins to subtly label the kinetic city as having more of a ‘cultural memory’ as opposed to the static city which is, once again, subtly labeled as being more ‘object-centric (devoid of life)’. (Burdett 111) Furthermore, the issue of boundary, something that was also brought up last week when referring to the boundary of the formal and the informal market, an area Urban Think Thank referred to as Urban Acupuncture, is brought up again this week when discussing the boundary between the static and the kinetic city. An example given in the reading is the porch-like structure that is built by the PWD and attached to a building to protect the people from monsoons. What made me curious about this event was that the already-curious-boundary between the kinetic and static all of a sudden become even more blurred, in a symbolic sense, than they already are as the kinetic city clearly expands itself into the static, even if it’s momentarily. It raises quite a few questions, such as how the people living in the formal and static city respond to the informal and the formal city. While many of these readings are written from the point of view of the residents of the slums and their way of life, it might be interesting to see how the formal population sees it. How would they feel about a temporary structure that is attached to their building?

Looking at Rediscovering Dharavi, a small portion of the reading discusses a “a time when it was seriously argued that efforts should not be made to ease the lives of the urban poo by providing them basic urban services or house, because then many more of their kin would rush to the city.” (Sharma 37) Yes, argued that efforts should not be made. Recognizing that the government, or the people in charge of making such decisions, is part of the formal market and the static city, it is an interesting notion that such a train of thought actually existed at one point. Of course, by the 1980s, this kind of thought was scrapped and a more humane approach towards the topic was achieved. In fact, it is hard to label the government as being inhumane by thinking in that way because, “a place like Dharavi poses several difficult challenges for the government.” (Sharma 37) Part of the book discusses a what-if scenario: what if the government had anticipated the fast growth of Mumbai, and invested in low-cost, low-income housing for migrant workers? “Some of the present crisis that the city faces would have been averted.” (Sharma 35) While there exists a notion of nallah, or the diving line between settlements in Dharavi, one wonders the extent of the boundary between the static and the kinetic, the equivalent of the nallah, on a bigger scale. (Sharma 10) As mentioned earlier in this entry, this idea of the bigger scale nallah, the interstitial space, is what makes the urbanity of Mumbai so interesting.

One cannot deny that the “slum is not a chaotic collection of structures; it is a dynamic collection of individuals.” (Sharma 34) And these individuals, with years of trial and error, have figured out a way to live with each other, to tolerate each other. Not only is this true for the nallah boundary within the slums, but also the greater, more curious boundary between the static and the kinetic. Their coexistence with each other, their sense of being intertwined as a machine which works together, is made apparent with the concept of Dabbawalas. These “tiffin suppliers”, deliver food to thousands of workers across the city. (Percot 1) These informal employees visit the homes of dozens of employees, pick up the food that was prepared for them, and deliver it right to their workplaces. A job that is clearly in the informal sector, but very much thrives on the formal sector. In fact, it has become such a popular industry that it is “elevated to the status of model of Mumbai entrepreneurship.” (Percot 1) The idea of the Dabbawalas is very unique. While many will wonder why the worker won’t just bring his own food to the work place, it is apparent that the density of Mumbai makes it extremely difficult to carry one’s food to work at the peak of rush hour. The idea of the Dabbawala is pure entrepreneurship. Not only does it take a situation which might seem unfortunate for many and turn it into a job that satisfies both sides of the business, but it is a clear demonstration of the intertwined existing of the two economies, formal and informal, and the two cities, static and kinetic.

 

Works Cited

Burdett, Richard, and Deyan Sudjic. Living in the Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society. London: Phaidon, 2011. Print.

Percot, Marie. “Dabbawalas, Tiffin Carriers of Mumbai: Answering a Need for Specific Catering.” (n.d.): 1-10. Web. <http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/03/54/97/PDF/DABBA.pdf>.

Sharma, Kalpana. Rediscovering Dharavi: Stories from Asia’s Largest Slum. New Delhi: Penguin, 2000. Print.

