What if the poor were part of city planning?
-
0:01 - 0:04What is our imagery of cities?
-
0:04 - 0:06When we imagine cities,
-
0:06 - 0:09we often imagine it
to be something like this. -
0:10 - 0:14But what if what you're looking at
is just half a picture, -
0:14 - 0:16but there is a city within the city.
-
0:18 - 0:21This part of the city
is often seen as slums, -
0:21 - 0:23squatters, informal,
-
0:23 - 0:26and people living here
are called illegal, informal, -
0:26 - 0:29criminals, beneficiaries,
supplicants, etc. -
0:30 - 0:32But in reality,
-
0:32 - 0:35these are poor people with no choices.
-
0:36 - 0:38Poverty is a vicious cycle.
-
0:38 - 0:41If born poor, it can take
three or more generations -
0:41 - 0:42to escape one.
-
0:43 - 0:46Many are forced in this cycle
without choices, -
0:46 - 0:48to live on pavements,
-
0:49 - 0:51along train tracks,
-
0:52 - 0:54in dumping grounds,
-
0:54 - 0:57along rivers,
-
0:57 - 1:00swamps and many such unlivable spaces,
-
1:00 - 1:03without clean water, toilets or housing.
-
1:04 - 1:06But these places are not unfamiliar to me,
-
1:06 - 1:11because since the age of six,
I accompanied my father, a doctor, -
1:11 - 1:14who treated patients
in the slums of Bombay. -
1:14 - 1:17Growing up, I would help him
carry his bag of medicines -
1:17 - 1:18after school lessons --
-
1:18 - 1:19I loved doing that.
-
1:20 - 1:22Wanting to do something
about these habitats, -
1:22 - 1:25I decided to become an architect.
-
1:26 - 1:28But quite early on, I realized
-
1:28 - 1:31that the beauty of architecture
was only for the rich. -
1:32 - 1:35So I decided to do urban planning
-
1:35 - 1:39and joined an NGO in India
that works with the urban poor -
1:39 - 1:42who organize themselves
to access basic services, -
1:42 - 1:45such as water, sanitation and housing,
for the poor living in cities. -
1:46 - 1:52Now I spent 10 years of my life
in professional education, in learning, -
1:52 - 1:54and then five years in unlearning it.
-
1:55 - 1:57Because I realized
-
1:57 - 2:00that all my training in architecture,
design and planning -
2:00 - 2:03failed ground realities.
-
2:04 - 2:07And this is where I learned
the power of choice. -
2:08 - 2:10I unlearned many things,
-
2:10 - 2:12but there are two myths about the poor
-
2:12 - 2:15that I would like to share
that we live with. -
2:16 - 2:18The first myth is a perception
-
2:18 - 2:21that migration of poor people
into cities is a problem. -
2:23 - 2:25Is migration really a choice?
-
2:26 - 2:28My mentor Sheela Patel
-
2:28 - 2:31asked to those who think
of this as a problem, -
2:31 - 2:35"Go ask your grandfather
where he came from," she says. -
2:38 - 2:41So what do poor people do
when they migrate in cities? -
2:41 - 2:43Let me share an example.
-
2:43 - 2:46This is the Mumbai International Airport.
-
2:46 - 2:49All that you see in blue
are large informal settlements around it. -
2:50 - 2:53Close to 75,000 people live here.
-
2:53 - 2:59So who are these people
that work silently in hotels, restaurants, -
2:59 - 3:02as laborers, babysitters, house helps
-
3:02 - 3:04and countless other jobs
-
3:04 - 3:07that we need for cities to function
without a glitch? -
3:07 - 3:09And where do they live?
-
3:09 - 3:12In most cities, they live in slums.
-
3:13 - 3:15So let us think again.
-
3:15 - 3:18Do we want poor people
to stop migrating in our cities? -
3:19 - 3:22What if they had a choice of not to?
-
3:24 - 3:28The second myth is my personal experience.
-
3:28 - 3:32It's this attitude that we
professionals know better. -
3:33 - 3:36We professionals love
to make choices for others, -
3:36 - 3:38especially for the poor.
