2008.02.13: The Mumbai-Tokyo Link

Rahul Srivastava, Mumbai Mirror

 

Dharavi’s apparent mess reminds a scholar from Japan of Shimokitazawaa, a Tokyo suburb. In this composite picture he shows, on the left, a home in Dharavi, and on the right side is a typical residential setting in Shimokitazawaa

I first saw the image accompanying this piece at the office of SPARC, a Mumbai-based NGO that focuses on urban issues. A visiting scholar from the University of Tokyo, Matias Echanove who was working with them those days had photoshopped it. On the left is a scene of a home in Dharavi and the right shows a typical residential setting from Shimokitazawaa, a neighbourhood in Tokyo. 

My first response was one of disbelief. This must be deception of the highest order. What on earth could Mumbai’s supposedly most degraded habitat have in common with one of the richest and most modernised cities in the world? Apparently a lot! 

According to Matias, most of Tokyo, especially the sprawling city outside the core central district, was an enormous mass of low-rise high-density homes. The residents themselves had developed their houses gradually over the years. Most of them were once part of villages that were absorbed into the urban fabric. While the government was busy building roads, railways and basic urban infrastructure after the Second World War, the task of building homes was largely left to the citizens themselves or to small-scale real estate developers.

Since most of the land holdings were tiny, it was difficult for a developer to buy large plots of land and build economically viable mega projects. Instead, residents built their own homes on their plots, many of which were converted rice fields. What eventually emerged was a tightly knit low-rise high-density fabric to absorb one of the highest urban densities in the world.

To a modern eye, large parts of Tokyo look pretty messy, once you see through the neon lights and hi-tech exterior. The roads are as labyrinthine as many of Mumbai’s slummier neighbourhoods, each house is constructed with its own logic, and the large complex residential enclaves have often been retrofitted with modern facilities. 

In spite of this, or some would say because of this, Tokyo’s urban life is amazingly rich. Its logic has allowed for a massive home-based economy, hundreds of tiny commercial establishments and thriving street-bazaars. Tokyo is trendy, modern, high-tech with an amazing infrastructure, and yet has an urban form that many Asian cities would instantly identify with. It is crowded, dense and full of a vibrant street-life.

For an urbanist from Tokyo with experience of working in several cities around the world, Matias’s understanding of urban form helped him see through Dharavi’s apparent mess and connect it with a larger Asian story.

Interestingly, many Tokyo neighbourhoods are now being transformed. Real-estate development has become technologically advanced and aggressive over there. In spite of the fact that the city’s urban structure is working quite well for the economy and its residents, the dominant global urban paradigm is unfolding in full force. 

Another Tokyo-based scholar Geeta Mehta, who teaches urban design at Temple University, organised a studio two years ago on the evolution of Shimokitazawaa, which is confronted by a massive government-led redevelopment plan. The experience convinced her that there is more than meets the eye when one hears of similar arguments being made in Tokyo and Mumbai! 

Conversations with Geeta and Matias convinced me more than ever that there is something rotten in the state of planned urban transformation. Something is not quite right with the way we are going ahead changing Mumbai in the name of development. Especially in Dharavi. It’s time to do a re-think. Quickly.