 

Labels and Stereotypes

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Should this be the true representation of a slum?
Photo by Daniel Berehulak/ Getty Images [3]

Tin roofs of different shades put in patterns not made for esthetics but for the sole purpose of keeping rain out, a dilapidated door that creeks, a card board wall with a humidity mark in the shape of heart, trash everywhere and grass ridden areas, one can say these are descriptions of slum conditions given by one who visits from the outside world. However, where in this description might one find the smile given by all the people encountered during the visit or the kindness with which one is treated when visiting each local vendor or the pride and diversity in character/culture found in each habitant of the slum? The fact is that this is very uncommon because sadly talking about such things would not give justice to what we outsiders consider “real” slum dwellers. For some reason there is a criminal connotation that is used when people think of these slums but why is this so? As Kalpana Sharma argues, “ It is this deemed illegal status of informal settlements like Dharavi that makes people presume that they are breeding grounds for criminals and other ‘antisocial’ settlements. And that their crammed condition exacerbates tensions-communal, class or caste. “ [1] Most of these assumptions are more than likely based on stereotypes created by media outputs that have failed to accurately portray the inhabitants of slums in an accurate way.
Dharavi is a slum in Mumbai that is characterized by living conditions that are sometimes not the most favorable ones. Its location in the city has changed in the past due to demolition in order to make way for new “legal” construction projects. However, Dharavi is a place that in itself is a mixture of different religions and cultures from all around India but whose population is extremely crowded into one sector due to large scale migration from rural areas during the latter part of the 1900’s. Furthermore, this combined with “inadequate supply of urban land and the lack of the creation of new urban centers resulted in extremely high density cities.” [2]These habitats of agglomerated living then amount for close interaction of these different people with quite similar goals and for a new kind of city that can be said to be “kinetic”. This elasticity of Dharavi to adapt is mostly based upon the fact of the high velocity with which construction is achieved and the ability to quickly dismount these dwellings due to the recyclability of the construction materials. Moreover, this kinetic behavior can also be seen as the personal adaptation that many of the inhabitants go through to live with people who at times in history they have been in conflict with.
The history that each inhabitant brings from their part of India contributes immensely to the development of the community. It is incredible that even though these groups are so different within themselves they still manage to organize themselves at the micro scale into their religious/cultural groups but come together at the macro scale to work in the informal job sectors and construct a better lives for themselves and the community. The human development of Dharavi is then quite advanced because if we consider a country with so much diversity in terms of languages, culture, and religion coming together in one neighborhood to live at peace then this is an achievement that many parts of the world are still trying to acquire. Consider the density of the population which is “an estimated 18,000 per acre. In this densely packed area you find twenty seven temples, eleven mosques, and six churches.” [1] It is no surprise that what surfaces for these inhabitants are not their less than desirable living conditions but the life stories and character of each individual.
Dharavi as Sharma states, “is the intermingling of the stories of its residents ordinary and extraordinary . Of their lives their histories and the history of the city of Mumbai.” [1]This allows them to create a developed neighborhood in terms of human interaction where acceptance has evolved to become a part of everyday life in order to create harmony and stand against the oppressions of those from the “formal” or “static” city. If we measured the level of human character development and perhaps not so much the material development then maybe we would not be so fast to connote these individuals with titles of criminals.

Discover Dharavi through its people:

1. http://www.tanya-n.com/?p=136

2. http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/06/06/the-dharavi-slums-of-mumbai-in-photographs/?nggpage=9

Bibliography

1. Sharma Kalpana, Rediscovering Dhavari: stories from Asia’s largest slum ( New Delhi ; New York : Penguin Books, 2000.), xvi-xxxviii.
2. Burdett, Richard, and Deyan Sudjic. “The Static and the Kinetic.” Living in the Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society. London: Phaidon, 2011.

