COHAB : Cooperativee housing strategy

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cohab

A COOPERATIVE FOR COOPERATIVES UNA COOPERATIVA PARA COOPERATIVAS

ADITI NAIR | AMEERA ISSA | JACQUELINE CASTAÑEDA | ALFONSO JR SUPETRAN


COHAB ! COHAB ! Sunset Park is well known for it is first Finnish Co-op, the housing model which represents solidity and social capital empowerment. Starting from that point COHAB is the alternative model to empower the current Latin community in Sunset Park. Recently the neighborhood is facing waves of gentrification with mainly two to three-floor housing typology and small commercial activity. The neighborhood community is threatened by displacement, therefore, the need for a new economical housing model nourished.

COHAB

is more than a house or a commercial co-op, it is an economic model to prevent displacement and initiate cohabitation among the community members. The model is illustrated in three typologies: Commercial Unit, Mixed-Use Unit, and Multi-Families Unit. Based on our partner (Beyond Care) needs and capabilities we will focus on developing three scenarios for the Multi-Families Unit.

Sunset Park es bien conocido porque es la primera cooperativa finlandesa, el modelo de vivienda que representa la solidez y el empoderamiento del capital social. A partir de ese punto, COHAB es el modelo alternativo para empoderar a la comunidad latina actual en Sunset Park. Recientemente, el vecindario se enfrenta a oleadas de gentrificación con una tipología de vivienda principalmente de dos a tres pisos y una pequeña actividad comercial. La comunidad del vecindario está amenazada por el desplazamiento, por lo tanto, la necesidad de un nuevo modelo de vivienda económica se nutre.

COHAB es más que una casa o una cooperativa comer-

cial, es un modelo económico para prevenir el desplazamiento e iniciar la convivencia entre los miembros de la comunidad. El modelo se ilustra en tres tipologías: Unidad comercial, Unidad de uso mixto y Unidad multifamiliar. Sobre la base de las necesidades y capacidades de nuestro socio (Beyond Care), nos centraremos en desarrollar tres escenarios para la Unidad de múltiples familias.

Mixed-Use Uso-mixto

Commercial Comercial

COHAB !

Multi-Families Multifamiliares

COHAB CO-OP IS MORE THAN A HOUSING OR COMMERCIAL PROJECT, IT IS PROJECT TO COHABITATE

COHAB CO-OP ES MÁS QUE UN PROYECTO DE VIVIENDA O COMERCIAL, ES UN PROYECTO PARA COHABITAR


COHAB AFFORDABILITY WHAT IS IT? Our survey of Beyond Care members suggested key decision making points.

CO-HABIATATING IN SUNSET PARK Our goal would be to acquire the buildings on sale incrementally an creating a network over time. Through partnerships with CLTs, Finance partners and mutually investing co-op members a long term acquiring process can be established.

$30000 Median annual income $15000 Average annual rent 35 Initial number of members Acquiring mixed use building after from economy generated

WHAT KEY ISSUES ARE WE ADDRESSING?

50% Collective ownership of land

Incrementally owned housing

Collective ownership of land

Incrementally owned housing

Investing in c o - o w n e d Acquiring mixed use commercial building after from plots for sale economy generated Investing in co-owned commercial plots for sale

30% Shared resources

Shared resources

HOW CAN WE MAKE A WORKERS CO-OP INTO A COHAB?

Based on co-op ownerships models studied previously, a long term aquisition plan will be required. Through developing sustained partnerships with a CLT nd a non-profit developer, interested members of the workers co-op would pool in to aquire a commercial plot of land. This plot of land woulddeveloped and leased out. the economy generated from this commercial outlet would be used to invest in a mixed use building ( commercial+residential). Some of the hosuing units from this can also be rented out at market rate to maintain the building and aso accumalate capitalvover time. Over a period of time the capital would suffice to invest in a completely esidential unit. This can continue to a perrinial cycle of ownership acquisition.

20-30% of the cost of aquiring any property at a market rate is invested into the land. This portion of the cost of purchase is not directly related to the built environment to be occupied by the owner in an apartment, howeveer it can be donated to a CLT. This reduces the cost of purchase drastically. A partnership with a CLT has to be made in the very initial stages of the project, as soon as a property is decided for purchase.

PHASING OF HOUSE OWNERSHIP

COMMUNITY PROFILE

Tackle affodability for this community. The key here is to make the average expemditure on housing to reduce from 50% to 30% of AMI.

COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

2-3 HOUSES ACQUIRED

Community invests in coowned mixed use residentialbuildings Community invests in coowned mixed use residentialbuildings

MUTI -FAMILY RESIDENCE

5-6 HOUSES ACQUIRED

0 HOUSES ACQUIRED

INCREMENTAL ACQUISITION HOW CAN WE MAKE A WORKERS CO-OP INTO A COHAB? Based on co-op ownerships models studied previously, a long term aquisition plan will be required. Through developing sustained partnerships with a CLT nd a non-profit developer, interested members of the workers co-op would pool in to aquire a commercial plot of land. This plot of land woulddeveloped and leased out. the economy generated from this commercial outlet would be used to invest in a mixed use building ( commercial+residential). Some of the hosuing units from this can also be rented out at market rate to maintain the building and aso accumalate capitalvover time. Over a period of time the capital would suffice to invest in a completely esidential unit. This can continue to a perrinial cycle of ownership acquisition.

COMMERCIAL PLOT COMMUNITY LAND BANK MIXED USE BUILDING MUTUAL INVESTING- WORKERS C-OP

FINANCE PARTNERS

MUTUAL INVESTING- WORKERS C-OP

FINANCE PARTNERS

The workers co-op invests mutually into a long term project and maintains solidarity throughout. A part of this solidarity can come in the form of sweat equity while rehabilitating the buildings, or taking charge of building maintainence as a co-op.

The workers co-op invests mutually into a long term project and maintains solidarity throughout. A part of this solidarity can come in the form of sweat equity while rehabilitating the buildings, or taking charge of building maintainence as a co-op.

Non Developers and credit union banks become financial partners in the acquisation process. Non profit developer plays a crucial role as he is capapble of establishing a balance between units to be sold for market rate and the ones to remain within affordable price range.

Non Developers and credit union banks become financial partners in the acquisation process. Non profit developer plays a crucial role as he is capapble of establishing a balance between units to be sold for market rate and the ones to remain within affordable price range.


STUDY CASE: NEIC CASO DE ESTUDIO: NEIC NEIC: NORTHEAST INVESTMENT COOPERATIVE

NEIC: COOPERATIVA DE INVERSIONES DEL NORESTE

39

39 vecinos se reunieron en el noreste de Minneapolis para

neighbors came together in northeast Minneapolis to make change and start the first community real estate investment cooperatives in U.S.In 2011 they officially initiated NEIC: NorthEast Investment Cooperative under Minnesota Statutes law.The cooperative aimed to acquire vacant properties among the neighborhood and transformed them into commercial units, this investment will provide financial stability to the cooperative.

NEIC EARLY PROJECT In July of 2012 NEIC purchased the property at2506 Central Avenue,a vacant and former hardware store and furniture store. At the early stages, members and the founding board of NEIC invested in their own skills for everything they could, from the website to the project management, to the stacks of paperwork. NEIC also developed the idea of paying to the contractors who rehabbed the buildings and financial partners by joining the coop and were paid in nonvoting stock. Which made the NEIC grow up to 90 members.in the startup phase, there was always someone putting in 15 or 20 hours of volunteer work every week.

