The waste of a resource that could help India cope

 Social distancing in a participatory process

How a public health emergency prompted a man-made disaster

March 24th, India went into a 21 day lock down to maintain social distancing. People were asked to work from home, only step out for essentials and wash their hands frequently. Prior to this announcement, the inter and intra state transportation was restricted. These were part of ‘crucial’ efforts to curb the spread of the novel Covid-19. 

Based on a multi-year research with the Mobile Lives Forum on the linkages between Mumbai and Konkan villages this essay, first published in the magazine FuturArc, describes an Indian model of urbanization.

The mangroves of Mumbai are a metaphor for Dharavi - both have managed to survive and thrive in areas where others cannot, are tolerant of difficult conditions, are extremely productive, have far-reaching influence and provide the foundations for larger ecosystems.

Over the last few months, we at urbz have been talking about interventions to engage with the ecological and economic aspects of the mangroves. So we went on an expedition to explore the mangroves near Dharavi.

The “Urban Actions and Emergent Architecture:Community Architecture 2019” first Encounter was held in the city of Bogotá, Colombia on the 25th and 26th of October of 2019. This was the first event to ever bring together community leaders, architecture colectivos, professors and students to discuss around the topic of community development initiatives.