Kareena Kochery is a Landscape planner, researcher and partner of the urbz collective Mumbai. She has studied and worked for the last 18 years across India, the Netherlands and Geneva. She graduated with an MSc. in Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning from Wageningen University and Research Institute, Netherlands. She specialised in Cultural geography, with a focus on animal geography. As a landscape planner, she is involved in advocacy for the ecological planning of river basins and is committed to working on community-led environmental planning projects.
She has worked closely with local communities, state and municipal officials and global organisations to develop interventions and frameworks sensitive to the interrelationality of urban culture, landscapes, built environments, ecology and economy. The immersive, participatory nature of her work has helped her develop skills and tools to bridge gaps between design-led and community-led planning, which remains an important goal for her.
Articles
Dharavi Weekly 05 - The Village Issue
This is the fifth weekly report on how Dharavi workers and families are faring away from Mumbai. This report highlights their journey and life back home in the time of Covid-19.
Dharavi vs Virus
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.
COVID-19 in a post-wild world
Indian cities are habitats for a vast number and variety of animals. It has taken a lockdown to spotlight these creatures living in and around our cities.
A Mangrove experience
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.
Towards a mangrove economy
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.
Expedition Mangrove
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.
Urban Actions and Emergent Architecture: Community Architecture 2019
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.
The Keny House
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.