3.  Berehulak Daniel, Mosaic of Poverty. Time Magazine, From Getty Images, http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1877000_1840436,00.html , Feb 2, 2013

 

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Act As Fluid

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Comparing with other global south countries, India is characterized with its cultural and social division within the country: influence from British colonization and local Hindu tradition. Corresponding to elite and subaltern culture, most Indian cities are separated into “the static city” and “the kinetic city” in urban landscape and economic development. The static city, like its name reveals, represents the in state-controlled economy, under which middle and higher classes have relatively more stable life. As the site, the static city includes the elite architectural forms of the whole city. On the other hand, the kinetic city shows all contraction of the static city: post-industrial economy, lower income people, and the elastic and temporary urban condition that is not even recorded in traditional city map. It is surprised that in today’s India, these two sides of cities are sharing the same urban space, and more likely, to resolve into each other.  The kinetic city, acting as fluid, occupies every leftover space in the static city and starts to bond two parts of cities, establishing a rich relationship between the inner divisions of Indian cities.

The kinetic city, holding and providing living for more than half of the population, has potential to change the urban landscape mainly formed with static city’s architecture and infrastructure. Rahul Mehrotra mentioned in his article “The Static and The Kinetic” about the bazaar in Victorian arcades in Mumbai, which manifests the original use of the arcades in a more suitable and elastic way. Bazaars still function as the connection between streets and buildings as well as the shelter for pedestrians. The interpretation of the kinetic city provides opportunity for elite historic architecture to adjust its function to the current social condition.

Dharavi, one typical example of these settlements in the kinetic part of Mumbai, started from the edge of the city, and have to move every time when the squatted land become useful for the static side again. The kinetic city always is the vulnerable side in the urban land competition because of the illegalness. However, it is surprising that in this condition Dharavi even is able to function as a transfer station, giving “ jobs to successive waves of rural migrants till they can move on to something else” and some even start own business after the training in Dharavi.

The huge impact of the kinetic city to the State can no longer be ignored. Its requirement for the urban environment is proved to have huge impact on the “static” architecture, even though people still live in temporary simple kinetic house. Both Sharma and Mehrotra mentioned about the necessity of constructing architecture with communities genuinely involving in rather than the profit driven projects.

 

 

Burdett, Richard, and Deyan Sudjic. “The Static and the Kinetic.” Living in the Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society. London: Phaidon, 2011

Sharma, Kalpana. Rediscovering Dharavi: Stories from Asia’s Largest Slum

The Community of Squatters

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In squatter settlements such as Dharavi, it is important to note that the social situation is often not the most pressing issue that needs to be addressed.  Many times, particularly in settlements that have existed for long periods of time, there is a strong sense of community that is not always present in affluent areas.  In Dharavi, people are employed, have a community with similar histories surrounding them, and are proud of how they have improved their own and their family’s situation.

Dharavi has roots going back over one hundred years, and thus has had time to establish itself, its businesses and its neighborhoods, as well as assert its importance within the city.  As it has become more centrally located within Mumbai between two major train routes, Dharavi has become a focus for the city, particularly the politicians.  Multiple redevelopments have been attempted, however, the only truly successful ones included community involvement (Sharma xviii).  A sense of belonging to a group is part of what sets Dharavi apart from many densely populated areas of the world.  People can connect over their common struggle to move upward in society as well as over cultural similarities.

Inhabitants of slums in Mumbai, like the dabbawalas, often live with a group from their home town.  This strengthens the sense of community, and promotes a peaceful environment, not a violent one as many people assume.  For much of its existence Dharavi has been a relatively peaceful place to live. There have been religious riots in recent years, but previous to that, there were seemingly few problems.  This indicates that even in an area of such density containing an enormous variety of people, governmental control is not necessarily the only solution.

Most importantly, while much of the world is in a state of economic distress, Dharavi has avoided many of the problems that come with government involvement in the economy.  As a result, “almost everyone seems to be employed in some kind of work. And many have prospered through a mixture of hard work, some luck and a great deal of ingenuity” (Sharma xxxv).  This is not to say that the working conditions are safe or healthy, quite the contrary, they certainly need to be addressed, but at least many of the residents of Dharavi are employed (Sharma xviii).  The availability of jobs also allows for social mobility, giving many the hope for a rags to riches story of their own.  This is a promising  aspect of the extra-governmental society that has formed within Mumbai, which proves that even without government control, economies can flourish.

