Dharavi
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| From Dharavi |
I must admit I was apprehensive about visiting the Dharavi slum in Mumbai. Dharavi is the fourth largest slum in Asia where over 1 million people live and it is located in the center of the emerging 21st century city of Mumbai. It is densely populated and it is estimated that on average -- 15 people share about 300 square feet of living space. I didn't know what to expect (I did have allot of preconceptions and biases) and much of what I saw was shocking and will stay with me for a long time. I felt better about it after meeting Krishna and hearing more about his company and the great work they are doing with community education center in the slums. I really admire the work they are doing.
I first learned about Dharavi in a National Geographics piece a few years back and by some stroke of luck found a responsible outfit that actually could help navigate me through the maze of misconceptions. There are 2 Indias -- and we only see 1 of them in the fancy travel magazines. More than 1/2 of the population of Mumbai live in slums. On the one hand there is Mumbai which is being compared to Shanghai as the next great city in Asia -except there is a slight wrinkle in that plan -- namely a 175 hectare slum in the heart of the city with over 1 million residents. To complicate things -- Mumbai real estate rivals Tokyo and everyone seems to have an opinion on how to best "re purpose" this prime real estate in the "best interests of ..." -- well that depends on who you talk to. I'll excuse myself from that discussion for now.
The first thing that struck me about Dharavi was the scale -- It was a diverse neighborhood of its own tucked away in the middle of Mumbai. It is a vibrant and bustling place and it is estimated that a 1 Billion dollar cash economy operates inside its perimeter.
Dharavi -- like most slums -- suffers from crowding, health, air quality and sanitation issues; Seeing a school adjacent to a landfill is haunting. The air quality in the industrial quarters of Dharavi were nauseating at times ; In stark contrast to these realities of slum dwelling was what I had not expected -- a vibrant, self sufficient, and diverse community. There were cooperatives of women making papadams, vibrant tannaries, textile manufacturing, recycling, movie theatres, and internet cafes. We vistied a school and seeing the optimism of those children was astonishing and frankly inspiring.
My takeaway from the Dharavi visit was that India is COMPLICATED. Spending time there helped me shed some of the negative bias I was carrying with me and seeing the pollution and poor sanitation firsthand was eye opening. There are really no easy answers; It is far more complex than urban planning 101. Dharavi is a slum, vibrant community, industry, and an economy all at once; A city within a city. Trying to frame the challenges of Dharavi as merely an urban planning or housing problem understates what is really happening there. What I will remember most was the energy and strong sense of community and neighborhood that permeated the entire slum. We can all learn something from Dharavi in this regard and I am so grateful having had the chance to go there.
The first thing that struck me about Dharavi was the scale -- It was a diverse neighborhood of its own tucked away in the middle of Mumbai. It is a vibrant and bustling place and it is estimated that a 1 Billion dollar cash economy operates inside its perimeter.
Dharavi -- like most slums -- suffers from crowding, health, air quality and sanitation issues; Seeing a school adjacent to a landfill is haunting. The air quality in the industrial quarters of Dharavi were nauseating at times ; In stark contrast to these realities of slum dwelling was what I had not expected -- a vibrant, self sufficient, and diverse community. There were cooperatives of women making papadams, vibrant tannaries, textile manufacturing, recycling, movie theatres, and internet cafes. We vistied a school and seeing the optimism of those children was astonishing and frankly inspiring.
My takeaway from the Dharavi visit was that India is COMPLICATED. Spending time there helped me shed some of the negative bias I was carrying with me and seeing the pollution and poor sanitation firsthand was eye opening. There are really no easy answers; It is far more complex than urban planning 101. Dharavi is a slum, vibrant community, industry, and an economy all at once; A city within a city. Trying to frame the challenges of Dharavi as merely an urban planning or housing problem understates what is really happening there. What I will remember most was the energy and strong sense of community and neighborhood that permeated the entire slum. We can all learn something from Dharavi in this regard and I am so grateful having had the chance to go there.
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| From Dharavi |
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