One of the largest, wealthiest and the most complex slums in the world, Dharavi is faced with critical challenges of overcrowding, unsanitary living conditions, lack of water supply and electricity, deteriorated creeks and mangroves. Several attempts at rejuvenating and formalising it by various governmental bodies, have seen very little success. Existing densities in Dharavi are already high at 100,000 people per sq km and current guidelines are likely to prompt a gentrification of sorts with unheard of densities, causing a further deterioration to the quality of life.
Meanwhile, Dharavi perplexes and fascinates audiences around the world, as the life here continues to inspire art, music and film. The area continues to thrive owing to its strong sense of community, powerful economic forces and opportunity to live and work locally. However, the city has failed to look for alternative solutions beyond the SRA* model which has not been able to alleviate the living conditions of the residents.

Based on the above context, UDRI felt that it was time to reorient perceptions and reimagine Dharavi – Reinventing Dharavi: An International Ideas Competition was conceived to generate novel ideas to enhance the future potential of Dharavi, taking into account its inherent characteristics and needs of residents.

The publication collates the proposals received from all 20 teams comprising a total of 140 participants across 21 nationalities. It comprises a brief context to Dharavi and the competition, the twenty proposals and a summarised ideas matrix.

English