Many people consider squatter settlements to be disorganized in every way solely because they often appear so in their physical layout.  With a closer look at Dharavi, it is made clear that just because it do not follow government standards, that does not mean that it is a disorganized place.  In fact, the complex network of dabbawalas that Percot describes illustrates that intense focus on detail and planning.  Without each person being in exactly the correct place at the correct time, the system would fall apart.

The dabbawalas are the perfect example of the successes of informal settlements.  They function as a single organized entity with a complex set of rules that govern their jobs.  They have created a system of symbols that when paired with their extensive route planning allows them to have an efficient system of deliveries throughout Mumbai (Percot 8).  These men all belong to a single community, from a single area of India, so they have a strong sense of solidarity, as well as social control within their group (Percot 4).  Stories like those of the dabbawalas are what make Dharavi such a unique settlement with incredible potential.  They express the highly organized social and economic system that has grown within an ‘illegal’ community.

 

Burdett, Richard, and Deyan Sudjic. “The Static and the Kinetic.” Living in the Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society. London: Phaidon, 2011.

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

Sharma, Kalpana. Rediscovering Dharavi: Stories from Asia’s Largest Slum

Exploding Myths

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When thinking about the attitudes of people living in slums, an assumption that seems easy to make is that the people forced to live in slum conditions will be bitter, depressed, and aggressive to get what they need. This would be linked to crime and violence that should be a regular occurrence in a place packed full of people with an attitude such as this. When compounded with religious tension and rivalry, it should only make matters worse. However, when reading about the slums in Mumbai, India, the opposite is true. Kalpana Sharma describes in his book Rediscovering Dharavi this assumption: “it is this deemed illegal status of informal settlements like Dharavi that makes people presume that they are breeding grounds for criminals and other ‘antisocial’ elements. It is also assumed that the spatial layout of such settlements, where people have no place to breathe and live literally on top of each other, exacerbated tensions – communal, class or caste….[yet] Dharavi explodes these myths.” Even though clashes have happened between the groups of Muslims and Hindus living together, Sharma demonstrates that the statistics are drastically low for this area.

A sense of community and dependence on others and the avoidance of conflict makes sense to cultivate in a slum environment, which benefits all parties involved. When trying to survive and provide for your family and yourself, fear of violence and crime is understandably something to avoid at all costs. In what may be seen as a benefit of this understanding is the link that the Mumbai slums have with the formal city. The connection between the “static city,” the formal, legal construct of Mumbai, and the “kinetic city,” the informal, always-changing slums, can be seen as desirable. Described by Rahul Mehrotra in Living in the Endless City, the attitude of being able to live together despite differences within the slums has become a conduit for the interconnectedness of the poorer class in the kinetic city living and inhabiting Mumbai alongside the static city.

The shared sense of community and survival of the kinetic city, with its drastically impermanent environment and the need to adapt to different neighbors and people groups is something that is worth studying more. In different places where kinetic-static city relationships exist, it would be interesting to observe the relationships between the communities and the individuals who share the same heritage and cultural backgrounds and locations.

In an interesting related post, this article notes the ways in which lower-income families in the Unites States have historically and consistently been more generous in terms of giving money, despite a lacking of it.

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120826/LOCAL10/308269954

Illegitimacy Becoming Legitimate

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The situation within Mumbai shows that a strong and complex relationship exits between those in the city that are illegitimate, the “kinetic city” and those that are legitimate, the “static city”. [1] This relationship is, in a way, self-serving in how the static city legitimizes the kinetic city. Mehrotra depicts the kinetic city as brushed under the rug to make room for the static city, but the physical girth of the kinetic city has made that less of an option. Therefore the static city has no choice but to acknowledge the presence of the kinetic city. This acknowledgement of the kinetic city, is more then simply an acknowledgement of a problem but more a confession. The static city had in a way denied the existence of the kinetic city.

This new acceptance alters the relationship that exists between the static and kinetic city. The static city, the city of the working class has legitimacy. The inhabitants that make up the static city follow the norms of the established society with all the legal ramifications and standards that come with it. They have legitimacy as a people and as individuals. The static city did not have the legitimacy. But the new relationship between the two gives the static city legitimacy. As the kinetic city grew and became more complex it forced it self into a position where it had to coexists with the static city. This created the opportunity for interaction.

