“Reading DHARAVI: A Walk Through a Homegrown Neighbourhood”
Dharavi offers one of the most compelling lessons in how communities shape cities from the ground up. At its heart is the idea of the Tool-house—where home and workplace seamlessly merge, creating a dense, human-scale neighbourhood sustained by decentralised production, entrepreneurship, and strong community life. Join us for a guided walk with Urbz in Mumbai to experience these ideas in context, explore the concept of the Homegrown Neighbourhood, and gain fresh perspectives on participatory urbanism, architecture, and the collective intelligence that shapes inclusive cities.
Aim
- Experience Dharavi through an immersive neighbourhood walk and understand how affordable housing extends beyond shelter to support livelihoods, community networks, and everyday urban life.
- Explore concepts such as the Homegrown Neighbourhood and the Tool-house, discovering how resident-led development creates resilient and productive urban environments.
- Reflect on the role of architects, planners, and designers in shaping equitable cities, and examine how participatory approaches can contribute to more context-sensitive and affordable futures.
Ar. Kareena Kochery
Co-director | Urbz
Meet the Experts
Kareena Kochery is a Landscape planner, researcher, and co-director of the Urbz Collective in Mumbai. She specialises in Cultural geography, with a focus on animal geography. As a landscape planner, she advocates for the ecological planning of river basins and is committed to working on community-led environmental planning projects.
She has worked closely with local communities, state and municipal officials and global organisations to develop interventions and frameworks sensitive to the interrelationality of urban culture, landscapes, built environments, ecology and economy. The immersive, participatory nature of her work has helped her develop skills and tools to bridge gaps between design-led and community-led planning, which remains an important goal for her.
Samidha Patil is an architect, urbanist and co-director of the urbz Collective Mumbai. She specialises in urban housing, equity and social justice. She brings in elements of participation in architectural projects to develop community-centric designs. For the past 10 years, she has worked with several communities and municipalities in India, as well as international organisations globally.
Her work is at the intersection of urban planning, environment and governance. She has worked closely with state and municipal officials of multiple smart cities in India to develop urban-scale interventions and development frameworks related to urban mobility, housing, environment, ecology and economy. As an urban researcher, she works on several research projects, ranging from adequate housing for the urban poor to climate change to mobility
Ar. Samidha Patil
Co-director | Urbz
Event Details
Focus : ADaR (Affordable Design is a Right)
Duration : 3 hours
Venue : Koliwada, Dharavi
Time : 10:00 AM
Workshop Structure
- Introduction & Context Setting (60 mins) :
An introductory session exploring concepts like the Homegrown and the Tool-house, highlighting their relevance in understanding everyday spaces, local knowledge, and community-led design. Participants will also be given a preview of the Homegrown Street Exhibition, providing context for the neighbourhood exploration that follows.
- Neighbourhood Walk & Observation (60 mins) :
A guided walkthrough of the surrounding neighbourhood where participants will observe local streets, homes, tools, workspaces, and everyday interactions. The walk encourages participants to identify how communities adapt spaces, create resourceful solutions, and shape their built environment through lived experiences.
- Discussion & Creative Reflection (60 mins) :
An informal discussion over snacks, allowing participants to reflect on their observations and share insights from the walk. This will be followed by a creative exercise where participants imagine and express their own dream Tool-house through a medium of their choice, including write-ups, illustrations, sketches, or mixed-media expressions. The activity encourages participants to reinterpret the idea of the Tool-house through their personal experiences and aspirations.
Be a Part of Spotlight Mumbai
The workshop will serve as a platform to explore community-led urbanism through the lived realities of Dharavi. It aims to initiate a dialogue on affordable housing, participatory design, and the role of local knowledge in shaping more inclusive and resilient cities.
