In Situ Studio Bhubaneswar Cuttack
Table of Contents Acknowledgements 4 About the Organising Partners 7
Introduction 9 Malgodam Behera Sahi, Cuttack Introduction 15 Mapping Urban Flows and Relations 17 Listing Community Problems, Needs and Wishes 18 Walking and Measuring 20 Images from My Neighbourhood 21 Mapping Community Strengths and Weaknesses 23 Identify Places for Possible Interventions 24 Semi-structured Interviews 25 Developing Neighbourhood Scenarios, Step I 27 Developing Neighbourhood Scenarios, Step II 27 Developing Neighbourhood Scenarios, Step III 29 1:1 On Site Consolidation 30
Laxmanpur, Cuttack Introduction 35 Semi-Structured Interviews and Mapping 38 Walking and Talking 40 Mapping the Community’s Needs and Wishes 42 Household’s Economy Workshop 44 On-Site Consolidation 46 Drafting Alternative Solutions 49 Consolidation Through Models 50 Conclusion 52
Maa Mangala Basti, ward 14, Bhubaneswar Introduction 55 Children’s Drawing Workshop 58 Transect Walks 60 Mapping Urban Flows and Relations 61 Community Strengths and Weaknesses 62 Secret Boxes 64 Problem Tree 65 Weighting Planning Options 66 Conclusion 67
Maa Mangala Basti, ward 46, Bhubaneswar Introduction 69 Semi-Structured Interviews/ Walking and Talking 70 Collecting Household Data 72 Weighting Planning Options 74 Community Strengths and Weaknesses 76 Drawing Workshop Exploring Your Neighbourhood 78 Waste Segregation Game 80 Developing Neighbourhood Scenarios 82 Conclusion 85
Goddam Sahi, Bhubaneswar Introduction 87 Semi-Structured Interviews and Mapping 88 Drawing Workshop with Children 93 Dreambox 97 Exploring Through a 3D Model 99 Priority Tool Kit 100 Community Strengths and Weaknesses 103 Developing Scenarios 104
Reflections 110 Glossary 115
Acknowledgements This publication is a documentation over the two-week participatory workshop In Situ Studio Bhubaneswar-Cuttack initiated by ASF Sweden and implemented in collaboration with the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC) and Urban Development Resource Centre (URDC) in the state of Odisha, India the 5th to the 18th of January 2017. The coordinators Helena Ohlsson, Anna Olsson and Teres Selberg, are endlessly grateful for the work and engagement of a number of people and organisations, who have all played a key role in enabling this workshop aiming at practically explore participatory tools and alternative models for affordable spatial and physical solutions together with local communities, stakeholders and professionals. First of all we want to thank our collaborating partner since 2008, SPARC; Sheela Patel for sharing her deep knowledge and belief in community-based strategies to urban regeneration as well as the support for this collaboration; Vinodkumar Rao for the great collaboration throughout the course and introducing the participants to planning strategies of the BhubaneswarCuttack region and the vulnerabilities of the urban poor within the policy system and for bringing together local and national stakeholders; Smruti Jukur and Praveen Yadav for sharing their experiences on action oriented methods for inclusive processes of SPARC as well as excellent collaboration. Working as a catalyst for a decentralised and bottom-up approach in planning, UDRC brings the voice of the urban poor to the policy makers table. We want to thank Monalisa Mohanty for the great collaboration over several years, the important and inspiring lecture on the work of UDRC and for generously
sharing her network and knowledge; Shibani Mohanty, Manoja Manjari Chahataray and Bihbu Mangaraj for providing us with hands-on facts and material such as community drawn maps as well as giving a better understanding of the context in the five neighbourhoods across Cuttack and Bhubaneswar and to provide your technical input; Abinash Mishra, Saroj Bala Pradhan, Bijendra Das, Bibhu Kalyan Roul, Gaura Prasad Sahoo, Gitanjali Swain, Mili Nayak, Rinky Das, Kausalya Ojha, Nirmal kumar Behera and Sidharth Mohanty for helping out with communication and facilitating the work, for sharing your knowledge on the hands-on methods of UDRC as well as solutions for the future. The introductory symposium brought up new perspectives on planning and development emphasising design-related and participatory approaches with case studies worldwide as well as within the local context of Odisha. A specific thank you to Sundar Burra for the continuous collaboration, your valuable support to enable the symposium and for guiding the participants down to the fundaments lecture on the situation of the urban poor in India today. Thank you Banashree Banerjee for delivering an inspiring lecture with a critical approach to planning processes showing alternative strategic solutions that gave support throughout the course. Thank you Shirish Joshi for sharing your inspiring work on technical and architectural solutions in different development projects in Cuttack through KRVIA, Kamla Raheja Vidhyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental studies. Thank you Nirupama Swain, Saroj Barik, Ranjan Behera and Argya Prakash Mohanty from Cuttack Municipal Corporation for giving us an insight into the policy makers view and experiences of working with built environment professionals in development processes. Thank you Mr G Mathivathanan, Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Department Government of Odisha, on giving insights to the various programs taken up by the State for the urban poor and how professionals and community organisations can provide support to the Government initiatives.
From Piloo Mody College of Architecture we wish to send a special thanks to Dharitri Das for her hospitality hosting our symposium and final presentation; to Santos Kumar Misra for his lecture and support throughout the course on local materials. The engagement of the local participants, students and faculty staff of Piloo Mody College, has been nothing but invaluable. Thank you Monika Pritam Dash, Alok Ranjan, Shankar Giri, Mohana Das, Debashreeta Debabarni, Abhishek Iripathy, Subhakankhi Choudhury and Ankita Pati. Together with the international participants Marianna Svanberg, Matilde Kautsky, Sabine Lepere, Sanna Edqvist, Sunita Nasir, Catherine Garbi, Edith Humble, Fawad Ahmad, Linda Ringqvist, Madeleine Leijonhufvud, Manon Troux you have all generously been sharing your previous professional experiences as well as shown great respect to the work of SPARC and UDRC handing over your work to feed into their ongoing in situ upgrading programmes within the areas you have worked. We also wish to thank all of you for your endless energy and collaborative positive attitude Most important of all, we wish to thank all the local community members of Malgodam Sahi and Laxmanpur in Cuttack and of Maa Mangala Basti 14, Maa Mangala Basti 46 and Goddam Sahi in Bhubaneswar for helping us to understand the struggles you are facing. Thank you everyone who opened your home for mapping and measuring or gave of your time for interviews, surveys and other participatory activities. The workshop In Situ Studio Bhubaneswar-Cuttack was a stage B – Reflecting in Action workshop of the independent learning programme Challenging Practice – Essentials for the Social Production of Habitat developed by ASF-International. We wish to thank ASF-UK for the development of the excellent document ASFParticipate that has been an important pedagogical tool for us. Thank you FFNS foundation and ARQ for valuable financial means.