-
3:38 - 3:39Let me share an experience.
-
3:40 - 3:45In a workshop that looked at designing
250 new houses for poor families -
3:45 - 3:47from a slum nearby,
-
3:47 - 3:50there were different building materials
that were presented, -
3:50 - 3:54ranging from papier-mâché,
cardboard, honeycomb, etc., -
3:54 - 3:56simply because they were affordable.
-
3:57 - 4:00But there was this one idea
that was of shipping containers. -
4:01 - 4:03Now we immediately approved of it,
-
4:03 - 4:07because we thought it was sustainable,
scalable, affordable. -
4:08 - 4:09But during this presentation,
-
4:09 - 4:12a lady from the slum humbly spoke up.
-
4:13 - 4:15And she asked the presenter,
-
4:15 - 4:17"Would you choose to live in it?"
-
4:17 - 4:19(Laughter)
-
4:20 - 4:23"If not, then why did you think we would?"
-
4:24 - 4:27Now this was a personal
unlearning moment for me, -
4:27 - 4:30where I realized that poverty
only changes affordability -- -
4:30 - 4:32it does not change aspirations.
-
4:33 - 4:37Now poor people have lived
in temporary structures all their life. -
4:37 - 4:39They go from wall to wall,
-
4:39 - 4:41moving from bricks to tin.
-
4:41 - 4:43They move from building from bamboo,
-
4:43 - 4:46tarpaulin sheets, plastic,
to cardboard, to tin, -
4:46 - 4:48to bricks and cement,
-
4:48 - 4:49just like the way we do.
-
4:50 - 4:54So somewhere here, we were forcing
our choices on them. -
4:54 - 4:56So should we force our choices on them,
-
4:56 - 4:59or should we broaden their choices?
-
5:00 - 5:03Now what if the opportunity to choose
was given to people? -
5:04 - 5:09These are women who lived on the pavements
of a neighborhood in Mumbai. -
5:09 - 5:13Now they faced constant evictions,
and in response to it, -
5:13 - 5:16they organized a women's network
called Mahila Milan. -
5:17 - 5:21Not only did they fight against evictions
with those in power, -
5:21 - 5:23saved money and bought land,
-
5:23 - 5:27but they also designed
and helped construct their own houses. -
5:28 - 5:31Well, these were illiterate women,
so how did they do that? -
5:33 - 5:37They used floor mats and saris
to understand measurements. -
5:37 - 5:42A sari is four meters in length
and 1.5 meters in width. -
5:42 - 5:47They used these simple day-to-day items
to demonstrate house models. -
5:47 - 5:50And even they made
three options to choose from -
5:50 - 5:53and invited all their fellow residents
to come and have a look. -
5:53 - 5:55(Laughter)
-
5:55 - 5:59And everybody loved this option
that had a loft in it, -
5:59 - 6:01simply because it did two things.
-
6:01 - 6:05One is that it accommodated
larger families to sleep in. -
6:05 - 6:08And two, it allowed home-based work,
-
6:08 - 6:10such as bangle-making, jewelry-designing,
-
6:10 - 6:13embroidery-stitching,
packaging items, etc. -
6:14 - 6:18Now they also decided
to not have a toilet inside, -
6:18 - 6:21but instead have it outside
in the corridors, -
6:21 - 6:24simply because it gave them
more space and it was cheaper. -
6:25 - 6:28Now, professionals
could have never thought -
6:28 - 6:29of something like that.
-
6:30 - 6:34A formal design would have necessitated
to have a toilet inside. -
6:35 - 6:38Now these are smaller examples --
-
6:38 - 6:40let me share some larger context:
-
6:41 - 6:43881,000,000 people --
-
6:43 - 6:47that's about one sixth of this world,
as we talk here -- -
6:47 - 6:49are living in slums
and informal settlements. -
6:49 - 6:55Almost every city in the global south
has large slums in the size of townships. -
6:56 - 6:58Kibera, in Nairobi,
-
6:59 - 7:01Dharavi, in Mumbai,
-
7:03 - 7:06Khayelitsha in South Africa, just a few.
