Circular Economic Approach To Dharavi: Existing Self-Build Framework Intervention

Abstract

Informal settlements are rapidly growing worldwide. This is the result of rural population migration moving into urban capitals like Mumbai leading to a scarcity of space. They establish slum communities within the cosmopolitan cities that provide new livelihood opportunities. Dharavi lacks adequate housing, infrastructure, and sanitation for its 1.6 million inhabitants.

Through a circular economic methodology, the thesis intervenes at the urban, dwelling, and component scale to improve the existing self-build framework to be feasible and sustainable while harnessing the social and economic networks to redevelop the settlement gradually. This bricolage assembly method depends on the evolving waste materials surrounding the site. The design allows for this adaptability at both the dwelling and material scales to develop community resilience.