About the Organising Partners ASF Sweden and the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC) together with their partnering organisation Urban Development Resource Centre (UDRC) have been collaborating since 2008, working in a number of slum upgrading projects in India, mainly in the state of Odisha.
ASF Sweden ASF Sweden is a non-profit organisation that works globally and locally towards a more sustainable built environment. The organisation aims to create better living conditions for people in challenging environments, as well as bridging economical and educational barriers that prevent the development of a safe, equal and sustainable built environment. ASF Sweden brings together a growing group of architects, planners, designers, engineers, artists and others, all of which want to use their skills and commitment to contribute to a more sustainable and just world. The projects are characterised by close collaborations with local organisations and apply a high level of participation
SPARC and the Alliance SPARC was established in 1984 and is today one of the largest NGOs in India focusing on capacity building and organisation within communities. Together with the two communitybased organisations, Mahila Milan and National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF), SPARC forms what is called the Alliance. The focus of the Alliance is organising the urban poor to come together, articulate their concerns and collectively produce solutions to the problems they face. SPARC´s role is to provide professional support to Mahila Milan and NSDF in order to build their capacity to play a proactive role in developing solutions to urban poverty. SPARC also creates links between the community-based organisations and formal institutions and resources. The Alliance works in 73 cities across India and has networks in 32 countries around the globe. It’s role is to mobilise communities in relocation processes in order to assist the citizens in the planning process with the governments. Together,
the Alliance organises hundreds of thousands of slum dwellers and pavement dwellers to collectively produce solutions for affordable housing, secure tenure and sanitation. The core of all redevelopment processes that the Alliance is engaged in is household savings, enumerations and mapping in order to first build capacity and organisation within communities.
UDRC UDRC is a non-profit organisation that supports grassroot organisations by providing administrative, financial, documentation and other support. UDRC also supports by linking them with formal institutions so as to influence pro-poor urban policy and programmes with demonstration of good governance practices. UDRC does not manage the organisations, but serves as a platform and catalyst for a decentralised, bottom-up, women-led processes, rather than a top-down manager. UDRC was established in 2008.
Mahila Milan Mahila Milan, which is Hindi for Women Together, is a community based grassroot organisation, which was formed by a group of poor women in 1986. Mahila Milan aims to strengthen the role of women in order to improve their living situation. The organisation is working with organising loans for women and collecting money from households in order to create a savings account. By saving a small amount of money each day, the women in an area can take out a loan or save up for school fees, start-up businesses or renovating their homes.
NSDF NSDF is a community based organisation, which mobilises the urban poor to come together against demolitions and to secure basic needs such as sanitation and water facilities. Community groups from NSDF are present in slum areas all over India and are actively participating in slum upgrading. Members participate for example in special mapping of their area.
Introduction
Cuttack
Laxmanpur
Malgodam Behera Sahi
Bhubaneswar
Maa Mangala Basti, ward 14
Godam Sahi Maa Mangala Basti, ward 46
Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Context India is fast urbanizing. However, the state of Odisha, situated in the eastern part of India, is one of the least urbanized states in India. Despite low urbanisation, over one fifth of Odisha’s urban population lives in slums. The state’s low per capita income as well as the fact that the area is constantly hit by natural disasters, such as floods and cyclones, makes the poverty situation worse. Cities such as Bhubaneswar and Cuttack have people immigrating due to problems of salination of agriculture land, lack of employment opportunities and access to resources. Many informal communities in these cities follow a rural lifestyle and can be classified as small rural enclaves within urban settings. Habitats are generally very simple but efficient, mostly made of temporary materials, but lack good access to basic sanitation facilities. It is in this context of affordability, that many programs in the past have failed to generate any scalable results. UDRC is one of the few NGOs that, for over a decade, have worked on these issues in urban Odisha. In India there is a 3-tier governance structure, with the national government, the state government at individual state level and a municipal government at the city level. The capital city of Odisha, Bhubaneswar and its’ former capital Cuttack, are Municipal Corporations governed by a politically elected body as well as an executive body that is appointed by the state officials. Odisha has been one of the states that has quickly responded
to urban development support opportunities offered by the national government and is also one of the first states to develop and submit a policy for housing the urban poor in the cities and towns of the state. There is a risk that there is a large gap between the ground situation and the perception about the poor within the Government, which make the work of NGOs such as UDRC even more important. UDRC’s primary function is to bridge the gap between the policymakers and the urban poor communities by developing capacities of the urban poor, especially women. They encourage them to undertake a variety of tools such as savings, data collection etc. and make development recommendations to the state agencies based on the resident’s demands. At the same time, they tap into state subsidies wherever possible and enable the residents to avail them.
Participatory Approach to Design and Planning The five neighborhoods within the greater urban area of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, in which In-situ Studio worked, are all growing rapidly as a result of the urbanization but have very different conditions. Being current project sites for SPARC and UDRC, the aim was that the work of the participants would benefit these projects at the same time as it would raise an understanding and interest into how to practically apply enabling housing approaches and urban design strategies, both locally and internationally. One of the biggest challenges facing urban development programs of informal settlements in Odisha is how to implement appropriate community participation in relation to the level of poverty. Today a lot of projects end up being designed with little or no input from the population that will be affected by it. As a result, the implementation suffers and the blame is put on low absorption capacity on the ground. At the same time, considering that most of the poor are engaged in day-to-day jobs that provide just enough to make ends meet, it is extremely difficult to demand participation in any program that requires them to contribute with their time. However, the Alliance stresses the importance of a strong community led process and approach where organised communities remain on the forefront
of the issue of problem identification and seeking solutions that address them. The aim of the workshop In-situ Studio Bhubaneswar – Cuttack was to give the participants the possibility to explore different tools and methodologies for a participatory approach to planning and development. During the workshop, they got to creatively test and evaluate alternative models for affordable spatial and physical solutions together with communities, stakeholders and local professionals. The emphasis of this publication has been put into visualizing and describing possible outcomes of different participatory planning methods used by ASF International and their collaborating partners. The following texts are experiences and personal stories told by the members of the different groups of participants, local and international architects and planning professionals, through a selection of methods used throughout the two-week workshop.