BEFORE ANTES

realizar el cambio e iniciar las primeras cooperativas comunitarias de inversión en bienes raíces en los Estados Unidos. En 2011 iniciaron oficialmente NEIC: NorthEast Investment Cooperative según la ley de los Estatutos de Minnesota. unidades comerciales, esta inversión proporcionará estabilidad financiera a la cooperativa.

PROYECTO TEMPRANO NEIC En julio de 2012, NEIC compró la propiedad en 2504/2506 Central Avenue, una tienda de bicicletas de recuperación y una ferretería y tienda de muebles vacante y anterior. En las etapas iniciales, los miembros y la junta fundadora de NEIC invirtieron en sus propias habilidades para todo lo que pudieron, desde el sitio web hasta la gestión del proyecto, hasta las pilas de papeles. NEIC también desarrolló la idea de pagar a los contratistas que rehabilitaron los edificios y socios financieros al unirse a la cooperativa y se les pagó en acciones sin derecho a voto. Lo que hizo que la NEIC creciera hasta 90 miembros. En la fase de inicio, siempre había alguien que realizaba 15 o 20 horas de trabajo voluntario cada semana.

AFTER DESPUÉS


COHAB PROCESS PROCESO COHAB 1

3

2

IDENTIFY PROPERTY IDENTIFICAR PROPIEDAD

4

TYPOLOGY SELECTION SELECCIÓN DE TIPOLOGÍA

5

$

MODEL EXPLORATION MODELO DE EXPLORACION

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$ ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY VIABILIDAD ECONOMICA

FUNDING FONDOS

ACQUISITION PROCESS PROCESO DE ADQUISICIÓN


COLLECTIVE SURVEY EXPLORACIÓN COLLECTIVA

SOUTH SLOPE

GREENWOOD HEIGHTS

EX PR ES SW AY

FOR SALE AND AUCTION PROPERTIES

GO W AN US

In September 2018, graduate students from the Program Design and Urban Ecologies at The New School in collaboration with Beyond Care Childcare Cooperative surveyed the neighborhood of Sunset Park, searching for vacant lots and buildings for future opportunities to provide an alternative model of cooperative housing for members of Beyond Care and the Latinx community. After collecting data on site, an ownership map was created. This map shows 72 vacant lots and buildings within the neighborhood that are for sale, these properties are owned by individuals, LLC´s and banks.

36 th

ST RE ET

GREENWOOD CEMENTERY

AV EN UE

PROPIEDADES EN VENTA Y SUBASTA 44 th

AV EN UE

SUNSET PARK

AV EN UE 7T H

AV EN UE

8T H

ST RE ET

6T H

ST RE ET

SUNSET PARK

5T H

4T H EX PR ES SW AY GO W AN US

60 th

53 th

ST RE ET

AV EN UE

AV EN UE

2T H

En septiembre de 2018, estudiantes de posgrado del Programa de Diseño y Ecologías Urbanas en The New School en colaboración con Beyond Care Childcare Cooperative examinaron el vecindario de Sunset Park, buscando lotes baldíos y edificios para futuras oportunidades para proporcionar un modelo alternativo de vivienda cooperativa para miembros de Beyond Care y la comunidad Latinx. Después de recopilar datos en el sitio, se creó un mapa de propiedad. Este mapa muestra 72 lotes y edificios vacíos dentro del vecindario que están a la venta, estas propiedades son propiedad de individuos, LLC y bancos.

M3 Zone (heavy industry) Zona M3 (industria pesada) M2 Zone (middle industry) Zona M2 (industria moderada) M1 Zone (light industry Zona M1 (industria ligera) Mixed used Uso Mixto Commercial Comercial For sale properties Propiedades en venta

BAY RIDGE

RT FO

N TO IL AM H

AY W K R PA

BOROUGH PARK


POTENTIAL PROPERTIES PROFILE PÉRFIL DE POSIBLES PROPIEDADES PROPERTY 1 PROPIEDAD 1

PROPERTY 2 PROPIEDAD 2

Type 4 Floor Housing - 8 families Address 615 41st st Brooklyn, NY 11232 Acquisition process For sale Evaluation Good conditions, capacity for +8 families, residential area, infront of park. Vacant. Option to develop A - Multifamily housing, renting a unit as economic component. Tipo 4 pisos vivienda - 8 familias Dirección 615 41st st Brooklyn, NY 11232 Proceso de adquisición En venta Evaluación Buenas condiciones, capacidad + 8 familias, zona residencial, frente al parque. Vacante. Opción a desarrollar A - Vivienda multifamiliar, rentando una unidad como componente económico.

Type Commercial - Industrial Address 265 47 st Brooklyn, NY 11232 Acquisition process For sale Evaluation Regular conditions, good commercial viability, good accesibility, prescence of noise and possible pollution. Prescence of tenant. Option to develop C - Commercial property for rent. Tipo Comercial - Industrial Dirección 265 47 st Brooklyn, NY 11232 Proceso de adquisición En venta Evaluación Condiciones regulares, viable comercialmente, buena accesibilidad, prescencia de ruido y posible contaminación. Cuenta con un inquilino. Opción a desarrollar C - Propiedad comercial para renta.

PROPERTY 3 PROPIEDAD 3

PROPERTY 4 PROPIEDAD 4

Type 3 Floor Mixed commercial and housing - 3 family Address 4812 3rd avenue Brooklyn, NY 11220 Acquisition process For sale Evaluation Bad conditions, capacity for 4 families, industrial area, prescence of noise, pollution and traffic, not safe for kids. Vacant. Option to develop B - Mixed multifamily housing with commercial space, renting the commercial space as economic component. Tipo 3 pisos mixto, comercial y vivienda - 3 familias Dirección 4812 3rd avenue Brooklyn, NY 11220 Proceso de dquisición En venta Evaluación Malas condiciones, capacidad para 4 familias, zona industrial, prescencia de ruido, contaminación y tráfico, no es seguro para niños. Vacante. Opción a desarrollar B - Mixto comercial y vivienda, rentando el espacio comercial como componente económico. Type Commercial - Industrial Address 159 52th Street, Brooklyn, NY Acquisition process Auction Evaluation Good conditions, industrial area, good commercial viability, good accesibility, prescence of noise and possible pollution. Option to develop C - Commercial property for rent. Tipo Comercial - Industrial Dirección 159 52th Street, Brooklyn, NY Proceso de adquisición Subasta Evaluación Bad conditions, zona industrial, viabilidad comercial, buena accesibilidad, prescencia de ruido y posible contaminación. Opción a desarrollar C - Propiedad comercial para renta.


POTENTIAL PROPERTIES PROFILE PERFIL DE POSIBLES PROPIEDADES PROPERTY 5 PROPIEDAD 5

PROPERTY 6 PROPIEDAD 6

Type Multifamily housing Address 229 55th st Brooklyn, NY 11220 Acquisition process For sale Evaluation Excellent conditions, capacity for +8 families, residential area, good commercial viability and accesibility. Vacant. Option to evelop A - Multifamily housing, renting a unit as economic component. Tipo 4 pisos vivienda multifamiliar Dirección 229 55th st Brooklyn, NY 11220 Proceso de Adquisición En venta Evaluación Excelentes condiciones, capacidad para +8 familias, zona residencial, viabilidad comercial y buena accesibilidad. Vacante. Opción a desarrollar A - Vivienda multifamiliar, rentando una unidad como componente económico.