The dabbawalas are an example of this legitimacy and interaction. The working class of Mumbai, the static city, and the dabbawalas, the kinetic city, exists in a homeostatic relationship. The dabbawalas need the socially motivated wishes of the working class to have a home cooked meal for lunch as to provide them with jobs while the static city needs the dabbawalas to indulge there wishes. [2] This relationship forces the working class to realize the existence of the kinetic city. This admittance of existence is what gives the static city its legitimacy. The working class is now integrating the lower class into existence.

This legitimacy has effects on both the kinetic city and the static city. If the kinetic city was to be threatened then the static city too will change. If the dabbawalas cannot do there job because the trains stop working then the static city loses it home cooked lunch on a day to day basis. The static city has now become dependent on the survival of he kinetic city and the systems and infrastructure that maintains the institution of the dabbawalas and the kinetic city.

This is based on the idea that the static city legitimized the kinetic city, but it is very possible that the kinetic city delegitimizes the static city. If the static city has become dependent on the kinetic city and the practices of the kinetic city, with out directly altering the nature of the kinetic city, yet becoming dependent of the kinetic city it can be said that the kinetic city is the instigator of change.

 

[1] “Living in the Endless City”, Rahul Mehrotra. pg 108.

[2]” Dabbawalas, Tiffin Carriers of Mumbai: Answering a Need for Specific Catering”, Marie Percot. pg. 2

Tradition in Modernity

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The Economic institution of the dabbawalas is indicative of the tensions between tradition and the pressures of 21st century neoliberal capitalism.  Again highlighting the conflict between fetishizing poverty and applauding creative economic efforts on the part of slum residents, the dabbawalas represent a highly sophisticated response to the alienation of urban life.  At the same time, they exist in the framework of traditional family values (domestic work being entirely carried out by women) and are a potential hindrance to further social advancements.  While home-cooked food delivered daily on an urban level is a fascinating response to the ravages of the fast food industry, the processes behind that production of food remain basically unaltered.  That is not to say that the work of the dabbawalas is to blame for the social relations in Mumbai but is indicative of the fact that it is dangerous to celebrate creative solutions originating from the slums without calling into question their forced existence in the first place.

Mehrotra’s piece also recognizes the ingenuity of informal urbanism that is situated in static built/social systems.  The Kinetic City is conceived of as an informal urbanism that exists within the static or “real” city of Mumbai and is comprised of informal markets, the flow of people and temporary urban installations surrounding new religious festivals (Burdett and Sudjic 110).  The sheer scale of residents living and working in an informal sense constitutes a living architecture.  The density of residents competes for dominance with static vestiges of colonial architecture.  The real revolutionary quality of the Kinetic City is that the scale and transformability of the population can work to erase a cultural legacy of imperialism through its very existence.  Returning to the example of the dabbawala, a thoroughly urban profession also regenerates more autonomous cultural feelings.  Dabbawalas are typically from the same rural region of India and continue to identify as such, marking Mumbai urbanism with a reignited sense of Indian rural culture (Percot 9).

Conversely, improvised solutions to “problems” have negative consequences.  In Dharavi, one of Mumbai’s main informal settlements, ethnic/religious conflicts in the early 90s were “solved” by literal barriers between communities, eliminating the impression that informal settlements were benign melting pots (Sharma 33).  Informal settlements do not exist outside of larger societal constructions and while there is a certain freedom of movement and a subsequent freedom of identity, informal settlements will not be the site of spontaneous revolutionary change.  One of the important qualities to draw from in the conception of the Kinetic City is the setup’s dynamism and potential for bringing about radical change.  If informal communities can generate new markets and new architecture, they can also potentially alter the political landscape.  Although on a cultural level rural tradition is entering the urban structures of Mumbai, the process of transformation is dialectical and the inhabitants of informal settlements are also exposed to a previously unheard of amount of people, ideas and lifestyles.  Change is never automatic but it is always possible.

