There is an empowering discourse emerging from the ideological gridlock over the future of Mumbai slums. The activist and urbanist community is trying to dispel the onerous “slum” classification in order to emphasize these informal settlements are also incubators of enterprise and community that add much needed spatial diversity to the city. Rather than rehabilitating and integrating slums while taking into account the needs of residents, the state and municipal government are trying to appropriate and clear out their land for redevelopment. Many residents are now fighting for their land rights and trying to take back the very word “slum” to redevelop their neighborhood from within.
Reporting for this story was made possible with support from The Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, the MIT Center for Advanced Urbanism, and The Megacity Initiative.