Several links with pictures, video and audio about Dharavi and life there:
The Places We Live explores four slums across the world, including Dharavi.
This is an audio slideshow from The Guardian.
Article and photo gallery from the National Geographic.
BBC Interactive tour of Dharavi.
Your homework is to explore these links (and any others you find - there are lots of clips on YouTube too), and to leave a comment explaining:
- whether you think Dharavi is a "slum of hope" or a "slum of despair"
- what you think of the redevelopment plans for Dharavi.
Your comment should explain your ideas with reasons - not just a sentence or two - and should include your first name (not full name... if there are two of you with the same name, put the inital of your surname too).
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11 comments:
I think that Dharavi is a slum of hope even though there is not good hygiene and good housing as when you watch the clips the people there are always smiling and have built together a friendly community where everyone knows each other and helps each other out.
I don’t think the redevelopment plans for Dharavi are a good idea as if it was to go ahead the strong sense of community would be lost and some would be left homeless. Also this is now their way of life and we wouldn’t like it if someone came and knocked down our little village to come built huge sky scrapers where there is no sense of community and everyone would be miserable. I think that the best that they could do would be to just sort out the rivers and get a good sewage & drainage system there to provide clean water. Also have a doctor and a nurse visit every now and again.
I think that Dharavi is a slum of hope, because despite its horrible living conditions and measly pay rates for the most dangerous jobs, the slum has a sense of community and closeness unheard of in major cities like London and New York. Everybody knows everyone else to a certain extent and all of the required services can be found in a single street, including grocery stores, tailors and even a portable mosque.
I think that the development plans, while fixing some of the more serious problems in Dharavi like health and safety issues, would destroy the most powerful part of the slum: its community. The many buildings would separate the population of Dharavi into sections, and destroy the community. There is also the fact that the people of Dharavi eligible to live in these buildinggs would have had to have been living in the slum since 2000, which would omit a significant amount of the population from living there, making them homeless.
Jed
I think Dharavi is a slum of hope because there is an amazing community spirit and very little crime. Even though they have very few posessions and live in poor conditions they are happy with what they have. They all work together to make the best of what they have got.
Although Dharavi doesnt look very nice I think knocking it all down would be disastrous because thats the only way of life the people know and it works for them. If they had to live in high rise flats the whole sense of community would be lost. They would probably find it very hard to adapt to a complete different way of life.
Harry
Some very thoughtful and perceptive comments Harry, Jed and Charlotte T.
Could it be that the people of Dharavi are "happy with their lot" because they don't know any different?
Do you agree with Prince Charles that we have a lot to learn about sustainable living from the people of Dharavi?
I think that Dharavi is a slum of hope as everyone seems to be happy and there is a good sense of community. Everybody seems to know each other and help each other when they need to.
I don't think the redevelopment plans for Dharavi are a good idea as if it goes ahead many people will become homeless and the good sense of community will be lost. Although, I think that the Goverment should sort out the hygiene and poor sanitation instead of putting some people that live in the slum in
tower blocks and leaving the rest homeless. This would put them in a worse situation than they were before.
Heather
I think that Dharavi is a slum of hope as it shows the rest of the world how to work co-operatively as a community to deliver results that are best for everyone. Although, by our standards the slum is not a clean, safe or technologically advanced area, you could argue that it is modern and practical. There are no signs of greed or hatred in the slum and the selfless lifestyle should be inspirational to some people in Britain and other MEDCs. Plans to develop Dharavi and still maintain the healthy vibrant lifestyle are unrealistic and would therefore make the residents miserable and maybe just start the slum again. This wouldn't be sustainable if it continued to happen.
Charlotte W
I think that dharavi is a slum of hope as yes it's not the best place to live but the people who live there get along with the living conditions provided.The residents all know each other and support each other as a community.
I don't think that dharavi needs redeveloping but some changes couldn't hurt.I think that maybe mor water taps and possibly a local docter would help.Also the ground needs cleaning of all the garbage and get a proper waste disposal unit.And charlotte t is right it doesn't make sense to knock down a community that get along so well.
Arron
I think Dharavi is a slum of hope, because the sence of community is great and everyone seems to know eachother, and the fact that everyone has built there homes from nothing this shows everything they have means something to them, although the hygiene is bad and the houses are almost falling down it still has a good strong community.
I dont think the redevelopment plans for Dharavi is a good idea, as it wouldnt be fair for some of the people to have homes and others to be left homeless, also this would lose the great community bond they have. What i think needs to happen in Dharavi is it to be made safer, some sort of sewage and drainage system put in, cleaned up and some repairs to the houses but i dont think it should get knocked down.
Lucy.
I think that Dharavi is a slum of hope.The people that live there have next to nothing,hardly enough food,poor hygiene and have to live with many people in a small space,yet they make it work and are happy with what they have got. They have a strong sense of community and everybody is like a big family. I also think that even though Dharavi is a eyesore, they shouldn't get rid of it to build high rise flats as this could make many people homeless,lose that strong sense of community and belonging Dharavi has to offer and it could also make people jobless if they had a stall in the slum. -Kira.
In my opinion, I believe that Dharavi is a slum of despair as their is poor living conditions, bad hygiene and a lack of food. Nobody should be living in these conditions.
On the other hand, when we watched the video every single resident of the slum seemed happy and comfortable living in the poor conditions. It is quite clear to see that Dharavi has a good community spirit. Which puts areas near us to shame. Rebecca.
i think Dharavi is a slum of sum hope because they have got hope in there hearts just the money and the hygiene is holding them back
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