We are excited to present the first issue of a graphic novel about the Vithal- Bhaskar Chawl in Dharavi Koliwada. This issue sets the historical context for the issues to follow - where we draw and tell you more about the participatory redevelopment project initiated by the residents.

This week, urbz is at the 13th World Urban Forum, joining over 40,000 urban thinkers, policymakers and practitioners from 182 countries gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan, around a pressing question: how do we house the world?

The so-called slums of the city are in many ways attempts at increasing affordable housing units through a different construction and financial system.

In a global context, populations marginalized because of race, class, gender, creed, etc. are those most incessantly stripped of this right to design the city in their own image within formalized constraints. In this way, the “informal” urban process of self-construction is inherently a product of this same marginality that excludes these groups from “formalized” city-making.

The start of a collaborative initiative that seeks to interweave technical and scientific aspects of architects with knowledge of the local mason and the lifestyle of inhabitants. 

Lowcost housing by Architect B V Doshi, whose planned vision grew very incrementally.

What the world’s largest city can teach us about local development (The Hindu 16.02.2019)

The waste of a resource that could help India cope