CONDUIT OF REGENERATION: ENVISIONING A SKY-STREET AS THE SECOND STREET LIFE IN DHARAVI

Abstract

This thesis is interested in understanding how streets within the informal city function as a public space. It brings people from different settlements together and is also a place in which everyone can witness the other activities and functions which may occur.The dwellers within the informal city live their lives out on the streets. As a result, having safe and adequate streets that function as a public space within the informal city is as vital as the provision of water and electricity. In understanding how the street is appropriated as a form of public space by slum dwellers, this thesis believes that patterns of incremental development can be found within such localities. The main objective of this thesis is to explore the possibility of maintaining and allowing streets to exist as public spaces through the regeneration of said spaces; at the same time, to allow continued development and improvement of infrastructure, open spaces and economic opportunities to thrive. Using place-making as a transformative approach to improve the informal city of Dharavi, the local community’s assets and potential serve as an inspiration for this project.