Malvani People's Plan : Summary

An approach to planning, improvement and up-gradation of existing high density low income settlements in
Mumbai
KRVIA + YUVA
The habitat of a city dweller is not simply her dwelling unit minimum area with walls and a roof - but a
place that offers to her and her family opportunities of work, of leisure, of social interaction, health and
safety, the freedom to shape their environment, and the possibility of growth and improvement - in short, an
institution for habitation, a place for creative well-being. As physical infrastructure, it extends much beyond
the isolated units provided by private developers or housing agencies. The city, the settlement district, the
neighborhood, the community, the street, the housing cluster and dwelling itself - all form a nested spatial
structure, each ring dependent on and completing the one outside it, and completed in turn by the one inside.

The Malvani People's Plan is a local area development plan for the urban district of Malvani in the Western
Suburb of Mumbai, an area of 2.8 Sq Km, and home to an estimated 390,000 people (net density of 2670
p/Ha and tenement density of 463 DU/Ha). Settlements such as Malvani, a high density low income underdeveloped area, pose special problems, and there are many such areas in the city - Dharavi, Shivajinagar,
Asalfa, are some of the larger examples. The Development Plan of 2014-34 for Greater Mumbai already
identifies these as areas requiring comprehensive development - and suggests making local plans for
them. Though the thinking behind such a step is a holistic development, the present study indicates that the
Malvani (and almost certainly other similar areas in Mumbai) are internally quite diverse in terms levels of
development and settlement patterns, and while holistic planning is necessary, development, if is has to be
beneficial to the residents, will need to be discriminate, tentative and incremental.

This project began with a few concerns that were voiced during the many debates and discussions around
Mumbai's Development Plan last year by the People's Campaign a movement consisting of more than one
hundred grassroots, non-governmental and community based organizations, activists and academics. For the
Campaign, the striking inequities in access to the urban commons, the low levels of human development in
the city, the little or no participation of residents in the planning process, the increasing shift of urban
development in the interests of developers and investors, and the poor quality and availability of affordable
housing, among others, were crucial concerns. When YUVA invited KRVIA to collaborate on drafting a
development plan for Malvani, these concerns became the first questions we asked ourselves:
1) What is the role of physical development in the achievement of human development goals? What are, in
other words, the physical barriers to the exercise of reasoned agency of urban dwellers, and how can these be
mitigated? How can planning be undertaken for the achievement of social goals as opposed to development
that is linked to economic growth objectives?
2) What is the role of physical planning in creating spatial equity? How can we ensure equitable access of
every urban dweller to essential services, social infrastructure and the urban commons?

3) How can planning facilitate dweller control without compromising on social commitments and welfare
objectives? What kind of participatory structures are necessary for planners to understand the needs and
priorities of communities, and how can these be set up?
4) Is it possible, and beneficial, to plan for the informal economy? What sort of questions need to be asked?
What kind of research is necessary? What kind of recommendations will be made?
5) What is the purpose of norms and standards for development? What are their limitations? Is it possible to
retain the substance and values that these are based on even in circumstances where their actual achievement
may not be possible?

Based on these questions, we sought to understand the historical and formative circumstances of Malvani,
the socio-spatial patterns and the quality and conditions of the existing settlement, through various kinds of
surveys and studies. Resident communities were identified and mapped, and Focused Group Discussions
(FGDs) were carried out with each of these communities to understand needs and priorities. Much of the
amenity mapping at the community level was carried out with the help of the residents. The FGDs also
revealed availability and quality of services and infrastructure at the community level, which were
spatialized to show the variations, and the general inadequacy of basic necessities. Communities also
indicated their own preferences with respect to their future needs, which were adopted into the final
proposals. The final proposal was made at two levels: the first level was the Proposed Land Use (PLU),
which reserves lands for public and private use, and the social infrastructure facilities reserved are to be built
and managed by the MCGM or any other public agency. The first level will provide the infrastructural
framework for the second level, that details the developments in private use areas (mainly residential areas)
where guidelines are provided for the repair, improvement or up-gradation of homes. Here, development
may be undertaken by households or by cooperatives with the support (finance, construction, etc.) of a public
agency.

The Malvani Plan proposes a low-rise high density development for the district undertaken through a
conservative, incremental and cooperative self-development. Presently, the average residential space
available in Malvani is 4.66 sqm / capita (out of which only 2.6 sqm is authorized) and only 0.8 sqm / capita
of public area (social infrastructure, recreation and circulation areas) is available. Despite there being only
0.6 sqm / capita vacant land, with the adoption of what we call the free-layout typology it is possible to
achieve 6 sqm / capita average residential space (ranging from 5-9 sqm / capita) and 6.4 sqm / capita of
public area. In addition, the study and analysis that led to the proposals have also evolved general principles
which may find application in similar contexts elsewhere in the city. These are given as points below, and
are described at length in the report.
1) Possible strategies for how incremental, piecemeal and conservative transformation of the lived
environment along with adequate planned provisions for health, education, socio-cultural activities, leisure,
goods and services and mobility may be achieved.
2) The importance of building typologies and planned urban layouts for physical development.

3) The promise of collective / neighborhood ownership of land and cooperative development and control
over housing.
4) A way of achieving adequate social infrastructure and services for high density settlements with limited
availability of land for infrastructure creation.
5) How planned provision of infrastructure, support and services for the informal economy and informal
livelihoods may be undertaken.
6) How improvement and augmentation of public and semi-public transport infrastructure in the district
could be achieved.
7) The new kinds of social amenities and facilities that are appropriate and suitable for the needs of informal
working people and often transient communities.
8) A range of 'intermediate' improvement and up-gradation models for mixed use neighborhoods based on
the priorities and capabilities of the resident community.
9) The physical and institutional ways to prevent the formation of gated enclaves and ghettos, and to setup
safeguards against eventual gentrification as the district develops.
10) The basic development controls and built form codes that can be employed for a low-rise high density
development scheme, to achieve an affordable, self-developed and diverse built environment.
11) How structures for participation and involvement of local communities could be carried out at various
stages in the plan making process.