Chawls: Analysis of a Middle Class Housing Type in Mumbai, India Priyanka N
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2010 Chawls: Analysis of a middle class housing type in Mumbai, India Priyanka N. Karandikar Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Architecture Commons Recommended Citation Karandikar, Priyanka N., "Chawls: Analysis of a middle class housing type in Mumbai, India" (2010). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 11777. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/11777 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Chawls: Analysis of a middle class housing type in Mumbai, India By Priyanka Karandikar A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Architectural Studies Program of Study Committee: Nadia Anderson, Major Professor Francis Owusu Kimberly Zarecor Marwan Ghandour Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2010 Copyright © Priyanka Karandikar, 2010. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES iii AKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi ABSTRACT vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Overview 1 Methodology 6 CHAPTER 2: HISTORY AND BACKGROUND 12 Urbanization of Mumbai 14 Clustering on the basis of ‘caste’ and ‘class’ 18 Origins of middle-class housing in Mumbai 25 CHAPTER 3: CHAWLS IN CONTEMPORARY MUMBAI 30 Documentation and Analysis of Case Study Chawls 32 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSIONS 68 APPENDIX 72 BIBLIOGRAPHY 81 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Example of old chawl. 3 Figure 2: Example of old chawl. 3 Figure 3: Example of life in chawls. 11 Figure 4: Map of India showing location of Mumbai. 12 Figure 5: Image showing the areas used for commercial and 15 residential purposes by the end of the 18th century. Figure 6: Image showing Mumbai with reclaimed areas by the end of 15 the 19th and start of the 20th centuries. Figure 7: Survey map by Lieutenant Thomas Dickinson from 1812 to 16 1827. Part in red showing the portions of Mumbai outside of the Fort area that were developed over time. Figure 8: Image showing the spread of different income groups in 23 Mumbai after the middle of the 19th century. The dotted line shows the extent of the town at the end of the 18th century. Figure 9: Image showing the spread of the manufacturing sector 23 (mills and factories, from Tardeo to Worli) in Mumbai in the 19th century. Figure 10: Map showing location of Indus Valley Civilizations. 26 Figure 11: Image showing a typical house in the Indus Valley. 26 Figure 12: Image showing the use of courtyard system in India. The 26 image is of a Buddhist monastery built around the 3rd Century B.C. Figure 13: Image showing the use of the courtyard system in India. 26 The image is of an exhibition centre taken in 2007. Figure 14: Images showing houses/wadis with central courtyards in 27 the state of Maharashtra. Figure 15: Map of Mumbai with highlighted old city area. 32 Figure 16: Map of Mumbai showing the locations of the case studies. 32 Figure 17: Image showing how shops on the lower levels of the 34 chawls make it convenient for the residents to shop. Both case study chawls have this facility. Figure 18: Map showing amenities and other services within two 35 kilometer radius of the case study1 chawl at Naigaon. Figure 19: Map showing amenities and other services within two and 36 one-half kilometer radius of the case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. Figure 20: View of chawl buildings and courtyard as seen from the 41 entrance to case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. Figure 21: View of chawl buildings and courtyard as seen from the 41 entrance to case study 2 chawl at Grant Road. Figure 22: Common toilets, case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. 42 Figure 23: Toilet, case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. 42 iv Figure 24: Common tap area, case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. 43 Figure 25: 500 liter water tank installed above mori, chawl at 43 Naigaon. Figure 26: Entrance to the toilets in case study 2 chawl at Grant 43 Road. Figure 27: Toilet, case study 2 chawl at Grant Road. 43 Figure 28: Common bath area, case study 2 chawl at Grant Road. 43 Figure 29: View of courtyard seen from the entrance, case study 1 46 chawl at Naigaon. Figure 30: Steel W-sections and timber posts supporting corridors, 46 case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. Figure 31: Timber and steel joists, case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. 46 Figure 32: Steel joists, case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. 46 Figure 33: Entrance to case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. 