"Global slums in global cities: the case of Dharavi, Mumbai"

During the history, some cities were considered as gates of commerce, culture and information. They were the reasons and the focal points where the people from different regions used to leave their homes, in the aim of a better education, work, food and adequate quality of life. While the time was passing, the world’s population expanded quickly, the lands started to be fully occupied and the competition to find jobs increased. Also, the type of work, skills, sectors and services changed from an agricultural and mostly physical jobs to skilled, specified, complex services based on financial flows, technological systems and international companies instead of local workshops, accompanied by a fast production system accomplished by smart machines without relying on the complete human physical and even mental help. The development in those cities, created a gap. A gap between the people who own those industries, the skilled labors that can run complex jobs. On the other hand, the people who work in much simpler jobs on agricultural, industrial and commercial levels. A gap between rich and poor people, in the same city, creating a two urban forms. The first is where the international firms and big financial corporations exist, shaping their urban pattern from areas built by skyscrapers, modern houses and high-quality services provided by the government. While on the other part, the global cities played a role in shaping urban forms of poor-quality housing, inadequate services, populated spaces and polluted environment. This urban pattern is more known as slums. In my thesis, I chose Mumbai as a global city that contains one of the biggest slums in the world, which is Dharavi. I will talk about the global cities and slums with their historical background, then I will focus on Mumbai and how it was shaped with time, and how the slum was formed and talk about its characteristics and the quality of life of Dharavi’s dwellers. In the end I will highlight the role of government and the NGOs in the trials of developing the slum, and on the other hand pointing on the failure of the interventions and policies taken by the government. Based on the analysis, I will discuss some strategies that were adopted in different countries worldwide in slums or in any urban fabric that can be used in Dharavi to develop and ameliorate the quality of life of the slum’s dwellers while shaping their areas into a more functional way to change the slum’s identity for more integration with the rest of the city.