An afternoon rendezvous with Vasu Mama, as he narrates about his long-lived and rich life in Dharavi, his current routine post retirement, his values, ideas and opinions about Dharavi and its future.

This article presents the Koliwada in Dharavi through the evolution of its built and natural environment, tracing the Koli's fight for their land, how the community is leading the development of their neighbourhood and our role in it. 

Following up on the biggest news we had in our yearly update, we want to share more about how we got to kickstart our dream project in Dharavi Koliwada. Here we go. 

We take a moment to reflect on urbz's achievements in 2023 and our objectives for 2024. We started in Mumbai in 2008 where we are busier than ever. Over the years we expanded our activities to Goa, Bogota, Geneva and now Paris. For 2024, we make the good resolution of communicating better and more frequently with our friends and followers!

Revisiting the recently redeveloped Vithal Bhaskar chawl (a traditional residential tenement) in Dharavi Koliwada, Mumbai, to examine the impact of changes on daily life. 

These projects have been re-developed by the residents in collaboration with local contractors and the urbz team. 

Artisans collaborate with contractors, residents and the urbz team, to create models in wood, clay, steel, acrylic and brass to produce model homes in Sangam Gully, Dharavi, Mumbai, as part of the Homegrown Street Project.

A year after the first lockdown, in light of the second, deadlier Covid-19 wave, we talk to residents of Dharavi to understand how it is impacting them.

Inviting contractors from all over Mumbai to collaborate on designs for homes in Dharavi with residents, architects, and artisans.

In this issue of the Dharavi Fortnightly, we aim to understand the experiences of people now returning or seeking to return to Dharavi, the connections they have to their hometowns, and ways in which they are keeping these connections alive in the fast-paced world today.