47 Figure 34: Sagging treads of the timber staircase, case study 1 chawl 47 at Naigaon. Figure 35: Rusted railing of the staircase, case study 1 chawl at 47 Naigaon. Figure 36: Layout of case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. 48 Figure 37: Plan and section of a unit in case study 1 chawl at 49 Naigaon. Figure 38: Layout of the chawl complex at Grant Road. 50 Figure 39: Layout of the case study 2 chawl within the chawl complex 50 at Grant Road. Figure 40: Plan and section of a unit in case study 2 chawl at Grant 51 Road. Figure 41: View of courtyard seen from the entrance of case study 1 52 chawl at Naigaon. Figure 42: View of courtyard seen from the entrance of case study 2 52 chawl at Grant Road. Figure 43: View of children playing in the courtyard of chawl complex 53 at Grant Road. Figure 44: Corridor space, case study 2 chawl at Grant Road. 55 Figure 45: Storage cabinet used by participant’s family to sit and 55 sleep, case study chawl 2 at Grant Road. Figure 46: Image showing how corridors are used in case study 2 55 chawl at Grant Road. Figure 47: View of the entire corridor, case study 2 chawl at Grant 55 Road. Figure 48: Multifunctional corridor, case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. 56 Figure 49: View of courtyard from second floor corridor, case study 1 56 chawl at Naigaon. Figure 50: Niche in the living room wall created when the door 57 leading to the neighbor’s house was taken out, case study 2 chawl at v Grant Road. Figure 51: Mori (bathing area), case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. 58 Figure 52: Kitchen, case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. 58 Figure 53: Storage in kitchen, case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. 58 Figure 54: Lofts used for storage, case study 1 chawl at Naigaon. 58 Figure 55: New wing of the chawl complex at Grant Road. 60 Figure 56: New wing of the chawl complex at Grant Road blending 60 with old parts of the complex. Figure57: Number of connections in a Chawl. 64 Figure 58: Number of connections in a typical apartment building. 64 Figure 59: Use of corridor in a typical chawl as shown in movie 78 Shikshanachya aaicha gho. Figure 60: Interaction between residents in various areas of a typical 79 chawl as shown in movie Kathaa. Figure 61: Interaction between women of a typical chawl as shown in 80 movie Kathaa. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply indebted to my Major Professor and guide Nadia Anderson for her valuable guidance, patience and support. She has been a beacon and pillar of strength that steered my way towards the study I undertook as a graduate student. I greatly appreciate her gentle but firm manner that helped me towards completing my thesis. I thank all the committee members Kimberly Zarecor, Marwan Ghandour and Francis Owusu to whom I owe a change in my outlook and attitude before I became another hardcore commercial architect and to instill in me an angle of sensitivity about social issues. I also must specially thank Prof. Francis Owusu for his class International Planning in spring 2010 which helped me conduct my research better. The thesis would not have seen the light of the day without the enthusiastic and active participation of the residents of the chawl who poured out and shared their thoughts, views and experiences without holding anything back on early Sunday mornings. I appreciate everyone who made this study possible. vii ABSTRACT This thesis documents and analyzes a building-type called chawl in Mumbai, India. Typically occupied by middle class residents, chawls provide access to a range of services and, most importantly, a social support-system that makes life easier in contemporary Mumbai. The research examines how chawls developed within the urban context of Mumbai and how they contribute to the social and cultural lives of their residents. Research methods include a literature review of books, journals, newspaper articles as well as pictographic record and interviews with residents living in the two case study chawls. The analysis shows that a dense social-network between the residents is one of the main reasons for them to live in the chawls. In a dense city like Mumbai, with a lack of affordable housing, chawls provide a sustainable model for middle class housing that should be maintained and can potentially serve as a model for future housing projects. 1 CHAPTER 1 Overview The housing type Chawls has been a very significant part of Mumbai’s history and this research looks exclusively at chawls in Mumbai. Many chawls were built during the nineteenth century and twentieth century. They were built by government or private landlords to accommodate the migrants coming from villages due to the rising employment opportunities in early Mumbai.1 Chawls are buildings with one room or two room units of not more than two hundred square feet attached by a common corridor with shared toilets on each floor.