Type 2 Buildings - 3 Floor Housing - 2 family (per building) Address 342 and 344 58th St, Brooklyn, NY 11220 Acquisition process For sale Evaluation Regular conditions, capacity for 6 families, good accesibility. Vacant Option to develop A - Multifamily housing, renting a unit as economic component. Tipo 2 edificios- 3 pisos para dos familias (por edificio) Dirección 342 and 344 58th St, Brooklyn, NY 11220 Proceso de adquisición En venta Evaluación Condiciones regulares, capacidad para 6 familias, buena accesibilidad, vacante. Opción a desarrollar A - Vivienda multifamiliar, rentando una unidad como componente económico.

PROPERTY 7 PROPIEDAD 7

PROPERTY 8 PROPIEDAD 8

Type 3 Floor Multifamily - 6 family Address 350 63rd street, Brooklyn, NY 11220 Acquisition process For sale Evaluation Regular conditions, capacity for 6 families, residential area, good accesibility and safe. Not vacant. Option to develop A - Multifamily housing, renting a unit as economic component. Tipo 3 pisos - Vivienda multifamiliar - 6 Familias Dirección 350 63rd street, Brooklyn, NY 11220 Proceso de adquisición Venta Evaluación Condiciones regulares, capacidad para +6 familias, zona residencial, buena accesibilidad y seguro. No esta vacante. Opción a desarrollar A - Vivienda multifamiliar, rentando una unidad como componente económico.

Type 3 Floor Mixed commercial and housing - 3 family Address 6120 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220 Acquisition process For sale Evaluation Good conditions, capacity for +4 families, commercial corridor, high commercial viability, prescence of noise and traffic. Vacant. Option to develop B - Mixed multifamily housing with commercial space, renting the commercial space as economic component. Tipo 3 pisos mixto, comercial y vivienda - 3 familias Dirección 6120 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220 Proceso de adquisición en venta Evaluación Buenas condiciones, capacidad +4 familias, corredor comercial, prescencia de traffico y ruido. Vacante. Opción a desarrollar B - Mixto comercial y vivienda, rentando el espacio comercial como componente económico.


POTENTIAL PROPERTIES PROFILE PERFIL DE POSIBLES PROPIEDADES PROPERTY 9 PROPIEDAD 9

PROPERTY 10 PROPIEDAD 10

Type 5 floor - Multifamily housing Address 738 59 st Brooklyn, NY 11220 Acquisition process For sale by bank Evaluation Regular conditions, capacity for +8 families, residential area, good accesibility. Not vacant. Option to develop A - Multifamily housing, renting a unit as economic component. Tipo 5 pisos - vivienda multifamiliar Dirección 738 59 st Brooklyn, NY 11220 Proceso de adquisición En venta por banco Evaluación Condiciones regulares, capacidad +8 familias, zona residencial, buena accesibilidad. No vacante. Opción a desarrollar A - Vivienda multifamiliar, rentando una unidad como componente económico.

Type 3 Floor Housing - 4 families) Address 832 57 st Brooklyn, NY 11220 Acquisition process Future sale Evaluation Under construction, capacity for +8 families, good accesibility. Option to develop A - Multifamily housing, renting a unit as economic component. Tipo 3 pisos - vivienda multifamiliar - 8 familias Dirección 832 57 st Brooklyn, NY 11220 Proceso de adquisición En venta (futuro) Evaluación En construcción, capacidad para +8 familias, buena accesibilidad y seguridad. Opción a desarrollar A - Vivienda multifamiliar, rentando una unidad como componente económico.

PROPERTY 11 PROPIEDAD 11

PROPERTY 12 PROPIEDAD 12

Type Commercial Address 736 39th Street, Brooklyn, NY Acquisition process Auction and for sale Evaluation Regular conditions, high commercial viability, good accesibility and safe. Not vacant. Option to develop C - Commercial property for rent. Tipo Comercial Dirección 736 39th Street, Brooklyn, NY Proceso de adquisición Subasta y en venta Evaluación Condiciones regulares, alta viabilidad comercial, buena accesibilidad y seguridad. No vacante. Opción a desarrollar C - Propiedad comercial para renta.

Type Commercial + lot Address 420 39th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232 Acquisition process For sale Evaluation Bad conditions, high commercial viability, prescence of noise and traffic. Vacant. Option to develop C - Commercial property for rent. Tipo Comercial + tierra Dirección 420 39th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232 Proceso de adquisición En venta Evaluación Malas condiciones, alta viabilidad comercial, prescencia de ruido y tráfico. Vacante. Opción a desarrollar C - Propiedad comercial para renta.


SELECTED PROPERTY FOR COHAB PROPIEDAD ELEGIDA PARA COHAB

SOUTH SLOPE

GREENWOOD HEIGHTS

GO W AN US

EX PR ES SW AY

Industry City

36 th

ST RE ET

GREENWOOD CEMENTERY

12

44 th

3

53 th

EX PR ES SW AY

6

AV EN UE

7

60 th

SUNSET PARK

ST RE ET

8

7T H

GO W AN US

Dirección: 615 St. Brooklyn, NY11232 Año de construcción: 1923 Condiciones: regulares (se necesita rehabilitación)

AV EN UE

EDIFICIO MULTIFAMILIAR

ST RE ET

9 BAY RIDGE

BOROUGH PARK

6T H

Address: 615 St. Brooklyn, NY11232 Year of construction: 1923 Conditions: regular (rehabilitation needed)

11

SUNSET PARK

AV EN UE

MULTIFAMILY BUILDING

1

5T H

4T H

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ST RE ET

AV EN UE

AV EN UE

2T H

4

8T H

AV EN UE

2

10 RT FO

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COHAB MULTIFAMILY HOUSING VIVIENDA MULTIFAMILIAR COHAB CHARACTERISTICS

CARACTERÍSTICAS

CAPACITY

CAPACIDAD

Lot area: 3,005 sqFt Gross Flor Area: 7,049 sqft Lot front: 30ft / Lot depth: 100.17ft Zoning: R6B

8 to 10 families - 8 units (option for 2 units on basement) Community spaces: backyard garden.

ACQUISITION PROCESS For sale Ownership: individual

COST OF ACQUISITION

Property value: $4,599,000.00 Estimate cost of land: $901,500.00 Estimate cost of building: $3,697,500.00

COST OF REHABILITATION

Estimate cost: $352,400.00 ($50 per sqft)

EST. TOTAL COST $4,951,400.00

Area de lote: 3,005 sqFt Superficie de suelo: 7,049 sqft Frente de lote: 30ft / Profundidad de lote: 100.17ft Uso del suelo: R6B

8 a 10 familias - 8 unidades ( con posibilidad a 2 unidades más en el sótano) Espacios comunitario: jardín trasero

PROCESO DE ADQUISICIÓN En venta Propietario: privado

COSTO DE ADQUISICIÓN

Valor de la propiedad: $4,599,000.00 Costo estimado del lote: $901,500.00 Costo estimado del edificio: $3,697,500.00

COSTO DE LA REHABILITACIÓN Costo estimado: $352,400.00($50 por sqft)

COSTO TOTAL EST. $ 4,951,400.00

PROGRAMMATIC EXPLORATION

This plot of land woulddeveloped and leased out. the economy generated from this commercial outlet would be used to invest in a mixed use building ( commercial+residential). Some of the hosuing units from this can also be rented out at market rate to maintain the building and aso accumalate capitalvover time. Over a period of time the capital would suffice to invest in a completely esidential unit. This can continue to a perrinial cycle of ownership acquisition.

PROGRAMMATIC EXPLORATION

This plot of land woulddeveloped and leased out. the economy generated from this commercial outlet would be used to invest in a mixed use building ( commercial+residential). Some of the hosuing units from this can also be rented out at market rate to maintain the building and aso accumalate capitalvover time. Over a period of time the capital would suffice to invest in a completely esidential unit. This can continue to a perrinial cycle of ownership acquisition.