Malgodam Behera Sahi, Cuttack
Participants
Mohana Das (IND) Shankar Giri (IND) Edith Humble (SWE) Matilde Kautsky (SWE) Fawad Sediqi (AFG)
Introduction Malgodam Behera Sahi is an informal settlement located near the Taladanda canal in Cuttack. This was the main port for sea trading from Cuttack to the rest of Odisha and other Indian states. Malgodam Behera Sahi evolved about 100 years ago as a dwelling space for the labourers near the port. Today this is still a big market, especially for spices, and the dwellers are mainly working in the Chatraka Bazaar, which is surrounding the settlement. Malgodam Behera Sahi has 208 numbered dwelling units. According to the demographic profile given by UDRC there are 774 members of the community, but the real number of inhabitants is estimated to be around 1 200. More than half of the dwelling units are kutcha (temporary building materials), mainly mati-jhati (mud and bamboo) construction and the rest are partly kutcha and partly pucca (permanent building materials). The settlement has one major entrance from Malgodam Road to the north and is restricted on the other side by the canal. To the east there are godowns (store houses) and to the west it borders a neighbouring Teluguspeaking settlement, which the Malgodam Behera community doesn’t interact with, partly because of language differences. On both of these sides it is possible to enter with vehicles from the Malgodam Road. The walkways within the settlement are mainly concrete without any proper drainage system, but two drain channels run through part of the settlement. They are often clogged, and have outlets directly into the canal. There are five water pumps inside the settlement. The community generally reported to have good quality drinking water, but said that the water sometimes contains sand and insects. At two main places the settlement opens to the canal in larger open spaces with ghats (steps) leading down to the water. Between these two main places a smaller open space leads down to the canal. All these three spaces have an adjacent water pump and appear to be informal meeting points of the community. The formal meeting point is the Anganwadi, the playschool, which also functions as the community hall for community meetings, ceremonies and festivities, and its roof is used for drying clothes.
Community toilets
Ladies’ toilet – functioning!
Children’s toilet – not functioning but used
Facilities There is one bath and toilet complex near the main ghat, built around 30 years ago and renovated about 10 years ago. From the six gents’ toilets and the six ladies’ toilets only two ladies’ toilets are presently working, and none of the eight children’s toilets. These are however anyway used. For maintenance of the toilets every household is to pay 50 rupees monthly. One couple from the community, responsible for maintenance of both the baths and the toilets, collects the money and hires a cleaner to come once a week. This fee is however reported to be paid by only about ¼ of the community and this is given as the reason for the toilets not to be maintained properly, which in turn becomes a reason for the community to be less willing to pay for it. The four presumably functioning bathing units are kept locked and are opened for a charge of 2 rupees. Near the Anganwadi a concrete structure is built for two additional baths and one toilet, of which presently none is working, and we don’t know if they have ever been. By the smaller middle ghat, there is a concrete structure used as ladies urinal but without any type of sanitary system. Apart from these spaces, outdoor urinating and open defecation are widespread in several areas of the community, although open
16 Malgodam Behera Sahi
METHOD: Mapping Urban Flows and Relations 17
defecation was reported not to take place, according to the UDRC survey done by the community themselves. Waste management in the community consists of one to two municipality waste bins placed at the main entrance to the community from the Malgodam Road. The municipality is said to empty these once a week and when asked, the community reported this being taken care of. We never observed the waste bins full – yet we saw people throwing waste into the canal and the space around the canal.
Mapping Urban Flows and Relations In between the workshops and at other times we talked to the inhabitants, asked them where they lived, if they worked and, if so, where and with what, to try to get an understanding of some of the physical as well as socio-economic flows and relations that the community is a part of.
CHHATRAKA BAZAAR Working as manual labour
RAVENSHAW UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL, 1st - 10th GRADE Near the railway station
Working as guards, gardening, cleaning
1.5 km
0.5 km
0.5 km
TELUGU FISH MARKET COMMUNITY Bying and reselling in the community
0,2 km ACCESS POINT
AL AN AC ND DA LA TA
Waste collection, vehicle access, emergency
0 km
MALGODOWN MARKET Working as manual labour
VARIOUS LOCATIONS Working as house maids
GODOWN AREA
Listing Community Problems, Needs and Wishes We started by introducing ourselves and the aim of the ongoing work and how that will fit into already existing projects. The community members were divided into four focus groups: young men, young women, adult men and adult women. They were asked to talk within their groups and list problems, needs and wishes, partly facilitated by the team and UDRC members. The reason for dividing the participants into these focus groups was that we thought it would ease some people to speak their minds, but other ways of dividing could have given other results.
The young men focus group drew a diagram of the toilets with comments on each of them, almost like a comic strip:
1. No door – hang your towel over the opening to cover. 2. No water connection – bring water in a bucket to flush. 3. No roof – in the rainy season bring an umbrella. 4. No roof – when it’s too hot, bring an umbrella. 5. Dirty, no water facility, no doors.
