Rahul Srivastava is a co-founder of urbz and The Institute of Urbanology. He studied social and urban anthropology in Mumbai, Delhi and Cambridge (UK). His previous publications include an ethnography of urbanized nomads around Mumbai, a novel published by Puffin, (Penguin, India) and 'The Slum Outside', a commentary on Dharavi, co-written with Matias Echanove and published by Strelka Press. He continues to write extensively on urban issues with Matias, with their next major publication signed up with Verso, London. He brings his background in anthropology and visual ethnography to urbanology, the practice that energises much of urbz's work in Mumbai and elsewhere.
Articles
Goa's Homegrown Commons
Privatisation, if seen as an exclusive way to regularise settlements, increases the risk of political manipulation and real-estate speculation. (The Hindu, 29.03.17)
Culture for a World in Flux
How global cities can reinvent themselves by going local. (The Hindu, 03.05.17)
A Thousand Plateaus
A community struggling with water and identity finds hope in nature and culture. (The Hindu, 11.04.17)
‘Our lives are 50-50’
With one foot in the village and the other in the city, migrants have done more to urbanise India than any development scheme (The Hindu, 12.03.17)
Whatsapp Dharavi?
This is the first of our fortnightly column in The Hindu Sunday Magazine. This week we explore how the rapid absorption of smart technologies is transforming how business is done in Dharavi and all over India. (The Hindu, 26.02.17)
Soap
Producing clothes in high quantity is one thing, washing them all is another. An insight into Mumbai's famous Dhobi Ghat.
Welcome to the Edge: Mira Road, Mumbai
Instead of squeezing oneself in chawls (tiny tenements with shared bathrooms), the idea of a one-bedroom hall kitchen (or two or three) appealed to the city’s upwardly mobile population.
Abundance
The idea of waste is probably a misconception. In Dharavi virtually everything is reused. The contribution of the recycling industry to the economy is thus big that words like residue and leftover might be trashed themselves. The recycling business provides three major components of economic activities. First, the processing of waste, secondly the supply of raw materials, and third a lot of labour, thus creating livelihood for very many people.
Photography from the Shelter at Dharavi
Local children have produced stunning photographs through the Shelter photography activities.
Dukaan Workshop: Part 1
Weeks of conversing with street vendors of all kinds, documenting and networking with them translated into a most unusual workshop series inaugurated last week in Dharavi.