-
7:07 - 7:10Now initially, they were all
on waste and abandoned lands -
7:10 - 7:12that cities were never interested in.
-
7:13 - 7:14As cities grew,
-
7:14 - 7:16poor people started building
on these lands -
7:16 - 7:19and brought value to this over time.
-
7:20 - 7:23And today, these lands have become
real estate hot spots -
7:23 - 7:26that everybody wants a piece of.
-
7:26 - 7:30So how do cities and those in power
choose to deal with them? -
7:31 - 7:34They demolish them and evict them
-
7:34 - 7:37and move them away
from their cities and economies -
7:37 - 7:40in order to build a new infrastructure.
-
7:41 - 7:44They move them into vertical housing,
-
7:45 - 7:48which in reality looks like this.
-
7:49 - 7:51Now when built in high densities,
-
7:51 - 7:53they lack natural light and ventilation,
-
7:53 - 7:55and it often leads
to unhealthy conditions. -
7:57 - 7:59Now, on one hand,
-
7:59 - 8:02poor people are not involved
in the participation of design, -
8:02 - 8:05and there is poor quality of construction.
-
8:05 - 8:07And on the other hand,
-
8:07 - 8:09they do not understand
how to do maintenance, -
8:09 - 8:13you know, keeping bills,
keeping records, forming societies -- -
8:13 - 8:15this is always difficult for them.
-
8:17 - 8:21And being forced to move
into this formal society, -
8:21 - 8:24they end up looking like this
in a few years. -
8:25 - 8:27Because formalization is not a product,
-
8:27 - 8:28it's a process.
-
8:28 - 8:32Moving from informal to formal
for poor people is a journey. -
8:32 - 8:34It takes time to accept and adapt.
-
8:36 - 8:39And when that choice is not given,
-
8:39 - 8:40it becomes like this,
-
8:40 - 8:43which I'm afraid, in future,
these would become the slums. -
8:46 - 8:47Now instead of doing this,
-
8:47 - 8:49what if we accommodated poor people
-
8:50 - 8:52and gave them a choice
to be a part of our cities -
8:52 - 8:54and develop them where they are,
-
8:54 - 8:57giving them basic services,
like in this picture? -
8:59 - 9:02Now what happens if cities
and governments could work together, -
9:02 - 9:05if governments acknowledge poor people,
-
9:05 - 9:07and they could build it together?
-
9:07 - 9:09This is Mukuru.
-
9:10 - 9:12It's a large informal
settlement in Nairobi. -
9:12 - 9:15It's one of the largest
settlements in Africa. -
9:15 - 9:17It's home to 300,000 people
-
9:17 - 9:20living over 650 acres of land.
-
9:21 - 9:23To help us understand that scale,
-
9:23 - 9:25it's like squeezing
the population of Pittsburgh -
9:25 - 9:27into the New York Central Park.
-
9:28 - 9:30That's Mukuru.
-
9:31 - 9:33So to give us a glimpse,
-
9:33 - 9:35this is the condition of housing.
-
9:37 - 9:39And this is what it is in between them.
-
9:41 - 9:44So what is life in Mukuru like,
just talking briefly? -
9:45 - 9:49Five hundred and fifty people
use one single water tap -
9:49 - 9:51and pay nine times more
-
9:51 - 9:54than what anybody else
in the city could pay, -
9:54 - 9:56simply because there is
no water infrastructure -
9:56 - 9:57and water is sold.
-
9:59 - 10:03Many come back from work to find out
that their houses do not exist, -
10:03 - 10:05because they have either been bulldozed,
-
10:05 - 10:06or they have been burned down.
-
10:09 - 10:11So, tired of this situation,
-
10:11 - 10:14a local slum dwellers' federation
called Muungano -
10:14 - 10:16decided to do something about it.
-
10:16 - 10:18In four years,
-
10:18 - 10:22they organized 20,000 residents
to collect data, -
10:22 - 10:25map structures and put it together.
-
10:26 - 10:28And the plan was very simple --
-
10:28 - 10:30they only needed four things.