COMPLETE OWNERSHIP AND OCCUPANCY BY BEYOND CARE Entire plot to be acquired and occupied by beyond care

COMPLETE OWNERSHIP AND 6 UNITS TO BE OCCUPIED BY BC AND 3 UNITS RENTED OUT AT MARKET RATE 6 Units to be occupied by beyond care and 2 units to be rented out at market rate

CURRENT OWNER BECOME CO-SHAREHOLDERS OF 2 UNITS AND COMMUNITY SPACE BELOW


10 UNITS FOR BEYOND CARE (NO ECONOMIC COMPONENT) COST OF LAND

$901,500.00 Fundraising - Crowdfounding CD7 - Discretionary funds Mixteca - Center For Family Life - CUSP - Finnish Coops

BUILDING REHABILITATION

6 UNITS FOR BEYOND CARE 2 MARKET RATE APPARTMENT FOR RENT 1 MARKET RATE STUDIO FOR RENT COMMUNITY MEETING SPACE FOR RENT COST OF LAND

$901,500.00 Fundraising - Crowdfounding CD7 - Discretionary funds Mixteca - Center For Family Life - CUSP - Finnish Coops

BUILDING REHABILITATION

$352,400.00 Labor support between cooperatives + Material´s donation

$352,400.00 Labor support between cooperatives + Material´s donation

BUILDING COST

BUILDING COST

$3,697,500.00

$3,697,500.00

10 Families - $ 1,000 per appartment/monthly

6 Families - $ 1,000 per appartment/monthly + 2 appartments market rate - $2,600 per appartment/monthly + 1 studio market rate - $1,200 per appartment/monthly

$120,000.00 yearly 30 years mortgage Mortgage / Loan I-TIN products (Individual tax identification number) 30 year fixed rate Banks: Alterra Home Loans, Quontic Banks, The Latino Commmunity Credit Unit

COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE

Community garden open to the community

6 UNITS FOR BEYOND CARE 2 CURRENT OWNER 2 MARKET BASEMENT APPARTMENTS FOR RENT CURRENT OWNER AS SHAREHOLDER

Investment equivalent of 2 appartments - $618,925.00 Fundraising - Crowdfounding CD7 - Discretionary funds Mixteca - Center For Family Life - CUSP - Finnish Coops

BUILDING REHABILITATION

$352,400.00 Labor support between cooperatives + Material´s donation

BUILDING COST $3,697,500.00

$148,000.00 yearly

6 Families - $ 1,000 per appartment/monthly + 2 app(basement) market rate - $2,000 per app/monthly $120,000.00 yearly

25 years mortgage

30 years mortgage

Mortgage / Loan I-TIN products (Individual tax identification number) 30 year fixed rate Banks: Alterra Home Loans, Quontic Banks, The Latino Commmunity Credit Unit

Mortgage / Loan I-TIN products (Individual tax identification number) 30 year fixed rate Banks: Alterra Home Loans, Quontic Banks, The Latino

COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE

Community garden open to the community

Commmunity Credit Unit

COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE

Community garden open to the community


MS DESIGN AND URBAN ECOLOGIES MC DISEÑO Y ECOLOGIAS URBANAS

2018


Strengthening Social Resilience in Red Hook Encouraging Intergenerational Dialogue and Storytelling


Brooklyn - Queens Waterfront Sandy Super Storm Demographic Data Green Infrastructure Peacemaking Program

Red Hook

Environmental Justice

Food scape Dialogue and Storytelling

Strenghthening Social Resilience Social Cohesion Funding

Restorative Justice Intergeneretional Conflict

Sandy Super Storm Social Housing Geographical Isolation

Vulnerability Climate Change

Our neighborhood of focus is Red Hook, Brooklyn. The neighborhood is burdened by historic and ongoing forms of systemic disinvestment and social vulnerabilities, including geographic isolation and climaterelated risks. At the same time, Red Hook has a strong working network of communitybased organizations (CBOs), grassroots organizations and community initiatives. Early on in our research process, we quickly learned that organizations and residents feel that Red Hook is “overstudied” by student and research groups. Through primary and secondary research, our insights have also revealed that Red Hook suffers from various forms of violence—both internal forms of violence within the neighborhood and external forms being inflicted through various systems and institutions—that result in conflict. One of the

primary areas of concern expressed by each of our interviewees is that of intergenerational conflict. Recognizing the ongoing state of environmental risk, social vulnerabilities and internal conflict that Red Hook residents live within, in tandem with the existing strength of ongoing social initiatives, we use these as points of departure in order to ground our understanding of Red Hook. Through our design proposal, we aim to address intergenerational conflict through the design of a facilitation tool that will encourage intergenerational dialogue, promote healing, elevate personal and collective identities, repair and restore relationships and enhance existing social capacity and agency within Red Hook.


Social Resilience Working Definition Social resilience in the context of Red Hook as defined by community members and stakeholders whom we have interviewed is the capacity for the neighborhood, residents, and stakeholders to be actively engaged in regenerative processes during times of stability; prepared, organized, and responsive during a disaster, and activelyinvolvedintheprocessofrecoveryandhealingpost-disaster. As a community, there is a vested interest in resolving underlying community issues and resulting conflict in order to increase cohesion and connectedness in order to become more socially resilient.


Red Hook Red Hook is a neighborhood located in Southeast Brooklyn that has experienced historical disinvestment and geographical isolation as a result of the elevated Gowanus Expressway and limited availability of access to public transportation.1 Red Hook is dominated by public housing NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority); of the 14,000 residents, 62% live in NYCHA’s Red Hook Houses, Red Hook East, and Red Hook West, which are the largest public housing development in Brooklyn and second largest in New York City. Of Red Hook’s 4,675 households, 2,876 are NYCHA apartments. 2

Red Hook Community Justice Center

Red Hook Farms

Red Hook Library

NYCHA Bu

As we can observe in the illustration map Red Hook has a great number of resources that support the community with places to organize, mobilize and advocate.

Lee, Cynthia G., Fred L. Cheesman, David R. Rotman, Rachel Swaner, Suvi Lambson, Mike Rempel, and Ric Curtis. A COMMUNITY COURT GROWS IN BROOKLYN: A COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION OF THE RED HOOK COMMUNITY JUSTICE CENTER. Report. National Center for State Courts. Accessed April 20, 2019. https:// www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/documents/RH Evaluation Final Report.pdf. 1

NYC Population FactFinder. Accessed April 24, 2019. https:// popfactfinder.planning.nyc.gov/profile/1649/demographic. 2

Red Hook Farms


Manhattan

Dumbo

Red Hook Initiative

uildings

Joseph Miccio Community Center

Red Hook Recreation Center

Red Hook Gowanus

Sunset Park


Red Hook While looking further in the census data, we note that in this neighborhood predominantly composed by NYCHA developments, 38% of the households receive food stamps SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs), and 30% of households are female-led without a husband present. When analyzing the data through time we see an area with a relatively steady population; however, we notice a 32% increase in the population above 60 years old when comparing the five-year periods of 2006-2010 and 2012-2016 (NYC Population FactFinder). During the same period, the number of food stamp recipients increased by 29%.

