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Introduction

Name Sean Tuffy Case Study - Dharavi, Mumbai, India. Two news articles and links to various websites related to Dharavi can be found on: http://www.geographyalltheway.com/igcse_geography/population_settlement/settlement/squatter_settlements.htm Where in the world is Dharavi? It is in Mumbai, India, located extremely close to the CBD on a very valuable 175 hectares of land. Describe the location of Dharavi? Dharavi is one of the largest slums in the world, with a populaton of about 800,000 spread over 0.67 square miles. It is sandwiched between two of Mumbai's suburban railway lines, the Western and Central Railways, it is also extremely close to Mumbai's CBD making it very valuable. Briefly describe the history of Dharavi? Dharavi was once an island in the 18th century, which was made up of mangrove swamp where fishermen lived, but in the 19th century the swamps began to vanish and consequently so did the fishing industry. Soon after several other separate islands in the region began joining together to form one big island, this was helped by a big d*m at Sion which significantly slowed water flow down. ...read more.

Middle

"Dharavi looks like a hellhole, disease if rife, the water is contaminated and sanitation is rudimentary." Kevin McCloud's first thoughts after seeing pictures of Dharavi. However once Kevin McCloud spent 2 weeks in Dharavi he said the following:"People here are happy, welcoming and hugely proud of where they live. I never thought I'd say it, but I've enjoyed my time here." which shows how contented the locals are and just how unneeded the redevelopment plan is. Why do some people want to redevelop in Dharavi? People want to redevelop in Dharavi as it is situated in the heart of Mumbai, very close to the CBD on extremely valuable ground. Which in their eyes is being "wasted" by using it as a slum. Describe the planned redevelopment of Dharavi? The current scheme is managed by Mukesh Mehta, and involved schools, park and roads to serve the 57,000 families of Dharavi, 30,000,000 square feet of housing, and 40,000,000 square feet of residential and commercial space available for sale.However there's been a lot of opposition from residents, largely due to the fact that each resident is only ...read more.

Conclusion

Which proposed project - the building of a new town on the site or the improvement of the current shanty town - do you think is the best and why? In my opinion I believe that improving the current shanty town would be the best project to follow. Firstly I think its better as the entire sense of community which Dharavi's residents experience would be lost forever if you build a new town, as due to the lack of land space, large highrise buildings will have to be built with very small separate rooms. This affectively alienates everyone as they would rarely see each other, whereas now everyone in Dharavi has houses with open doors, open to any visitors who care to drop by. The building of a completely new town will also destroy Dharavi's recycling system which is key to Mumbai's growth as a city, as all illegal or polluting businesses are not to be legalized or relocated. ?? ?? ?? ?? Page 1 of 3 http://www.geographyalltheway.com/igcse_geography/population_settlement/settlement/squatter_settlements.htm ...read more.

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