Dharavi’s Public Space: The Construction Site

The view of Dharavi as a dreadful slum in Mumbai has been a challenge for government planners, who were charged with designing for other people’s lives without any knowledge of their necessities and their quality of living. The process of designing housing under this model involved construction, which set as a testing point, Dharavi’s public space. Such construction had clear starting and ending points. However, the true nature of Dharavi’s construction on its public space goes far beyond these practices: The construction site is itself the end result; the stage upon which the slum was gradually transforming its purpose and form, driven by foreigners, NonGovernmental Organizations (NGOs), and its residents.