Highlights 2012-2016

31%

Female Housholder No Husband Present, Family

38%

Households with Food Stamp/SNAP Benefits

62%

Households Living in NYCHA Buildings

28%

Household Income of Less than $10,000


Demographic trends 56%

56% 13% 2012-2016

2006-2010

31% Age Demographics Under 19 years

Gender Male

From 20 to 59 years

60 years and over

2006-2010 45%

Female

is the growth of the tier of elderly population (60+) in Red Hook

27%

2006-2010 55%

17%

32%

57%

43%

Source Source: Data2go.nyc and Propulation Fact Finder


Red Hook History of Inequality and Disinvestment The caption calls to mind another use of “marginal”- or “marginalized”- as a way to describe people who have been pushed to the margins or edges of society, excluded from full participation in the dominant culture, noting the “few ramshackle dwellings of squatters and mountains of junk” currently occupying the space.

Late 1600

Agricultural ecology

1800

Industrial Ecology

EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION

PORT BUILDING ALONG THE COAST

Dutch Immigrants arrive and settle on the low lying land,The name comes from the Dutch “Roode Hoek,” meaning “red point,” for its red clay soil and the shape of the land

Transforming the agricultural landscape into an industrial one in a post-slavery economy relied on a low paid immigrant workforce, originally of Irish descent. In the 1840s, entrepreneurs began to build ports

1900 Post Industrial Ecology

GOWANUS EXPRESSWA

Robert Moses is known to have contributed to the vanishment o Red Hook Lane with his compl of Gowanus Expressway, which created a barrier between Carrol Gardens and Red Hook. In the 1930s, the area was poor, a the site of the current Red Hoo Houses was the site of a shack ci the homeless, called a “Hoovervi


AY

e of letion

ll

and ok ity for ille

Red Hook is the low-rent neighborhood in the area,” said Chin, a real estate agent. “We used to have the highest concentration of legal and illegal trash transfer stations in the city. If you were in Red Hook, all you could smell was garbage.” “It’s the poor neighborhood that’s getting dumped on. And who lives here? A whole lot of African-Americans and Latinos. I don’t think this is overtly racial, but there is an environmental justice issue here.

2000

Post Depression Welfare NYCHA

REDLINING

Red Hook East andRed Hook West (known as the Red Hook Houses), were completed in 1955 andprovided much needed low-income housing in the area with a total of 2,878apartments, some as high as 14 oors The Red Hook Houses are the secondlargest public housing complexes in New York State and among the largest in the country

1950 Recession DISINVESTMENT Nycha became a victim of disinvestment as all levels of government steered billions of dollars away from the agency. The housing authority’s operating de cits and mounting costs to maintain and renovate its aging 2,462 buildings quickly impacted living conditions.

2010

2018

Post Disaster Ecology IKEA HURRICANE SANDY

In Red Hook, that began with the installation of an interim ood barrier along Beard Street, and will grow to include a more permanent, $100 million Integrated Flood Protection System for the neighborhood. At the same time, Red Hook Houses are being repaired and renovated as part of the $3 billion the Federal Emergency Management Agency has allocated to New York to shore up the city’s housing projects, which were badly damaged by Sandy.


Post Sandy Recovery Physical Infrastructure Investments On the one hand, we observe that a majority of both private and public investments in post-Sandy recovery have been focused on rehabilitating and improving physical infrastructure—75% of public investment was directed towards improving damages to physical infrastructure, with a focus on the repairs of Red Hook East and Red Hook West NYCHA developments. These are expected to be completed by 2021. Investments were also directed towards improving coastal infrastructure and implementing flood prevention measures.

$360 Million

Total public funding in Red Hook post SANDY

75%

of the total disaster recovery funding in Redhook is toward housing reconstruction

‘Disasters expose system weakness’ Morrish, 2008


Symptoms of Conflict

MAYOR’S OFFICE BUILDING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

RED HOOK COMMUNITY JUSTICE CENTER

INTERVIEW March 27th

TAMARA GREENFIELD Deputy Executive Director, Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety & Building Healthy Communities “people dont report crimes/ “Crime is way down in the city but some neighborhoods still do not trust the police (...) there is a need to recalibrate this relationship”

INTERVIEW April 5th

AMANDA BERMAN Project Director Red Hook Community Justice Center

RESEARCH OF HISTORICAL DIVESTMENT AND ISOLATION IN RED HOOK

On the other hand, from our interviews with Tamara Greenfield from the Mayor’s office of Building Healthy Communities and Amanda Burden from the non-profit Community Justice Center, we observe that there are symptoms of both an internal and external conflict taking place in the Red Hook community. Greenfield also mentions that the youth often claims to not feel represented by the elderly who lead the tenants associations.

Describes the Peacemaking Program for disputes between neighbors from the NYCHA developments.

Even though violence and crime have waned in the neighborhood, the community is still fearful of the police, and there are frequently various forms of internal conflict between neighbors in Red Hook East and West. These facts resonate with the previous findings indicating the neighborhood isolation and historical divestment.


CBO’s and Community Based on a community health survey conducted in winter of 2018 by the Red Hook Community Health Needs and Assets Assessment (CHNAA) team, the community of Red Hook self identified their greatest strength as their community based organizations (CBOs) with an overall of 39% (out of 585 residents and workers of Red Hook). Grassroots CBOs and non-profits play a vital role in interfacing with residents, representing community voices, advocating for community needs, and providing a space where historically marginalized or underrepresented communities can build social networks, social capital, and social resilience. According to Tarry Hum, Professor and Chair of Queens College’s Department of Urban Studies, “The key institutions that engage multiple publics and advance community capacity to participate in technical planning and land-use debates are not community boards but rather grassroots community-based Organizations.” Community-based, grass-roots and non-profit organizations often fill the gaps of representation in planning processes and decisions with local impact. There are a number of community-based organizations (CBOs) in Red Hook that actively address environmental and social injustices in the neighborhood, including Red Hook Initiative, Red Hook Farms, Resilient Red Hook, and the Red Hook Community Justice Center, among many others. Together, these CBOs address a number of social

issues, such as food justice, environmental justice, community development, youth empowerment, legal justice, and education. We envision efforts to amplify capacity and strengthen social resilience in Red Hook will require the continued proactive cooperation, collaboration, and engagement among existing organizations and residents. According to Amanda Berman, Project Director at the Red Hook Community Justice Center, social resilience in Red Hook requires a collective effort to move towards connectedness and cohesion within the community through various processes such as restorative justice initiatives.

Community Leaders

Fifth Av. Committee

Leadership

Restorative Justice

Food Sovereignty Red Hook Community Justice Center

Youth Empowerment Red Hook Initiative

Red Hook Farms

Miccio Community Center

Community Justice

Community Health

Education


Social Resilience “Social resilience is something that naturally occurred in Red Hook. I think it was there and they didn’t know it was there until Sandy....We were working together across gender, across color, across religion, and across class.”

Karen Blondel Environmental Organizer, Fifth Avenue Committee Long-Term Resident of Red Hook West

“We think about social resilience in terms of connectedness and cohesion within the community and we think communities are safer and stronger and more resilient when there is this sense of cohesion, when people are able to respond to the needs of one another, that people are looking out for one another, and that people see others within their community as a resource and a source of support.”

“Social resiliency is a long-term game, it is not a quick fix...it is to invest long-term in the capacity of local organizations to do what they do, build the relationships and networks.”

Amanda Berman Project Director, Red Hook Community Justice Center

Tamara Greenfield Deputy Executive Director, MAPS & Building Healthy Communities


Vision Our vision is to strengthen social resilience in Red Hook by encouraging intergenerational dialogue. In partnership with community leaders and workshop facilitators such as Karen Blondel, our facilitation tool can be integrated into community workshops to serve as a groundbreaker. With repeated use, of the tool will become equipped with language, skills, collective stories and shared knowledge that will encourage increased empathy across generations, promoting a form of conflict resolution.