18 Malgodam Behera Sahi
METHOD: Listing Community Problems, Needs and Wishes 19
“It is a humble request “The toilets don’t have from our side to kindly any proper doors, we provide us with a don’t feel safe to use proper house and land them.” “Many groups have “We do not have anywhere rights.” “The toilets are broken previously threatened us to play cricket.” but nobody repairs them. that our houses will be “We feel shy to bath in Drainage is not working, demolished. We worry public.” not cleaned, and waste is about that.” thrown near the canal.” “We do not have space to sleep in the houses. The men sleep in the veranda of the playschool”
Reflections Without us asking, each focus groups signed their lists with the date and their names, almost as if they were legal documents. They were partly very formally written, as presenting the collective will of the community. If they were actually directed to us, this indicates a deep trust in what the community believed us being capable to influence. Some of the listed problems/wishes, such as land rights, education and employment involves a long and complicated process of greatest importance, but difficult for us to do anything about at the moment. This specific project run by SPARC and UDRC which the work of this workshop will be part of had been granted funding for basic services and toilets, so this was our focus. However we also wished to adress some other issues such as housing conditions and spatial organisation, but in order not to let people down we had to be clear what could be covered for and not within this project frame. The findings confirmed the given project aim, as the lack of functioning hygiene facilities was listed as an urgent priority by all the focus groups. Another conclusion of the workshop was the need to find sustainable solutions for the waste management. The problem of the small houses and the deficiency of space throughout the settlement is an issue that needs to be addressed in another project. During this workshop we also realised that most of the community members did not know how to or did not want to write.
METHOD: Walking and Measuring
New map of the Malgodam Behera Sahi settlement
Walking and Measuring Community representants had together with UDRC drawn a map of the settlement and numbered the houses, from number 2 to number 208. This was completed shortly before our arrival. This map was done in an informal manner and not corresponding to cardinal directions, but instead showing the perceived sequence of the community. Our aim with this activity was to spacially clarify the map of the area and to include information about important spaces such as water pumps and temples. All the numbers of the houses were noted on this map as well, so that the community members easily would be able to localise their houses. Simultaneously we measured the areas we had recognised as possible to make proposals for. These areas where the toilets, the canal spaces, the first floor of the Anganwadi and the ruined godown. During this measuring and drawing activities we talked to the people surrounding us, following us and helping us to measure, as a way of getting to know each other and also to explain what we did.
12 13
22
14
21
15
20
29
37
36
49
48
47
46
45
44
43
42
50
56
57
58
61
51 62 63
82
69
65
68
67
66
79
TOILET
78 77
76 75
80
81
113
111
112
110
107
109
108
106
104
105
103
102
99
101
98
100
85
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88
92
91
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95
178
176
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175
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173
193 192 191 190 189
148 149 150 151 152 153
WARD NO.:38
64
145 146
147
70 71 72 73 74
116 115 114
117
140 141
138
142 139
164
194
165 166 167168 169170 171 172
195
163 181
179
183
180
184
182
186
185
187
188
Water pipe line
DRAIN
ELECTRIC POLE
Tube Well
SUPPLY WATER POINT
TEMPLE
Layers
MALGODAM BEHERA SAHI
60
52
59
53
144
143
55
125
161
162
196
160 159 158 157 156 155 154
197
136 137
135 134
133
198
129 130 131 132
199
126
200
201
54
118
119
120
121
122
123
40
124
41
39
127
128
34
33
202
203
207
204
206
205
38
35
16
17
18
19 32
31
30
01
02
208
20 Malgodam Behera Sahi
11
10
08
09
07 2324 25 26 27 28
0605 04 03 ANGAN WADI
MALGODAM MAIN ROAD
CAD drawing by UDRC staff based on the community map
METHOD: Images from My Neighbourhood 21
Images from My Neighbourhood We asked a few children, one at a time, to take us to their favourite and least favourite places. We handed them our camera and let them take photos of the places, and explain what they liked or disliked with them. The following day these photos were printed and displayed on the Anganwadi veranda. Other participants were asked what they thought about these places, and got help if needed to write this down on notes and attach them to the photos.
Findings and Reflections Issues of dirt and smell were yet again raised, as well as the need of open spaces for the kids to play. In this way we got to know that one of the open spaces by the canal, used for open defecation was many of the childrens’ favourite playing area. But many children didn’t want to tell us or show us their least favourite places, or told us that they didn’t have any place they did not like. Either this was actually the case, or maybe they found it inappropriate to take us there – or maybe they felt that they should not talk bad about their community. But one girl hesitantly took us to the road just outside the settlement as her least favourite place. She was so afraid of it that the photo got blurry, as she didn’t even want to stay long enought to hold the camera still and click, but turned around immidiately and ran back into the settlement. This is the way she needs to walk every day to school.
“The road is scary” Photo: Mini Panda
On the Toilets
“No doors, no water, no ceiling.” “Out of 6 toilets 4 are not working. If 2 people get inside, 18 stand outside in line.”
22 Malgodam Behera Sahi
METHOD: Mapping Community Strength and Weaknesses 23
Mapping Community Strengths and Weaknesses The intention of our second set of workshops on site was to understand if our first ideas about possible interventions and location of these were suitable and needed by the comnumity. We also wanted to gather more thoughts from the people living there and more information about how the community is structured in order to develop solutions that would be appropriate to the community´s priorities. Four topics was selected: the community, the canal spaces, the Anganwadi and the toilets. We asked the participants to note down their positive and/or negative thoughts of these, on one sheet of paper for each point, and then put the paper in respective column. Since the illiteracy was high in the community, UDRC helped the participants writing their points down. We also provided red finger paint so that those who wanted could vote by adding their fingerprint on the topic they felt most urgent to do something about. Finally, a representative from UDRC read out loud to all the participants all the points that had been listed.
On the Community “We are facing a lot of problems because of drunken husbands” “We don’t have employment, we are just roaming around.” “We want land rights.” “We face a lot of trouble for getting good drinking water. We request you to get this done.” “It is sad that the place is dirty and not maintained properly.”
METHOD: Identify Places for Possible Interventions
Identify Places for Possible Interventions We asked the participants to react on the proposed sites and suggested interventions. Their reactions were noted and put under the respective sites. This was to make sure that the suggested locations were acceptable for the community.
