urbz : user-generated cities

In this article we discuss ways of making an immersive mangrove experience available to people. We propose varying degrees of engagement, from a full blown Koli experience to Mangrove Machans. 

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.

Antonio Moreno, young Petareño, known by everyone in "El Encantado", South Petare as the son of Micheal Jackson, was offered the seed investment, the necessary machinery and a place in the shopping mall “Centro Comercial Terrazas del Avila” to start his very own bakery, the opportunity of a lifetime but he asked himself - why would he open his bakery in a shopping mall, if his own street didn’t have one? 

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.

This series of articles seeks to shed light on the origin of the unplanned settlements that are home to more than half of Caracas’s population, but whose stories have never been told. Multiple inhabitants were interviewed and shared their stories of struggles, overcoming hardships, constant improvement and self governance that are the origin of unplanned settlements in Venezuela.

"I was fortunate enough to be a part of the urbz network through my internship with them in Mumbai. I then travelled to Bogotá, Colombia as part of their network. Having lived in Mumbai, combined with my experience of life in Bogotá, naturally led me to compare the two cities; their multiple similarities and not so many differences". 

This series of articles seeks to shed light on the origin of the unplanned settlements that are home to more than half of Caracas’s population, but whose stories have never been told. Multiple inhabitants were interviewed and shared their stories of struggles, overcoming hardships, constant improvement and self governance that are the origin of unplanned settlements in Venezuela.

Dharavi has been an interesting setting for many Mumbai based films. This article discusses a few films from the past decades that feature Dharavi as a place central to their narratives.

urbz is working on the design of a house for a joint family of 38 people, on a plot of 330 Sq.mts (3500 Sq.ft) in the dense urban settlement of Dharavi Koliwada, Mumbai. 

Cities around the world are acknowledging that local expertise, knowledge and skills are an effective mechanism to generate ideas, plans and strategies that can be implemented by themselves or by civic authorities and planning agencies. Earlier this year, urbz was part of such an endeavour where we conducted Urban Typhoon workshops in Kochi, India.

Local knowledge may be the best response to natural disaster and bureaucratic inefficiency (The Hindu 17.08.2019)

This is the first of a series of articles shedding light on the origin of the unplanned settlements in Caracas, which are home to more than half of the population. These stories have rarely been told. Multiple inhabitants were interviewed and shared their stories of struggles, talked about how they overcome hardships, and organize for improvement and self governance. 

How a second generation tamil migrant made Mumbai his second home

Connecting humans to each other and the environment is the 21st century’s biggest challenge. (The Hindu 25.05.2019)
 

India’s most loved profession needs a reality check (The Hindu 27.04.2019)
 

We discuss whether the alternatives to the centralised food supply system in Mumbai lead to an ecologically and economically fair development.

What looks like a city of aesthetic or economic contrasts may actually be a marker of the relation between urban space and individual agency.

An Insight into Dharavi and the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP)

A Swiss city re-imagines public space and experiments with direct democracy in the process (The Hindu 16.03.2019)

Why Fort Kochi is a lesson that urban planners can integrate into a larger vision for India (The Hindu 02.03.2019)

What the world’s largest city can teach us about local development (The Hindu 16.02.2019)

Continuing our study of the Mumbai Metro and its impact on homegrown settlements