IMPACT OF IN-SITU HIGH-RISE RESETTLEMENT ON INFORMAL ECONOMY: THE FUTURE OF TYPOLOGY-RELIANT BUSINESSES IN DHARAVI

Abstract

Considering the dynamism of the world’s informal economy, whereby 85% of new employment opportunities originate from, it is unsurprising that the proportion of urban population living in slums is growing at an unprecedented rate. In this paper, we focus on evaluating on-site high-rise resettlement typology as an economically sustainable model for rehabilitating slum dwellers. However, merging on-site resettlement and high-rise apartment typology presents a conundrum –locating resettlements on-site should reinforce the intention of retaining most of the original businesses and types of economic spaces, which is not the priority with high rise apartment typology due to insufficient amount of ground floor space only reserved for some shops. Therefore, how does on-site resettlement projects with high rise apartment typology affect the financial situations and job patterns of slum dwellers living and working in them? Relying on surveys for quantitative and qualitative analysis and observational mapping of economic activities, we investigate the case study of Dharavi, home to India’s largest informal economy and home-based industries, to seek out changes in financial situations and job patterns of its rehabilitated residents.