“We need to Some of them know, sexua we have to fi real peacem gotta find pe within your


“If y’all want to do some peacemaking, peacemake between the elderly, the older group and the younger group, because they need to talk. We [the elders] have the information, but y’all [the youth] have the resiliency as far as the physical, the possibilities. We have to be able to pass this on, but there’s some kind of disconnect there.”

o have those conversations. m are painful to talk about, you ality, gender preferences. But find a way. If you want to be a maker, those are the places you eace. You have to find peace family, your community.”

Karen Blondel, 2019


When we examine Red Hook, we see 3 layers that are at play. First, there is structural and historical divestment: Neighborhood redlining (1930’s), The completion of the Gowanus Expressway that isolates this area from the rest of the neighborhood (1960’s) , leaving NYCHA developments more geographically and socially isolated from the rest of the city. Second, we observe from our interviews that people do not trust the police and that conflicts are frequent among NYCHA residents: 30% female-led households without husbands also suggests that this abcence can result from male arrests. In spite of a relatively stable population, the elderly (60+) have grown 32% in a ten-year span. This generational statistic gap has been confirmed by the intergenerational gap exposed interviewees as a social issue. Our design intervention envisions to mitigate this gap. By harnessing the already existing resilient resources within the community we envision a tool kit, Let’s Talk, to create a space for conversations between generations. The already exisitng peacemaking program run by Red Hook Community Justice Centre and the workshops run by Karen Blondel act as focal resources within the community. By building on them, we envision an impact within tenant organsations, community boards, environmental justice groups in Red Hook.

St r

Moving Strings isinvest me al D r u nt t Red uc Flood zone

NYCHA

Lining

Repairs post SANDY expects completion in 2025

Geographic isolation Gowanus expressway

CONTEXT

Community Board 6

IMPACT


ptoms Sym

nt response e r r u C MICCIO

NYCHA structural issue

Incarceration rate

Center

29% more food STAMPS between 2006-2016

31% of Female-led households

Fifthe Avenue Committee

RHC JC Red Hook Farms

Red Hook U Initiative UPROSE

LET’S TALK

NYCHA

Baby Boomers and Millenials

Tenant organizations Environment Justice Groups led by Karen

An alternative pedagological material


Material for Alternative Pedagogy


We propose a facilitation tool that promotes healing, elevates personal and collective identities, repairs and restores relationships, and enhances social capacity. This tool achieves this through dialogue, storytelling, conversation, listening, affirming, sharing, and aspiration.


:

Ele v

ve ne

d

te a re

By building values such as elevating personal identity, co-creating a just future, instilling agency and repairing relationships through a set of actions; our users set forth on a selfdiscovering journey of care and sharing resources.

Future a Just

These questions need to be addressed proactively. Our tool kit aims to bring forth these conversations among community members;, especially the older and younger generation. We believe the asset that individuals within a community carry should we shared by bringing recognition to the resources.

o C

:A t r o p

How do we talk to our community in times of need? Who do we reach out to during crisis situation? How do we seek help?

i n u m

p

Our toolkit addresses social resiliency in Red Hook through a set of value building, actions, and learning outcomes. Through a practice based workshopping we envision our values to build an almost muscle memory form of social resiliency.

intergen g n era ildi u tio b na e e S e : r k s H n e o lc lp : tu esti u I u n om Q f ter sk

Values

ity le Values Actions Desirable outcomes


increase in

ies t i t n e Id

Res tor e

:I m

Re

s ov hip pr ns tio la

va te

on

Instill Ag e n cy

SOCIAL RESILIENCE

in

r e d

:C om

Y

elf rs ou

o-

urage em p a t h enco y t : Mobilize : en Ide nize m n rga tify :O ge e

soc n o i ial t a P r o : t e p c U t :T en ic ak e r a p nsf ga : S o t r n m Repair & fro

C

u n Stories : Af r m ni hare L i s : S tio ten te : uc ca i C r o u m S o mu un nd Y n a i m ty al conf lict ern int

c o m m


Components & Users I AM...

I AM...

my story

The Story I would like to share with you all about red hook is...

Let’s Talk! is a facilitation tool to be used at community workshops and gatherings led by a facilitator, such as Karen Blondel. As a community leader, organizer, and long-time resident of Red Hook, Karen facilitates, leads and particiaptes in various workshops focusing on environmental justice, open mic performances, civics, and political education. These workshops typically run for about 2 hours and start with establishing community principles and team-building groundbreakers Let’s Talk! is designed to serve as a groundbreaker activity that can be used over multiple sessions in order to embed the values, principles, and actions. After repeated use, participants will become equipped with the language, skills, collective stories and shared knowledge that will encourage increased empathy across generations, promoting a form of conflict resolution.


ACTION

VALUE

resources The Resource cards provide the group with tangible people and places who can support the individual and the community in addressing the story or situation in order to achieve their desired outcome. There are some suggested resources in the deck. Feel free to add more as you go; you know your community best!

Teens Age 8-13

+

Adults Age 30-40

+

Elders Age +60

+

Facilitator


Step-By-Step Round 1 : 2 minutes I am... Time I am cards Participants will receive an I Am card to draw a picture of themselves (inside the circle), and provide 1 - 3 statements about their identity (it could be words or a drawing). After finishing the I Am cards, participants will switch the card with the person next to them. Each person will share each other’s I Am card to the rest of the group. 30 secs to 1 min per person Round 2 : 3 minutes The Story I want to share with you... My Story cards “Participants will receive a My Story card to share a story of their experience living in Red Hook. Stories can be personal or something they have witnessed. It can describe a conflict or a challenge. Participants should feel free to share as little or as much as they feel comfortable with.”

After one person finishes sharing their story, the whole group will take one minute to reflect in silence. 1 min for reflection (per person) After reflection, there will be a quick round within the group to acknowledge the stories that were shared. It could be a thought, feeling a statement. 1 minute per round This process will be repeated for each participant. Round 3 : (5 to 10 minutes) Explore stories Action cards One story will be chosen by the group for further exploration. Value cards 1 Value card and 1 Action card will be chosen. These cards will serve as a guide for the exploration. (facilitators will make a call to give more or less time, depending on the group dynamic)

Round 4: (5 to 10 minutes) Resource Cards Share, reflect and acknowledge each other’s stories. (1 min to share the story) Each participant will have one minute to share their story with the group. The participant who is sharing should be the only person speaking, and the rest of the group focusses on listening.

Using the action cards, value cards, resource cards and active conversation as tools, participants will reflect together on how to move from the current situation into a desired situation or outcome for the individual and the community.


Learning Outcomes I AM... Story + Value + Action + Resource = Desirable Outcome

Encourage Empathy Increase in Social Engagement Preparation for Addressing Conflict Community-Led Future Building Intergenerational Communication


Phases of Development Design Phase

Prototype

Disseminate

Iterative Process

Feedback

Revise

Meet with Karen

Incorporate feedback to revise prototype

Let’s Talk! is currently a working prototype. We imagine introducing our prototype to our community partner, Karen, and receiving feedback on how and where to improve our design. After a revision process, we will test our prototype at a community workshop facilitated by Karen. This will provide the opportunity to receive feedback from community members who will interact and engage with the tool. After a further revision phase, we hope to connect with other organizations, institutions, and community leaders who can benefit from the proposed learning outcomes of the tool. Taking our proposal further in the future, we would like to design a second phase that will include a way to collect the shared stories to promote further agency and action amongst community members in addressing the internal and external conflict and systemic violence.