Findings “We want a separate place for the female community to have community discussion here.” “This area is appropriate to be used as a toilet space.” “Good place for building baths.” “Existing community toilet is old and not functioning properly so please build new toilet for ladies where there is sufficient place (separate from the mens)“ “If this place is cleaned properly, we can have meetings here and sit and sing and chat.” “It is a good place to play cricket.” “It is a good place for kids to study”
Reflections The outcome of the second set of workshops strengthened our analysis that toilets was the most important issue to solve for the community. The workshops also confirmed that we could suggest interventions in some of the sites we had found, as the vacant plot behind the toilets and the space by the Anganwadi. The results also told us that, despite being polluted by open defecation and waste, the open space by the canal is of big importance to the children for playing, being one of the only open spaces within the settlement
24 Malgodam Behera Sahi
Method: Semi-Structured Interview 25
Semi-structured Interviews With the intention to learn more about how the maintenance and payment system for the toilets were functioning we prepared an interview with the lady responsible for this. The interview took place inside one of the small rooms in the Anganwadi with the help from UDRC and Mahila Milan representatives. Just as we were going to start the interview, about ten ladies came into the room to participate, so it all took more the form of a discussion. After a while two men also joined the meeting, although the topics had been rather intimate. For example we found out that many of the women suffer from urinary infection. Issues about the maintenance of the toilets was in focus. Most of the discussion was held in the local language Odia between the UDRC/Mahila Milan and the community dwellers. This discussion raised a lot of new questions and thoughts.
The Community Center (Anganwadi)
26 Malgodam Behera Sahi
Method: Developing Neighbourhood Scenarios 27
Developing Neighbourhood Scenarios, Step I We put our big community map on a table, provided coloured paper notes representing toilets, baths and garbage bins and asked the participants to arrange them within the community. After some time other people or groups of people were allowed to rearrange them, so that several different scenarios could be visualised, and each scenario was documented through photos. This created a discussion on the location of the toilets, possible solutions and layouts. The waste disposal system was also discussed, where to put waste bins and how to empty them. This discussion led us to the next step.
Developing Neighbourhood Scenarios, Step II Many comments in the previous step concerned waste and the common spaces being dirty and a wish for help to keep them clean. The Cuttack Municipality Corporation can only empty the garbage bin at the main road, as there are no proper roads inside the settlement.
1
2
3
4
For this workshop we used simple sketches to start a discussion on possible scenarios of solid waste management for the community. Could an arrangement be sought out together with the neighbouring waste pickers’ society?
Findings Although the discussion was not completely translated and documented, the final consensus was reported to be that everyone should carry their own garbage themselves to the municipality bin by the main road. This is however the exact system that is not at all working today.
Reflections and Proposal/Non-physical interventions Many issues of sanitation and sustainability can be approached through creating awareness and encouraging new habitual patterns, but it is difficult and takes time to change habits. Two recently started Self Help Groups exist in the community and Mahila Milan has just started to mobilise for group savings. Through this network of increased economic sustainability also social and ecological sustainability can follow. UDRC and Mahila Milan could serve as important links in conducting educational workshops and passing knowledge between different communities.
28 Malgodam Behera Sahi
Method: Developing Neighbourhood Scenarios 29
Developing Neighbourhood Scenarios, Step III The design proposals that had developed from earlier steps were hung on the wall of the Anganwadi and an open discussion was held together with the community. In addition, the community could use stickers to vote for different alternative solutions.
Proposal
Proposed upgrading of toilets and baths by the Anganwadi/ Community Centre
Proposed reorganisation of the Godown Proposed upgrading of the Anganwadi/ Community Centre
Findings and Reflections Many community members were very positive about the proposals and the drawings, and took part in voting between alternative designs. But by showing detailed and good looking visualised proposals, the room for the community to actually take part in the design shrinks. Since there is not any funding promised for renovating other parts of the settlement than the toilets, one should be careful not to rise too much expectations. We had to clearly communicate the economical limits to the community members.
1:1 On Site Consolidation We started the workshop at the Anganwandi by looking at the big community map and briefly presenting the different proposals and locations of sanitary solutions, like toilets and baths. Together with a smaller group of interested participants we walked to the different locations of our proposals, like the existing community toilets and the canal spaces. We brought the group to the vacant space by the community toilets to talk about the proposal on site, in scale 1:1. By both showing drawings, walking around in the vacant space and together measuring and putting a ribbon on the ground to show the outer dimensions of the proposed toilets, we aimed at making the proposal more understandable. We wanted to show the real place and size of the different alternatives for everyone to be able to discuss them. At the canal spaces, we made similar walking and measuring activities, to help visualise and discuss the proposals.
Findings and Reflections In this workshop, the participants from the community confirmed that the suggestion to build new toilets in the vacant plot was a good idea. They also gave input on which layout they preferred.
The vacant plot, earlier used for toilets, but the previous septic tank is now full and/or broken. Through the opening in the wall tumeric from the spice market is entering dyeing the soil yellow.
30 Malgodam Behera Sahi
To visualise the drawings through measuring, walking and putting ribbons on the ground for the walls was an accessible way to show the size and location of the proposals. We think it is of importance to do this, since drawings can be very abstract and hard to visualise. When done in smaller groups, it is also possible to discuss the consequences of a proposal more in depth.
Experiencing the drawings 1:1, at the vacant space behind the community toilets.
Explaining and experiencing the drawings 1:1, at the vacant space behind the community toilets.
Proposal Sketches for discussion with the community how to fit toilets and baths in the vacant plot.
Proposal Sketches for toilets by the canal.
32 Malgodam Behera Sahi
Conclusion Malgodam Behera Sahi is a very dense community with severe lack of space. For many aspects of upgrading the physical environment of the settlement, more space is required. For the narrow pathways to be broad enough for vehicles of basic services and maintenance, for making the house structures more stable and increase them with another floor, and building individual toilets of each household – all this needs space. Today the community doesn’t have patta rights (land owning right) of their land, and the neighbouring godowns are also illegal. Since the municipality is interested and willing to invest in the development of Malgodam Behera Sahi there is a small possibility that in the future, some of the godowns will be appropriated by the community with the municipality’s allowance. If so, this newly acquired space would be much needed for additional facilities, to further increase the number of toilets but without concentrating too many in a too restricted place. Another very concrete suggestion came from UDRC, to look at the possibility to use the ruined godown space for new toilets. These toilets would be easier to maintain, since this space is possible to access by a vehicle from the mainroad. And this space is also further away from the canal, which lowers the risk of contamination. The issues to be solved with this solution is where to keep the firewood and how to separate the toilets from the existing temple there. For the future improvement of Malgodam and other similar places, we think it is important to look at alternative toilet solutions, both from environmental, technical and space efficiency perspectives. This issue we did not find enough time to investigate. Regardless to the location and the sanitary system, the question of maintenance is still to be solved. The idea to let a private company run the toilets by taking a fee from non community members to use them has not been embraced by the community, as they are worried that they too will need to pay. A system needs to be worked out so that the community members feel both ownership, responsibility and trust, for the idea of community toilets to work. Individual toilets is in many ways an easier option, but not possible here where the space is so scarce.
