Bringing 'The Projects' to Mumbai

Mumbai, Istanbul and other cities in the developing world are launching ambitious slum redevelopment plans that seem doomed to repeat the "urban inhumanity" of western postwar urban renewal projects.

2 minute read

January 14, 2008, 8:00 AM PST

By Michael Dudley


By next January, history's most ambitious slum-clearance project will have completely eliminated Dharavi, the astonishing hive of human activity that houses between 600,000 and a million people - nobody knows for sure how many - in an area the size of a university campus along a sewage-choked river in Mumbai.

Dharavi, possibly the world's most-written-about slum, is famously the source of billions of dollars in economic activity, most of it involving the transformation of waste into useful new products in jury-rigged factories packed into a lawless, spontaneous mountain range constructed over 60 years from found bits of wood, corrugated metal and plastic sheeting, rising four or five storeys above the chemical-and-sewage-clotted mud.

It will all be gone this year, replaced with a master-planned community that gives each slum family a 225-square-foot house with running water, a toilet and electricity. These tiny homes, devised by the city's powerful Slum Rehabilitation Authority, will be located in multi-storey concrete buildings provided by developers, who will have to provide and maintain 30 million square feet of this housing in exchange for the right to build 40 million square feet of commercial developments and condominiums on the remaining land.

This trend is not limited to Mumbai...The largest cities in the world, which have heretofore grown like untamed fields, are using their recent fiscal success to impose the discipline of the planner upon the imponderable chaos of the slum...In every case, the "improvements" are being carried out by high-minded planners who have given no more than a token listen to the well-established communities that will be subject to their plans.

Monday, January 14, 2008 in The Globe and Mail

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Close-up of "Apartment for rent" sign in red text on black background in front of blurred building

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program

Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

April 21, 2025 - Housing Wire

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 30, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Close-up on Canadian flag with Canada Parliament building blurred in background.

Canada vs. Kamala: Whose Liberal Housing Platform Comes Out on Top?

As Canada votes for a new Prime Minister, what can America learn from the leading liberal candidate of its neighbor to the north?

April 28, 2025 - Benjamin Schneider

Washington

Washington State’s Parking Reform Law Could Unlock ‘Countless’ Acres for New Housing

A law that limits how much parking cities can require for residential amd commercial developments could lead to a construction boom.

2 hours ago - Streetsblog USA

Bluebird sitting on branch of green bush.

Wildlife Rebounds After the Eaton Fire

Following the devastation of the Eaton Fire, the return of wildlife and the regrowth of native plants are offering powerful signs of resilience and renewal.

4 hours ago - AP News

1984 Olympics

LA to Replace Inglewood Light Rail Project With Bus Shuttles

LA Metro says the change is in response to community engagement and that the new design will be ready before the 2028 Olympic Games.

4 hours ago - Newsweek

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.