VERVEMAGAZINE.IN 17significant role in addressing a range of urban
design needs. For example, we have developed an
eponymous mobile app at MESN, to survey real-time
geo-tagged data — like pedestrian or vehicle flows,
parking, hawking, etc. This data, when integrated
with our web-based Geographic Information System
or GIS, becomes accessible to citizens, enhancing
participation and better evidence-based planning and
audit for effective governance. (The mobile application
is used for the survey, where locals participate in the
data filling. Also, the data is real-time and can be easily
tracked and monitored by government officials.) Our
effort has been published in the World Best Practices
magazine by the Global Forum on Human Settlements.
MESN and the neighbourhood of Gautam
Nagar (Govandi)
This was an effort to develop public spaces in the
poor and very densely populated SRA colony in 2016.
In spite of having 4,500 pph (persons per hectare) and
almost nil public space per capita, the available open
spaces around the Gautam Nagar colony of G+7 were
filthy, encroached upon or abandoned, and residents
felt unsafe and had no connection with them.
At the suggestion of UN-Habitat, we used the
Minecraft video game in a workshop as a way to
engage such a diverse, segregated population and
conceptualise a common minimum programme for
their shared space. I was initially sceptical, as the
community was mostly computer-illiterate and, as
daily wage workers, they didn’t have the mind space
or the time to learn something new. With a great deal
of effort, we gathered and divided them into groups.
The children took the lead and, with the help of our
volunteers, came up with various design alternatives
for the development of their spaces. Women, too,
felt empowered; this was the first time that they were
able to present their ideas in front of a large crowd
and city officials.
Memorable projects
When we were planning the Lotus Garden project
in a Govandi slum (2012), the locals were against our
suggestion to make the garden safer by bringing down
its tall, solid compound wall so that there’d be more
eyes on it. They thought that we were compromising
the women’s privacy and security. After a lot of
deliberation, we agreed to have a short wall with
a fence to keep miscreants away. An open gym was
also planned here, for the young boys who hung out in
the garden. But, in this slum (where 95 per cent of its
dwellers are Muslim), we found that women in purdah
were actually using it more, and it made us realise
how the community — including us — had missed the
aspirations of these women. And I learnt to observe
beyond what is visible on the surface.
Working with the BMW Guggenheim Lab in 2012
was another important initiative. It emphasised the
need for high-quality public spaces shared by both
the rich and the poor, to reduce social gaps and
enhance a sense of well-being. This lab involved all
stakeholders in public space development to make
it more participatory, and the workshops helped me
understand Mumbai’s needs from the perspective of a
cross section of society.JOSHUA NAVALKAR