2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land - 89

A more recent definition by the
United Nations describes a " slum " as
having five physical and legal characteristics:
1. inadequate access to safe water;
2. inadequate access to sanitation and
other infrastructure; 3. poor structural
quality of housing; 4. overcrowding; and
5. insecure residential status.
Although the definition has moved
past behavior and morals to simply
mean poor general living conditions, the
negative association of presumed illegality
remains. It is not surprising, then,
that our response has been to demolish
slums and forcibly evict their residents-
sometimes with resettlement to the city
outskirts. More recently, there has been
some acknowledgment that relocation
should try to keep affected residents
close to their existing places of work and
to their children's schools.
Many of these resettlement projects-
primarily high-rise apartment buildings
following Le Corbusier's Radiant City
model-instead become " slums in the
sky, " where outcomes are often worse
than the ground-level original. Studies
of slum redevelopment projects in India,
for example, have found that high-rise
residents experience increased social
isolation-a mismatch between lifestyle
and building design-and increased costs
associated with living in the new place.
Over the last seven years, my research
has sought to understand why people
want to remain living in areas that outsiders
label as inadequate-with " faulty
arrangements and designs " -and what
features of the built environment actually
contribute to their well-being.
Ahmedabad is the largest city in the
state of Gujarat and is home to some
8 million people. More than 728,000 of
these residents live in so-called slums,
with 60 percent located on private lands
and 40 percent on land owned by the
city or state. I first visited Ahmedabad in
2016, when I worked as an architect to
design a preschool in Ramapir No Tekro,
one of the largest informal settlements
(a more neutral term referring to a settlement
without formal tenure) there.
I then spent time-six months in
2017-2018, and two weeks in 2023,
immersed in community centers and
preschools run by Manav Sadhna-to
undertake doctoral research on the significance
and meaning of architecture
in four such settlements throughout
the city. Analyzing these places, I found
coherent spatial patterns that contributed
to the effective management of privacy,
social cohesion, cultural expression,
and resource acquisition.
Informal spatial logics
My research revealed that four key
design features of the built environment
can help improve living conditions in
informal settlements such as Ramapir No
Tekro.
First, homes are located near work,
schools, health care and extended family.
Second, residents have control over
design and construction, upgrading only
when affordable, which creates a sense
of ownership and invites greater investment
in the common areas. It also can
help residents to prioritize their spending,
such as their children's education.
Third, houses are clustered in groups
that connect neighbors. Designs typically
feature an entry porch that allows activities
from small dwellings to spill into
common areas, fostering greater social
connection. Fourth, neighborhoods have
a clear hierarchy and scale of shared
spaces: from private house, to semiprivate
porch, to semi-public common
area, to public street. Spending time in
shared spaces directly outside the home
helps to build strong community bonds.
My research also questioned the
common assumption that informal settlements
such as Ramapir No Tekro are
spontaneous, unplanned, and ad hoc.
Such views, embedded in policy, can be
part of the rationale for slum clearance
and relocation, which disrupts the existing
social and economic networks that
these settlements depend on daily.
A recent article I wrote with Timothy
O'Rourke, published in The Journal of
Architecture, shows that Ramapir No
Tekro was, in fact, built incrementally,
and it was planned with architectural
intent based on traditional rural housing
types. It is not surprising that, as more
and more rural residents migrated into
Around the world,
one person in
seven lives in a
slum, and this
figure is anticipated
to increase by
. . . 2030. But how
do you picture a
" slum " ?
Ramapir No Tekro, rural building traditions
were imported as well.
While appearing disorderly to an
outsider, the houses I documented in
Ahmedabad's informal settlements
follow a formal spatial pattern and logic
informed by the residents' determination
to adapt to their environment by using
existing architectural traditions.
Language matters
The language we use to discuss poverty,
housing, and slums can perpetuate
negative stereotypes, stigmatize residents,
and have a detrimental impact
on any interventions that are made.
Such expressions as slum, urban blight,
and the underprivileged can reinforce
preconceived ideas about moral failing
or hopelessness. They can also obscure
the systemic issues creating such settlements
in the first place, as well as the
positive aspects that can lead to effective,
resident-led, sustainable solutions.
Eliminating such terminology also
helps enclaves such as Ramapir No Tekro
to connect to the wider city. Although
housing design alone cannot change
the structural inequality facing " slum "
residents, good design can enhance their
daily lives. Good design already exists in
these settlements, and moving beyond
labels and stereotypes can help us find
it. UL
KALI MARNANE is associate director at Urbis and an
honorary associate lecturer of architecture, design, and
planning at the University of Queensland.
FALL 202 4
URBAN LAND
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INDUSTRY VOICES
2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land

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