Test

Attend a community workshop together with Karen to test the tool and receive community feedback

Refine

Using the community feedback from the test, revise and refine the working prototype

Connect

Connect with potential partners and users of the facilitation tool



Exploring political capacities of bureaucratic Map legends in Mumbai


Maps as boundary objects Existing bureaucratic tools in Mumbai, India

This was to help build a larger city wide move-

allow for a hegemonic system of urban devel-

ment

opment, and any contestations are catego-

Adhikar Samiti (Organization for the Rights of

rized along dyadic categories, such as legal/

Uprooted Laboring People). Most of their documen-

illegal . Mumbai does not recognize thirteen

tation was lost due to loot by developers and natural

million of it’s living population; the city re-

calamities like floods. However, such acts provoke

gards them as Illegal . (India Census. 2011).

the imbued power that lies within archiving count-

The main goal of my thesis is to understand

er narratives for settlements that occupy the unin-

and codify emerging forms of knowledge

tended cities - a term Jai Sen, the lead of the project,

produced through everyday resistance to au-

coined to describe the mapped geography. Similar

thoritarian housing and land rights policies

contemporary attempts were made in 2017 by the

by sixty percent of the population . Dyadic

Missing Basti Project in Delhi by Swati Janu(Coordi-

“Boundary objects are everywhere, but the

terms like Legal and Illegal, or Informal and

nator of the CEPT Winter School). This project used

concept is especially important in the ethno-

Formal, are used in the current discourses of

digital medium to collect narratives of displace-

graphic analysis of cooperation and issues of

citizenship and land rights in urban In-

ment and evictions not only through maps but also

infrastructure….. Even people who strongly dis-

dia. State-institutions like the ‘Slum’ Re-

through a collection of timelines, newspaper articles

habilitation Authority use these dyads to

and sketched memories of the evicted population. A

map neighborhoods, grab land, and allow

continuing attempt to collect public narratives has

changes are stabilized, boundary objects de-

global real estate markets to speculative-

been made by a citizens collective called the Hamara

velop facilitating heterogeneous cooperation.”

ly invest over these areas. This process dis-

Shehar Mumbai Abhiyan (My City Mumbai Alliance)

places

low-income

since 2012 to better inform the development plan

communities, and severely degrades the

for 2034 proposed by the city authorities in Mumbai.

environment,

Between

and

disenfranchises a

phenomenon

analogous

called

the

2014-2017,

Chhinnamul

I

documented

Sramajibi

agree on theoretical matters come to refer to the tool in a similar fashion, and it provides a lingua franca for exchanges. Where these ex-

‘informal’

to urban renewal programs between 1949-

neighbourhoods and native coastal communi-

1979 in America. ( Mena Report. 2015 )

ties in Mumbai facing displacement, as an architecture student in Mumbai University and

This was to help build a larger city wide move-

This was to help build a larger city wide

Is it possible to shift the dyadic nature

as a project manager at Mumbai

ment

Sramajibi

movement called the Chhinnamul Sramajibi

of

ment

urban think tank

Adhikar Samiti (Organization for the Rights of

Adhikar Samiti (Organization for the Rights of

bai to be more nuanced and diversified?

studying settlements and mobility in Mumbai.

Uprooted Laboring People). Most of their doc-

Uprooted Laboring People). Most of their

Between

organisation

The studied communities were in the processes of

umentation was lost due to loot by develop-

documentation was lost due to loot by devel-

called Unnayan prepared maps that locat-

developing newer forms of co-operatives and cit-

ers and natural calamities like floods. Howev-

opers and natural calamities like floods. How-

ed and detailed settlements in East Kolkata

izen groups to gain access to housing. However,

er, such acts provoke the imbued power that

ever, such acts provoke the imbued power

that were blanked out in official and com-

the practices they followed remain unknown ur-

lies within archiving counter narratives for

that lies within archiving counter narratives

mercial maps.(Sen, The Unintended City).

ban knowledge because of the dyadic categories

settlements that occupy the unintended cit-

for settlements that occupy the unintended

that the State uses to identify the neighbourhoods.

ies - a term Jai Sen, the lead of the project,

cities - a term Jai Sen, the lead of the project,

coined to describe the mapped geography.

coined to describe the mapped geography.

socio-spatial

imaginaries

1978-1986

an

in

Mum-

Social

Network, an

Environ-

called

the

Chhinnamul


Why understanding map legend is critical at this point? The contestation over land and housing

Last month (Spetember 2019), the city cut down

rights is deeply tied to broader ecological

around 2000 trees in the center of the city in Aarey

threats and national political suppressions in

forest to build a new Metro line car shed and any

Mumbai.

resistance was severely . Coastal regulations and environmental zones are being violated and highways

Consider the case of the Koli community -

are being built against Supreme Court decisions to

indigenous fishing villages along the coast

protect coastal ecology. Thus recent development

of Mumbai. The fisher’s village is intrinsically

indicates a market-driven frenzy to capture the land

tied to the marine ecology and thus protect-

value and exhausting the environmental ecology of

ed by the coastal regulation zones, which do

Mumbai.

not permit any builder led development in these urban villages.

A counter act would be to read Mumbai’s beauraucratic mapping legacies and legend to develop

In 2012, the State released development plans

newer forms representation or for future making.

for 2034, where the coastal regulations were

condemned including imprisonment for environ-

eased citing that the occupation in these vil-

mental activists.

lages was slowly fading. Now the land was made available by the state for development. This caused a mass furor by the Koli community, who started surveying land to mark demarcate their community boundaries on city survey maps- separating itself from the expanding peripheral neighborhoods. Laws were changed to mark Koli communities as “ Urban villages” - legal settlement and the newer immigrant neighborhoods as “Slum”-illegal settlement. In protecting itslef the Koli community reinforced the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the local right-wing Shiv Sena Party (Venkatraman. 2015) and of the national Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) furthering discrimination based on caste, religion and ethnic identities. It is thus critical at this moment to develop an counter-mapping narrative in Mumbai.


Eary 15th Century Portugse Rule

Colonial mapping legacies Mumbai was an archipelago of seven islands under the Gujarat Sultanate surrounded by the Arabian Sea, resided on by native fishing ‘Koli’ and ‘Agri’ communities as early as the 15th century. Between the 16th and 17th, it was invaded by Portuguese to form a naval and military base to colonize and trade spices to the southeast Asia inland. By 1734, the Dutch invaded to establish Dutch East India Company, building fortresses and enclaves on the islands. Exiting the Portuguese rule, Bombay was transferred as a Dowry to the British, who ruled the island between the late 17th and 19th Centuries. The British East India Company massively began reclaiming the land (expanding the land base by infill), expanding its trade out of Bombay port. The earliest available maps of Mumbai are under the Portuguese rule, they are nautical maps to show trade routes to Bombaim- a Portuguese name. With a rapid imperial expansion in the late 18th century, maps of Bombay were made to highlight territorial holdings categorized as -‘British owned’, ‘Under British influence’ and free land. Rapid industrialization with the textile trade influenced demarcations of commercial areas, banks, and churches in maps and establishment of railway routes into the inland- making land reclamation a major investment. The trend of land expansion through infill continues to this day. The most recent development map-projected as a planning tool for the forthcoming two decades promises 4700 acres of new land for development.

Nautical depictions for trade routes and commodities

16th Century Dutch Invasion Nautical maps for planning of colonial settlement

17th Century British East India Company

Colonial settler and expansion- Mapping hinterland

18th Century

Details of streets and colonial amenities for surveillience of native communities

18th Century

Markings of “british ruled”, “british influenced” and “british-free land”- Map making for reclaiming land to expand colonial base.

