Dharavi Fortnightly 04 - More Covid cases and new strategies

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Dharavi has received much attention from the media, first for a steep increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and then for it’s commendable strategies to control and deal with its spread. In this issue of the Dharavi Fortnightly, we interviewed 30 people that included NGOs and beneficiaries to understand people’s strategies to deal with in-migration, unlock process and the new rise in

Dharavi Fortnightly 03 - Dharavi on the move (in a pandemic)

While public transport is slowly resuming in the city, it is still inadequate to meet user needs. This issue of the Dharavi Fortnightly seeks to explore how restricted mobility due to the lockdown has affected the movement of people and goods within and around Dharavi.

Dharavi Fortnightly 02 - The Toolhouse Story

One month after the extended lockdown ended on August 31st, we speak to our respondents to know how they are coping. Based on their responses, and first-hand observations of our very own team member in Dharavi, it seemed like life had bounced back to normal. We explore how the Tool-house, a live-work housing typology, may have contributed to this. 

Dharavi Fortnightly 01 - A New Normal

As the new normal sets in, and Dharavi gears up to resume business as usual, its vital workforce is on their way back or have been here for some time now. With various discourses about India’s lockdown policy claiming an exodus of workers from cities, our first issue of Dharavi fortnightly attempts to present a parallel narrative through the lens of circulatory urbanism. 

Dharavi Weekly 15 - Celebrations

This issue of the Dharavi Weekly takes you through 11 personal accounts of religious and cultural celebrations from the people themselves, as a culmination of our now, 15-week long endeavour to document their lives. Moving forward, The Dharavi Weekly will transition into a fortnightly issue wherein we hope to give to you, our readers, a much more in depth ethnographic representation of these communities. 

Dharavi Weekly 11 - The Kids Issue

This is the 11th weekly report which shows how the children have adapted to the conditions in the last four months, an understanding of the various ways in which the pandemic has impacted them could pave the way for holistic policies integrating their input.

Dharavi Weekly 10 - Commoner's Health

This is the 10th weekly report in which we try to understand how the non-COVID health issues pose a concern as important, if not more, than the COVID pandemic. 

Dharavi Weekly 09 - Dharavi Together

This is the 9th weekly in which we have conducted 19 interviews with community leaders and civil society organisations of various scales who have worked tirelessly during the last 4 months of the lockdown to provide relief to those worst affected by the pandemic in Dharavi. 

Dharavi Weekly 08 - Economic Impact

This is the 8th weekly report in which we try to understand how the myriad forms of businesses and individuals have been impacted during the lockdown, how they have coped with the situation, and how they are preparing to resume their economic activities. 

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 Weekly 04 - The School Issue

This is the fourth weekly report on how Dharavi's schools are coping. This qualitative study is based on 41 in-depth phone interviews with teachers, headmasters, parents, and students.

Dharavi Weekly 03 - The Food Issue

This is the third weekly report on how Dharavi is coping with Covid-19. We concentrate on the food distribution effort initiated at community level. 

Dharavi Weekly 02

This is the second weekly report on how Dharavi is dealing with the pandemic and the government's response to it.

Dharavi Weekly 01

This is the first of a weekly report of how Dharavi is coping with Covid-19

Incompiuto, du style au mouvement

urbz et l'Incompiuto. Retour critique sur notre expérience avec Alterazioni Video et Forbury architecture. Article publié sur Tracés 7/2020.

    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. 

    Dharavi vs Virus

    March 24th, India went into a 21 day lock down to maintain social distancing. How is this top down mandate being followed by people living in high density settlements? Our collaborators, friends and colleagues have been updating us about the ground realities.

    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. 

    Dharavi works

    Dharavi works is a series of projects designed in Mumbai by urbz in partnership with local inhabitants and contractors.

    ICRC Campus

    urbz is working on a comprehensive plan for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) HQ in Geneva. About 1200 people work in Geneva and another 20,000 work in over 100 conflict zones around the world

    The IFRC Park will be open to the public

    IFRC Park

    The urbz team is working with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies (IFRC) in Geneva on a participatory landscape design involving staff, neighbors and partners.

    Gendered Mobility and Climate Action

    This project is undertaken under the C40 Women For Climate mentorship program, Mumbai in collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra. The Mentee, Vidisha Dhar, is supported by Lubaina Rangwala (WRI), urbz

    Covid-19 in Dharavi

    Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 urbz has been researching its effect on the people of Dharavi. 

    Handstorm in Dharavi

    Our annual Handstorm workshops in Dharavi with the "Engineers for Social Impact" from NYU Abu Dhabi generate incremental innovations that improve the quality of life in this massive settlement

    Urban Typhoon Kochi, June 4-9, 2019

    June 4-9, 2019

    The Urban Typhoon workshop in Kochi is open to all citizens and visitors interested in working in urban areas and are willing to engage with communities participation. Together we will explore

    Koliwada Charcha

    The exhibition Koliwada Charcha is an attempt at understanding the essence of Dharavi Koliwada's architectural and visual language. 

    Point-du-Jour

    Public consultation for a densification project in Geneva / Démarche de concertation pour un projet de densification au Petit-Saconnex, Genève.

    Circulatory Urbanism

    For the past 5 years, urbz has been following families who's lives are spread between Mumbai and their ancestral villages in the Konkan (Western India).

    pots in kumbharwada

    Make in Dharavi

    This series of interviews portrays the economic life of Dharavi in Mumbai through the activities of its inhabitants.

    Delta V

    Project de quartier participatif à Versoix, Genève (09.2017 - 02.2019)
    Participation planning project in Geneva, Switzerland.

    Proyecto Manila

    Building a Community center by understanding social dynamics and participatory planning in a homegrown neighborhood in Bogota

    Shinbisum

    Generating new models for participatory development for Ulleung island in South Korea

    Khotachiwadi

    urbz has been involved with the heritage precinct of Khotachiwadi for nearly a decade. We have organized many events workshops there and produced a strategic plan for the area among other things.

    Mashup workshops

    The mashup workshops take many different forms and happen in all kinds of places. They take specific neighbourhoods as sources of inspiration and unleash a maximum of creativity onto them!

    Homegrown cities

    This experiment in affordable housing led to the co-designing and construction of a small house in Shivaji Nagar, in Govandi. A neighbourhood in Mumbai that is struggling against all odds to keep growing and

    The Design Comes as We Build

    urbz invited local builders from Dharavi to design the best possible house they could imagine. These designs were translated into physical models by artisans. 

    Homegrown Things

    We produced everyday-life objects based on the specific needs of residents and the skills available in the Shivaji Nagar area in Mumbai.

    Place, Work, Folk

    Place, Work, Folk is a fortnightly column in The Hindu Sunday Magazine by Matias Echanove and Rahul Srivastava, which is inspired by Patrick Geddes and analyzes current urban issues in India and beyond.

    Bareilly Street

    Studies, workshops, street exhibition and plans towards making a small square in Dharavi children friendly

    Genève

    urbz est un collectif spécialisé dans la programmation urbaine et la gouvernance participative.

    Urban Typhoon

    Urban Typhoon is a 5 days long workshop taking place working with local associations to generate programmes and plans for the improvement or preservation of neighbourhoods.