Laxmanpur, Cuttack
We drew a map of the settlement on a piece of cloth to help us communicate during the workshops and participatory exercises.
Introduction Laxmanpur is a former village of Schedules Caste people situated on the outskirts of Cuttack. This enclave is getting surrounded by new areas as a consequence of rapid urbanisation and it is therefore important to act and plan the developement of this community while there is still wiggle room for significant improvement. A few years ago, the settlement got formally divided into plots and the inhabitants obtained land tenure, wich is the major asset of this community. The settlement is not subject to floodings and was earlier provided with two hand pumps, one of them currently being out of order. The biggest drawback is the lack, or the non-existence of public or private toilets, leading to almost 100% of open defecation. Most of the families are extremely poor and illetrate. Most men work on a day-to-day basis in near-by facturies and young children go to the local communal school. Hidden power structures, social pressures, repeated disillusion and a tendency to individualism makes it challenging to gather the community around a common vision for their future.
Participants
Ankita Pati (IND) Sanna Edqvist (SWE) Sabine Lepère (FRA) Monika Pritam Dash (IND)
A shop at the entrance to the area
The surrounding neighbourhood
36 Laxmanpur
The kiosk
Defecation area
Unfinished private toilet
Residential houses
Unfinished house
The first pump, the only one with drinkable water
Unfinished community toilets
Semi-Structured Interviews and Mapping We started engaging with the community (especially women) through semi-structured interviews with several households, simultaneously sketching and mapping indoor and outdoor private spaces. The introduction and data received from UDRC helped us determine the first focus topics of the interviews.
• Kitchen and cooking habits, location of the “chulha”. • Water, toilet and bathing habits. • Work, income and main expenses. • Priorities for investment and upgrading of the house (private toilet, extra room, new roof, “pacca” structure) • The potential of gardening for private use and food expenses reduction The aim was to collect information about private spaces and their uses.
Findings and Reflections We found out that having a private toilet is not always seen as the first priority. Extension of the house or a permanent roof was often mentioned as a priority if there were money. We learned that the government grants individual subsidies to each households for building a private toilet, but many households do 38 Laxmanpur
METHOD: Semi-Structured Interviews and Mapping 39
not have access to it. We sensed a willingness to use this subsidy for its purpose, that is to build a toilet, but many individual toilets were un-finished and unusable because its limited amount does not cover the total cost of an outhouse. Our suggestion about gardening to reduce food expenses didn’t get specially well received. For most, gardening was not seen as a solution because of lack of time and knowledge, but vegetation and greenery is appreciated. The households members were mostly daytalers and didn’t have a steady income. Through the semi-structured interviews we gathered a lot of information about the houses and we started to understand a bit about the life in the area. It was also a way to introduce ourselves to the residents, and it became important to explain to each of them why we were here. We thought afterwards that it might have been better to introduce ourselves to everyone at a community meeting before starting with the semi structured interviews. The obstacles was to be able to talk with women without being disturbed by their husbands or other men. Some people liked to talk a lot and some other didn’t want to share anything, wich gave us a first feeling of the most influential and open individuals. We sometimes had the uneasy feeling of intruding into people’s homes. During the semi-structured interviews we mapped and sketched the cluster of houses and their front and backyards to get an idea of the use and the relation between the different living spaces, and to start spotting the possible locations for toilet extensions or outhouses. Afterwards we drew some examples of houses to understand and represent the different urban typologies present in the settlement.
Residential house
Walking and Talking We continued by walking and talking together with small groups of women that showed us the neighbourhood and described it by answering our open questions. The aim was to better understand the roles, habits and needs for public and semi-public spaces. As for the semi-structured interviews, the two international participants of our team – the ones introducing this participatory method – would ask open questions, while the two local participants -speaking the local language – would translate and explain the answers and stories.
Findings and Reflections We learned for example about economical collaborations among the residents, about social spaces and the role of women in the area. In the beginning it was hard to get anyone who wanted to show us the area. The women didn’t want to leave their houses and chores. But after talking for a while with some of them, sitting on the landing of their houses, they continued with showing us some parts of the settlement. Surprisingly, it was only one women who accepted to leave the settlement to show us the river. The women explained us about the saving groups. There are three women saving groups with about 14 households-members in each. In case of “emergency”, to be understood as a death or an injury, the families of the community are helping each other economically by lending out money. The river banks, and the walk to the river – outside of the settlement and across the road – were described as a time for social interaction between the women while bathing and washing. But only the elderly women still went there because of the newly built houses around which took away the privacy. Women talked about the need for a closed space for taking shower and a semi-open space for washing. The talk gave us an understanding of the limitations of women’s movements. Most of the women rarely left the settlement at all. This method was a good way to get a deeper understanding of the common spaces by talking to small groups of people.
40 Laxmanpur
METHOD: Transect Walks 41
Tasting fruits
Woman showing us the river
Mapping the Community’s Needs and Wishes After having gathered some elements of understanding, we drew a mapping and planning exercise with two separate focus groups, men and women. We had a group discussion around a big hand-drawn map of the area, locating technical and social elements with small pictures. The participants could make wishes or discuss problems while putting up happy or unhappy smileys.
Findings and Reflections
Temple
Water pump
Drawing the map
42 Laxmanpur
Some locations that we hadn’t suspected got highlighted as potential places for community improvement. Those locations are; for example: Next to and behind the grocery shop, by the temple and cultural center, on the government lands on each sides of the main entrance road to Laxmanpur, or close to the second water pump that is dysfunctional. The wish to occupy the governmental lands, said to be owned by the Flooding Department, was expressed several times. We divided the groups into men and women so that the women could talk more freely. The main obstacle was to communicate with a big group. One person often acted as a leader and talked the most. In that way the group exercise became a way to learn more about power relations within the community. Another obstacle was to succeed to communicate with this kind of exercise even if people are illiterate. We therefore presented several drawings of symbols representing different physical elements and described them to the community members. During this exercise we realised the extend of the difficulty to structure and moderate a workshop as a team when only half of us could speak the local language Odia, and as we had many topics to adress about both present and wished situation. It was very challenging to obtain straight answers to our questions, to keep the discussion focused on one topic at a time and to deepen the understanding of the reactions of the community members while simultaneously translating to and from English. As a result, the outcome of this exercise got a bit confused. It became obvious that a good team preparation before the exercise, as well as debriefing pauses during the exercise would help the local participants of our team to moderate the exercise in a more efficient way and therefore obtain more “usable” material from this mapping activity.