-
10:30 - 10:32They wanted clean water,
-
10:32 - 10:34toilets, decent roads
-
10:34 - 10:37and, most importantly, not to be evicted.
-
10:39 - 10:42So they presented this
with the government of Nairobi. -
10:42 - 10:45And for the first time in history ever,
-
10:45 - 10:47a city has agreed to do it.
-
10:48 - 10:50The city of Nairobi,
the government of Kenya, -
10:50 - 10:53declared Mukuru
to be a special planning area, -
10:53 - 10:56which means that people
could come up with their own plan. -
10:56 - 11:00People could decide to come up
with their own norms and standards, -
11:00 - 11:03because the standards that work
for the formal citizens -
11:03 - 11:05do not work in informal settings.
-
11:06 - 11:09So what does that mean,
to give us an instance? -
11:10 - 11:11If these are roads in Mukuru,
-
11:11 - 11:15you can see that there are houses
along both sides of the road. -
11:16 - 11:19Now in order to bring in a city bus,
-
11:19 - 11:20as per the standards,
-
11:20 - 11:24planners would have gone for
a luxurious 25-meter-wide road. -
11:25 - 11:29Now that would mean displacing
[25] percent of the structures -- -
11:29 - 11:31that's a lot of people.
-
11:32 - 11:36So instead of doing that,
we came up with a 12-meter-wide road, -
11:36 - 11:39which had the structures intact
and brought the city bus -
11:39 - 11:41without compromising
on much services. -
11:42 - 11:46In another instance,
let's talk about community toilets. -
11:46 - 11:48You know, in high-density areas,
-
11:48 - 11:51where there is no scope
for individual toilets, -
11:51 - 11:53like the public toilets that we have here.
-
11:54 - 11:57So we would go for a male section
and a female section. -
11:58 - 12:00But imagine this situation.
-
12:00 - 12:03In the morning rush hours to the toilet,
-
12:03 - 12:06when everybody is in intense
pressure to relieve themselves, -
12:06 - 12:09and if you're standing
in a queue of 50 people, -
12:09 - 12:12and there is a child
standing behind an adult, -
12:12 - 12:13who wins?
-
12:14 - 12:16Children end up squatting outside.
-
12:17 - 12:19And that's why women decided
-
12:19 - 12:22to come up with a separate
squatting area for children. -
12:22 - 12:24Now, who could have thought
of something like that? -
12:25 - 12:28The idea here is
that when poor people choose, -
12:28 - 12:30they choose better.
-
12:30 - 12:32They choose what works for them.
-
12:34 - 12:36So choice is everything.
-
12:36 - 12:38And power decides choice.
-
12:38 - 12:42And we need those in power --
-
12:42 - 12:44politicians, leaders, governments,
-
12:44 - 12:48architects, planners,
institutions, researchers -- -
12:48 - 12:52and all of us in our everyday lives
to respect choices. -
12:53 - 12:57Instead of choosing what is right
for people, for the poor, -
12:57 - 13:00let's acknowledge
and empower their choices. -
13:00 - 13:02And that is how we can build
-
13:02 - 13:05better and inclusive cities for tomorrow,
-
13:05 - 13:06completing the imagery of cities
-
13:06 - 13:09built by the choices of its own people.
-
13:09 - 13:10Thank you.
-
13:10 - 13:14(Applause)
- Title:
- What if the poor were part of city planning?
- Speaker:
- Smruti Jukur Johari
- Description:
-
Almost a billion people worldwide live in informal communities and slums, often without basic infrastructure like clean water, toilets or adequate roads. Urban planner Smruti Jukur Johari breaks down myths about these communities and shares examples of simple, common-sense solutions that arise when governments and architects work together with the residents -- instead of around them.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 13:27
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for What if the poor were part of city planning? | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for What if the poor were part of city planning? | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for What if the poor were part of city planning? | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for What if the poor were part of city planning? | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for What if the poor were part of city planning? | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for What if the poor were part of city planning? | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for What if the poor were part of city planning? | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for What if the poor were part of city planning? |