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