METHOD: Mapping the Community’s Needs and Wishes 43
Playground
Storage
Drain
Main outcome of the women’s focus group
Household’s Economy Workshop Since lack of money showed to be the biggest hinder to any individual or community improvement, we imagined a workshop about households’ economy, carried out once again with two separate focus groups, men and women. We experimented a participatory exercise that we had drawn from the specific context of our findings, as a mean to visualise the expenses habits of the households, as well as the priority purposes for their savings. This exercise could also raise understanding and awareness of the community members on the way they use their meagre salaries. On pieces of paper, we drew symbols representing the monthly expenses that we had heard of during earlier exercises, for example: new roof, toilet, electricity bill etc. We left empty papers to allow the participants to add other expenses. We drew a grid on the floor to classify those expenses into categories: basic necessary expenses (food, clothes, doctor and medication etc), special events (weddings, religious festivals etc) and improvements of the immediate environment (a new stronger roof, a place for women to shower etc). Each participant received 5 token that they had to place on the expenses that were relevant to their households. We made them participate one by one rather than all at once in order to foster communication and to encourage each one to take part in the activity.
44 Laxmanpur
METHOD: Household’s Economy Workshop 45
Findings and Reflections This exercise allowed us:
• To confirm our findings from the semi-structured interviews with women, regarding the main expenses of the households. Those are food, health care and electricity. • To discover other main expenses and to inquire the habits of gathering money for community purposes such as wedding and worship festivals. • To better understand the system of saving groups, and who is in charge of it. None of the men put a single token in the “saving group” box, while several women put their spared savings-token in it. Both groups seemed a bit confused, but the men appeared to be less disoriented about the exercise and more coherent in their answers than the women. The possible reasons for this confusion are:
• Our exercise was too complex with too many categories and symbols? • The community members are not used to conceptual thinking or have another logic regarding money management? • The women are not used to be asked and decide about financial matters? The findings of this exercise confirmed the importance of empowering women for achieving long-term goals, which we continued to have in mind for our future exercises and planning proposals.
On-Site Consolidation After compiling our findings and ideas from the previous field work and community activities, we submitted our proposals to the community members and started an open discussion on site to find suitable location and relevant characteristics of built structures to be used for different social activities. The goal of this method was to connect the needs for social spaces with the potentials of development.
Findings and Reflections The wish for spaces to wash and bath was strong. A clean slab on the ground for washing and drying, and a closed area for privacy while bathing was needed. Today, a slab around the first pump allows for washing clothes but is too exposed for bathing. About 50m from it stands the unfinished community toilet. However, the community members seem to have difficulties to point out which one of those two places would be the best location for those activities, and showed us a third possible location, by the second pump, today out of order. The community hall was pointed out as a social space for men that could be improved with storage space and a slab on the ground beside it, for sitting, meeting or playing music. The temple/cultural house, located in the middle of the settlement and closed to many houses, was pointed out as a place that could be improved with an elevated slab outside along the gable for women to gather. The women also wanted a built space for social interaction close to the government land, where the children use to play. We found that the best way to communicate was to discuss and present ideas on the actual spot. Presenting a plan with options wouldn’t be as successful because few people know how to read it. This on-site workshop allowed to deepen our understanding of the needs of the community for social spaces and of the potentials of different locations. As is became obvious that there was no common vision or mutual consent, this exercise seemed to trigger and consolidate discussions between members of the community about the needs and potentials of development.
46 Laxmanpur
METHOD: On-Site Consolidation 47
Discussing options for a closed washing area next to the first pump
Discussing options and extensions of the unfinished community toilet
METHOD: On-Site Consolidation
Proposals for Common Spaces Communicating ideas and proposals to the community members through plans and drawings only was difficult. However, in order to communicate the main outcomes of our proposals for common spaces and convey the strongest opinions of the community members to UDRC and the other partner organisations, we compiled and drew the results in a schematic way. The smileys represent the general opinion of the community members.
48 Laxmanpur
METHOD: Drafting Alternative Solutions 49
Drafting Alternative Solutions Our schemes and reflections are intended to be a starting point for UDRC and/or other public or private agencies that will be in charge of implementing water supply and waste water management, or of distributing individual money subsidies.
Proposal for Water Supply and Drainage With the intention to anticipate the installation of water supply in the settlement as well as the drainage of waste water, we mapped the possible location of a specific water supply system adapted to the existing elements of the site, including the community toilet under construction and the natural pond. We pointed out that open drains, very common in poor settlements, is not an option here as it would destroy the semi-private spaces between the houses, one of the only places were women socialise. One solution to be investigated would be a buried or partly buried sewage system.
Proposal for Individual Toilet Subsidies We drew a scheme depicting the main principle of an alternative solution to the toilet subsidies system, that would allow even the most vulnerable households to have access to the government´s individual subsidies for building a toilet by granting the financial help through the community’s savings groups..
Alternative solution to the toilet subsides system.
Models of incremental building and cost efficient co-building.
Consolidation Through Models With the help of simple schemes, plans, models and on-site discussions different proposal for cheaper toilets solutions were presented and discussed with the community. Thanks to incremental construction principles and configuration sharing one or several walls on property border, the new constructed individual toilets could be made usable with spending only the government’s individual subsidy, before being improved and completed by adding personal savings.
Findings and Reflections The wish for individual and independent toilet is very strong in the community, but we saw openings for negotiations between neighbours. The combo of four toilets was not appreciated. There was an understanding of the benefits of incremental building. The models proved to be a really good way to communicate and the toilet expert from UDRC took the ideas forward and discussed the different proposals with the community. 50 Laxmanpur
METHOD: Consolidation Through Models 51
Proposals for Toilets We represented, after the exercise, what we understood to be the general opinion of the community members by placing smileys on the schemes and plans that were presented. After this activity we made a compilation of the ideas and put them together with the different typologies of clusters, in order to summarize our findings and hand over comprehensive material to UDRC members who will continue participatory processes in this community after our departure.