Images courtesy: Harvad’s Urban Imaginary course; Maps are from Harvard archives


Post Independence Development Plans by Municipal Corporations in Mumbai


Three generations of future making by Municipal Corporation in Mumbai The three maps by Municipal coraporation

It is claimed that by 1984 , the 1967 development

document the aspirations of Mumbai overt the

map only acheived 18% of its set agenda. Howev-

years. I was extremely curious about the first

er the reponse to these reponse were drastic. By

development map of Mumbai, Bombay then.

1991, the development map had few more coded

After an extensiuve search I found a copy of the

layers. The residencies were divided by type, the

Development Map 1967 report at the Bobst Li-

open space by the category and the commercial

brary. This book documented in detail the the

space by the types work sector.

indices used to measure development and the need to establish a critique of colonial history.

In addition to the types within the categories,

For eg: it says that the world wart II had massive

the maps also included floor space index and

effect on the geography of Bombay. It states

transfer of development rights coded into the

that the “ squatter” population increased by

map. This could have also been a response to the

600% after the world. Thus establishing a need

massive density increase in Mumbai post emer-

to reclaim more land to house the increasing

gency period.

population. The floor space index would tell a map reader The report also has an entire section dedicated

how much area could be built on a single plot of

to slum clearnances - a practiced policy under

land. The transfer of develpment rights gave de-

Indira Gandhi. The “ slum clearance” is done to

velopers the authority essentially trade airspace

beautify and clean the town of vagrants. The

in a city. Thus the density of the built environ-

report provides images of the first slum clear-

ment in Mumbai saw a massive shift in the years

ance in Kamathipura and critiques that the

that the global market economy opened up.

clearance solution does not work as squatters come back to the same place. The legend in the maps is however quite straightforward. With different tones meant to indicate different uses like transport, commercial, open space and residential. It clearly does not provide deatils of which houses, which commercial or open space is allowed to be developed on it for the next decade. It almost seems like an attempt to handle immerdiate tasks on hard for the municipality post colonial independence, that is, work, home, transport and cleaner open space.


Timeline of Development Map legacies

War I

War II

Independant India

Liberalisation in Global South

Financial crises

Financial crises

Slum dwellers international

World bank funds the 1st site and services scheme for slum improvement

1888

Local self government

Town planning act

1947

Plan 1956: Slum clearance and

2010

1990 Slum Improvement Act

Maharashtra Slum Improvement Board was constituted in 1974 1980: National Housing

National slum

Spike in SRA

development

Construction

program Bank created PUKAAR NGO Plans 1st public private Bombay Buildings Repairs and Reconstruction Board was constituted in 1971. partnership slum upgradation Maharashtra Housing Board formerly called "Bombay Housing Board" was established in year 1948 PUBLIC - PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP STATE DEVELOPMENTALISM PRIVATE MARKET GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT improvement scheme

DEVELOPMENT MAP 1

1952: Subsidised housing

International tribunal on evictions

Occupy movement

UN Habitat II

1970

15 Year Bombay

Post - Liberalisation in Global South

1954: 1954: Low Khoti Act was challenged Income group and removed - all

DEVELOPMENT MAP 2

1959 : Middle income group

1970: Housing and Urban Develoment

DEVELOPMENT MAP 3

1970: Environment improvement schemes of urban

2018


Mapping displacement series Once we have had a closer reading of the three

We notice that the ‘slum population’ num-

maps, we also need to understand the con-

ber increases over the decade and there

sequesnces of the maps that remains unsaid.

is a rising trend of densities northward.

The global investment in real estate had peaked

From a legal perspective, slums are unautho-

over the last three decades in Mumbai. To un-

rized and illegal structures, where inhabitants

derstand the current landscape, I started by an-

do not have legal title to the land that they

alyzing population densities in municipal wards

occupy. However, laws in Mumbai categorize

(smallest governing units). The maps below look

‘slums’ as legal and illegal. Legal ‘slums’ can be

at population densities in 24 municipal wards

redeveloped through the free housing scheme

of Mumbai, to analyze displacement trends.

by the SRA and the illegal ‘slums’ face evic-

The 1st maps is the population density in 2011

tions, or await a process of becoming ‘legal’

as compared to the population density in 2001

The 2019 rental and buying rates show a stark

map below it. The map is quite revealing about

trend of real estate prices lowering as north-

the drastic reduction in population densities in

ward and, and the city tends to expand periph-

southern wards. Although the highest density is

erally upward and to the inland. I was keen on

in the southern ward, we can measure displace-

seeing the relation between real estate prices

ment through its reduced density a decade later.

and the density of SRA projects built over the

The census data clearly records the ‘slum’ pop-

past three decades. My unit of analysis be-

ulation as a category without giving finer de-

comes the municipal governing unit of wards

tails of affordances of the ‘slum population’. The Slum Rehabilitation authority built approximately 1450 projects in the last 3 decades, claiming to reduce the slum population. The maps below record the ‘slum’ population percentages in every ward to notice any trend in this reduction..


As I looked more into the Slum Rehabilitation projects it became clearer to me to analyze by Wards to point at the trends of displacement by the slum rehabilitation project. We see a spike of building projects in the 2000-2010 decade and a spike in projects in the K/E and K/W wards. Why are such developments being planned excessively in particular wards? Are there larger incentives for private developers to build projects for the poor here? Mapping displacement series

A WARD

B WARD

C WARD

D WARD

E WARD

F/N WARD

F/S WARD

G/N WARD

G/S WARD

H/E WARD

H/W WARD

K/E WARD

K/W WARD

L WARD

M/E WARD

M/W WARD

N WARD

P/N WARD

P/S WARD

R/N WARD

R/C WARD

R/S WARD

S WARD

T WARD

1990-2000

Legend Number of projects

0-1 Project

2000-2010

+15 Projects

+30 Projects

2010-2019

+60 Projects

Total Number of Projects

4

6

12

71

28

89

53

129

58

171

133

74

43

49

95

111

44

77

47

44

97

77


Real Estate and local politics of Global Indices On overlapping the SRA project with the

In 1990, the United Nation Development Pro-

rental rate trends I did not find an obvious

gram mandated participating countries to come

correlation- like

up with a National Human Development Index

is

built

where

the free housing scheme the

median

rent

is

low.

accounting for three indicators long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of liv-

As I premonition, I feel this would be because

ing. This index comprises indicators like life ex-

the logic of the free housing project as a

pectancy at birth, mean years of schooling and

developer incentivized tool to provide housing

gross net income per capita. Mumbai’s munici-

for the poor, creates layered meanings of how

pality took upon itself to come up with an index

the city responds to the complexity. With

for Mumbai. The human development index is

regulations like transfer of development rights

coded by the Municipal corporation, and we can

and floor space indices, the state controls

see here how it relates to the slum population.

densities and allowable built-up areas, to

Reading the slum population map, it is inverse-

negotiate

ly related. The ward with the highest slum pop-

profit-based

state

philanthropy.

ulation: say for example M/E ward is given the As a measure to study the global response

lowest development index. I went back to see if

to the development state, I was intrigued

there was a report on the index. The HDI in Mum-

when

development

bai accounts for education replaced by literacy

report by Mumbai Municipal Corporation.

rate, life expectancy at birth was replaced by the

I

read

the

human

average age of death and infant mortality rate, income is replaced by the percentage of slum population and percentage of ‘marginal workers’. These are used as proxy, surrogate indicators, clearly indicating how ‘ slum’ as a category needs to be erased to achieve development; without any further reading of its affordances

Surrogate indices are used in the calculation of Human Development index by Municipal corporation to problemeatize slum population


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