 

Bibliography

Burdett, Richard, and Deyan Sudjic. “The Static and the Kinetic.” Living in the Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society. London: Phaidon, 2011.

 

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

 

Sharma, Kalpana. Rediscovering Dharavi.

Handmade City

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The dichotomy between the static and kinetic city is a fight between functionality and history. The historical notion of imperialism which occurred in India has a prominence in the past by the British but has been subconsciously re envisioned by the citizens of India into something new in recent times. Imperialism by new definition has become the overtake of old static structures with new kinetic, temporary places of occupation.

These new kinetic places of occupation become spaces of culture, socialization, and economy. “A city in constant motion where the very physical fabric is characterized by continuous change.”(1) The exciting thing about this format of city as opposed to the typical Western static city is the ability for the character and culture of its people to flourish  and practically explode through the streets. For example during the months of August and and September the Ganesh festival transforms numerous neighborhoods with lights and other decorations. During this time numerous temporary structures are set up to house the idol and those there for the celebration. (2) “Within the Kinetic City, meanings are not stable; spaces get consumed, reinterpreted and recycled  The Kinetic City recycles the Static City to create a new spectacle.”(3)

Since the static city structures have some historic value  preservationist fight the notion of ever changing city. it should be noted that the static city structures intrinsically stay the same in their form while they are continuously reinvented to fit the the needs of those in the city who actually use them. Buildings are for the people to use, why should it be a problem to use the buildings for how the public deems necessary. The culture and necessities of life should influence building’s use, not historical contexts. What the people want should not be fought but instead embraced. That said “The kinetic city is not a design tool but a demand that conceptions of urbanism create and facilitate environments that are versatile and flexible.”(4)

The kinetic city due to its fast paced metabolism is a breeding ground for entrepreneurship. One of these extraordinary entrepreneurial enterprises are the dabbawalas. Coming from the farmlands and coming to the city to make money to feed their families, the dabbawalas have created a monopoly. (5) The dabbawalas job is the definition of kinetic. Their job is to deliver food to the customer’s workplace from the customer’s home. This service allows the customer to get a home-cooked meal from usually their wife while at work. This service does more than just give a tasty meal to the customer. The dabbawalas in addition to delivering tasty meals allow its customers to feel close to home especially when many of their customers are gone from 7 in the morning until 7 at night. In addition, it gives the poor to middle class (their demographic) a chance to know what it feels like to have a servant, the dabbawalas are the closest thing many of them will get to this.(6)

As the imposed static structures of imperialism are overtaken by the kinetic Indian culture, we must let it happen, informality works for India and has sprouted numerous entrepreneurial masterpieces such as the dabbawala system.

(1) “Living in the Endless City”, London School of Economics, pg 110

(2) “Living in the Endless City”, London School of Economics, pg 110

(3) “Living in the Endless City”, London School of Economics, pg 111

(4) “Living in the Endless City”, London School of Economics, pg 115

(5) “Dabbawalas, Tiffin Carriers of Mumbai: Answering a Need for Specific Catering”, Marie Percot, pg 4

(6) “Dabbawalas, Tiffin Carriers of Mumbai: Answering a Need for Specific Catering”, Marie Percot, pg 3-4

Informal Economy Supporters

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Since the middle of last century, mass of immigrants have been attracted to cities in developing countries by the explosive working opportunities created under the neoliberal structural adjustment policies in these countries. The informal sector of economy consisted of these new urban immigrants becomes more and more important in countries’ development. However, the surge of immigration’s settlements also brings huge pressure to the urban land, especially when these settlements are mostly illegal or “extra-legal”, “built without conformance to zoning or service regulations and enabled by bribes, populist governments, or property speculators who hope for eventual regularization and compensation for their investment.”[3] This situation brings problems both to city planning and the migrants themselves.

Mike Davis takes a more broad view looking at current slum conditions and the informal sector of economy supporting behind it in his book Planet of Slums. In one of the chapters “ a surplus humanity”, Davis mentioned the competition between informal sector and some small-scale formal enterprises, which reveals some part of hard life for informal employees, especially with the pressure of exorbitant rent fees when more urban land becomes private. The increasing strain in work and the hazard in illegal slum settlement form a potential political problem for the governors. A narrative non-fiction by Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful, rises up this question during the narration of author’s four-year living experience in a slum called Annawadi in India.

