4.1 Indigenous Settlements : Overview and Design Logic Case Study A Mumbai
Fig 4.1.1 Ranwar Village is situated in the suburb of Mumbai
Fig 4.1.2 Typical Residential Buildings in Ranwar Village
Patch Size: 350 x 300 m Area: 0.11 km2
Ranwar Village, Mumbai
Population: 250 people / Ha
Ranwar Village is a small indigenous settlement located in the
Number of buildings: 290
suburb of Bandra, isolated from the surrounding city of Mumbai
Building Height: 3- 7.5m
(Fig 4.1.1). This settlement dates back to 1850’s and still retains dwellings that are about a hundred years old. It retained its social characters and a strong sense of community until the 1960s and 1970s. After which the pressure of urbanisation and the subsequent demographic demands started a slow decline in its spatial character.
350m
This village is known for its numerous pocket social spaces spread over the site called ‘chowks’ or squares. The settlement is composed of low-rise buildings with heights ranging from 3m to 9m. Each of these buildings has shared open semi-public space or front yards on the ground level.
Entrances are typically through covered
semi-public spaces or porches which are vertically stacked in cases of houses at higher floors. The distinct spatial flow from public spaces to private spaces brings about gradient levels of privacy and involvement with the surroundings. The ever growing population and the increasing demand of living spaces lead to a dramatic 60% decrease in the number of
300m
traditional dwellings in the last decade, these traditional units have been replaced either by commercial or residential high rises. Over the years, the squares and the streets which act as public open spaces have remained the same but the semi-public spaces and primarily the private open spaces have been consumed to incorporate higher density. To study these spatial aspects of these socially relevant public and semi-public spaces in more detail and in order to understand the reason of their successful usage, this site 0
54
SynchroniCity
100
is chosen to inform the design process.