New Delhi, India

Project by: Eingeel Khan

Reinforcing Work- based Settlements in

Urban India
A case of Kumhar Colony, Delhi

This research explores a potential methodology for interventions in occupation-based informal

settlements in Urban India. The national capital, Delhi absorbs a continuous stream of migrants,
exacerbating the problems of inadequate housing, services and infrastructure. As a result, more
than half of the population lives in informal settlements which of course is not a healthy
situation. Critical analysis of relevant dimensions of migration-causes, magnitude etc. are the
pre-requisite for strategic planning to counter the trend. In accordance to the Delhi Masterplan
2021, the government aims to redevelop various such settlements across the city. Occupation-
based settlements should be given priority due to their existing high skilled- workforce which
enables their sustainability in the future.

The analysis of the urban context and survey made directly on site, were used to recognize the
needs of the project area and to identify the useful changes that would allow the passage from a
condition of deficiency (in terms of infrastructures and services) to a condition of sufficiency.
The project was born from the desire to create spaces for the inhabitant artisans (potters) and for
the activities they perform every day. It proposes a design which is an infill into the existing
urban fabric, creating a new environmental structure which generates conditions for sustainable
urban regeneration. The infill housing proposed environmental improvement in living conditions,
while retaining the livelihood pattern. Also, from the central element of the institutional zone to
the other discrete components, the major thing into play is the logic of the micro-intervention
that can generate a global change once its effects start to germinate.

A flexible and adaptive system of design guidelines has been conceived to manage urban
contexts with similar complexity. Every renewal in the area has been focused on natural, social
and cultural resources, on sustainable local technologies, and on individual and collective values.
The final purpose of this project is to empower and increase the capacity of the society to
develop the required skills to build its own future.

P17-2458