（http://www.amazon.com/Behind-Beautiful-Forevers-Mumbai-Undercity/dp/1400067553 )

Compared to Davis, Robert Neuwirth provides us with more optimistic vision through his experience in four different slums. He raises up a new point that “people are adapting: they are demonstrating survival strategies that make life not only bearable but in some places and in some respects quite manageable.” [3] While, the adaption not only occurs in migrants’ life, but also in original urban inhabitants’. They already get used to a certain life style with the informal economy.

As John Beardsley mentioned in his essay “ A Billion Slum Dwellers and Counting”, both Davis and Neuwirth didn’t provide solution for improving slum dwellers’ life. I think this is what we, as architects should consider in the city planning, as the importance of these informal economy supporters.

work cited

1.. Planet of Slums, Mike Davis

2.Shadow Cities, Robert Neuwirth

3.A Billion Slum Dwellers and Counting, John Beardsley

 

Urban Acupuncture

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“I began to wonder about the morality of a world that denies people jobs in their home areas and denies them homes in the areas where they have gone to get jobs.” (Neuwirth 12) As Robert Neuwirth does so in Shadow Cities, it is easy to ‘wonder about the morality’ of dozens of situations that we see in today’s world. Unfortunately, as cliche as it may sound, the world is an unforgiving place. While it is easy to wonder about humanity, it is more important to do something about it. When reading about the ‘slums’ across the world, I couldn’t help but wonder why there wasn’t a greater resistance against the creation of areas like Sultanbeyli. Similar to the January 2005 movement in Mumbai, where about 300,000 people were pushed out of the city, without a care as to where the evicted people would go. The sense to resist against these kinds of settlements would be based on the definition and notions towards a slum as being “laden with emotional values: decay, dirt, and disease.” (Neuwirth 16) This would be one way of looking at things.

The fact of the matter is that we are way passed that point. As John Beardsley explains, the “mass country-to-city migrations of the mid 20th century” is one of the underlying reasons as to the growing populations of cities, the lack of preparation by the government, and thus the result of what we know today as the ‘slums’. (Beardsley 55) One can question the morality of the way of life in slums and feel a sense of inhumanity, or, on the other side of the scale, have a sense of repulsion toward these places. However, the infrastructure of such places have been under construction for decades, and are a seemingly permanent way of life. The reality is that it works. The ‘informal sector exists. And it exists with a very strong foundation. In “the 1980s crisis … informal sector employment grew two to five times faster than formal sector jobs … in majority of Third World cities.” (Davis 178) This, to me, is an incredible statistic. It is not only incredible in the sense that a naturally growing informal sector can be so ‘successful’, but it is also incredible in the sense that these ‘slums’ are there. They are very much there and they are staying. Reading that fact, and recognizing the entrepreneurial aspect of the informal sector, it all of a sudden seems shameful to refer to these settlements as slums.

With the realization that these ‘slums’ are here to stay, what begins to interest me at this early point of this topic is the idea of the connection between these formal and informal cities; what Urban Think Tank refers to as the Urban Acupuncture. (Neuwirth 58) I currently live in Istanbul, and on a personal and emotional level, I might have a completely different response towards the ‘slums’, or the gecekondu, and the consequences these kinds of communities and the people living in them might bring to the city. However, on a macro scale, and on an objective level, there is no way of doing what Mumbai did in 2005 and kicking thousands of people out. There needs to be a some sort of realization and stances toward the urban acupuncture; whether this is blurring the boundary between the formal and the informal, or taking the existing boundaries and making them even taller.

Bibliography

Neuwirth, Robert. Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, a New Urban World. New York: Routledge, 2005. Print.

Beardsley, John. “A Billion Slum Dwellers and Counting.” Harvard Design Magazine Dec.-Jan. 2007/2008: 54-59. Print.

Davis, Mike. Planet of Slums. London: Verso, 2006. Print.