Final exhibition and presentation of findings and intervention at Piloo Mody College in Cuttack.
Conclusion During this workshop we developed and tested several participatory methods to communicate with the community of Laxmanpur and understand their needs, problems and everyday life. With a particular focus on women, we interacted with the inhabitants in an attempt to identify, understand and discuss these issues and find ways to work towards the alleviation of some of their daily struggles. Our two weeks work with the inhabitants of Laxmanpur, UDRC and the other partner organisations, is only a first step in an early stage of development of the settlement, but we hope that more participatory methods will be held by local professionals to ensure a sustainable community development and generate collective solutions to common problems. Here we present some of our strongest relevant findings as well as some ideas to be further investigated in order to improve the physical and social environment of Laxmanpur.
Common Toilet, Individual Toilets and Subsidies. The aspiration for individual toilets rather than shared toilets is very strong in Laxmanpur. The inhabitants own their land and they have space for it. The choices of locations of those new individual toilets will impact the environment and smart solutions need to be found between neighbors to prevent from decreasing the potential and usability of their plots. 52 Laxmanpur
The subsidy for building individual toilets, a fixed amount provided by the government to households having a private bank account, doesn’t cover the cost of the full outhouse. Incremental building of the toilet, as well as a configuration sharing a wall on the property border, when possible physically and accepted by both neighbors, are two ideas to help reduce the cost and maybe manage to have a functioning individual toilet without adding personal savings on top of the subsidy. The technical aspects of those ideas would need to be investigated and developed further before being implemented. Some households do not have a private account and therefore do not have access to the government subsidy. It can be that they do not know about it, or that they do not have enough money to open an account. The existence of saving groups within the community could, given a change in the administrative process of delivery to beneficiaries, be a by-pass to this hinder. The unfinished community toilet can be seen as an asset, and could be used as a water tower to irrigate the settlement. On the same principle as the “Developing toilet scenarios” exercise that we performed with the community members, propose for the builders and designers of this community toilet, hired by politicians, to to have a participatory approach in order to reach more cost-effective and site specific choices which are closer to the needs of the communities.
Power Structures and Urban Structures Our study of the urban structure and different cluster of houses in the settlement led us to understand that the households living along the main road are a bit more privileged, while the households living only a few meters more remotely –On the left of our hand-drawn map – are more vulnerable and would need special care and attention, especially when the settlement is being equipped with running water and drainage. Some houses actually don’t have a direct access to a road, but the passage through private land is a common habit.
Government Land and Social Spaces The open plot of land at the entrance of the settlement is owned by the Government and cannot legally be built on. It is however informally used by children playing and temporarily occupied for yearly religious festivals and other gatherings. This space seems to play a great role in the social interaction and community activities and we think that its potential is to be preserved and developed.
Maa Mangala Basti, ward 14, Bhubaneswar
Introduction Before 1999 only 2–3 families were living in the area of Maa Mangala Sahi 14. It was then part of the nearby nature reserve. After the super cyclone in 1999, people from outside and inside the city started to settle here and set up their livelihood. A large part of the residents work as street food vendors, selling panipuri in the nearby Budda Park. The land belongs to the Municipality. Inhabitants in this area do not have land tenure (patta rights). The total number of households in Maa Mangala Sahi basti is 176. The area has grown along a storm water drain with one main street connecting one temple by the entrance and another temle at the end of the street, close to a big pond and the forest reserve. A lot of new concrete brick houses are currently under construction within the community parallell to the main road.
Participants
Madeleine Leijonhufvud (SWE) Sunita Nasir (AFG), Chinmayee Rath Panda (IND) Abhishek Iripathy (IND)
Semi-Structured Interviews Collecting Household Data Since a lot of people work as street vendors in this community, many of the interior spaces visited felt very diverse. In one house there was a complete production line making pani puri, smelling of fresh coriander and in the next house the interiors was filled with helium ballons in all different colours. As part of the ongoing project of SPARC and UDRC to change the toilet situation in the area this was one topic of focus when asking questions, visiting the different households and doing analysis. It was noted that some people would let the tap open all the time, filling up some buckets and then letting the water spill out in the backyard. Normally there would only be water in the taps for some hours every day, usually in the middle of the day. When the workers get back at night there is no more water in the taps and they wash in the pond which is a health problem as the pond is very dirty.
Typical layout of a home on the upper part of the main street 56 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 14
The lower side of the settlement has big problems with flooding during rainy season. A lot of waste was thrown in the backyards of the buidings, close to the toilets. A few households do not have access to a toilet and use open defication around the pond area.
METHOD: Semi-Structured Interviews Collecting Household Data 57
DRAINAGE SEWERLINE INDIVIDUAL TOILET- PIPELINES TO CHAMBER AND THEN DRAIN INDIVIDUAL TOILET- PIPELINES DIRECTLY TO DRAIN INDIVIDUAL TOILET- SOAKPIT VEHICLE COMES WHEN NEEDED (COSTS) INDIVIDUAL TOILET- SOAKPIT CONNECTED TO DRAIN INDIVIDUAL TOILET- SOAKPIT NOT CONNECTED INDIVIDUAL TOILET- CONNECTED TO SEWER NETWORK SHARED TOILET
Children’s Drawing Workshop
58 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 14
METHOD: Drawing Workshop with Children 59
METHOD: Transect Walks
Transect Walks Asking the children to guide us on their normal way to the school we found out that the closest way to the public school was very unsafe and often slippery. If they do not take the shortcut but walk the regular roads the distance is 6 km to the closest public school. A private school is close to the community, but hardly any community members can afford to send their children there.
60 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 14
METHOD: Mapping Urban Flows and Relations 61
Mapping Urban Flows and Relations In the context of the surrounding area but also within the community.
BUDDHA PARK
PRIVATE SCHOOL
SELLING STREETFOOD
GROCERY SHOPPING
Kids go to play with their families
Saraswati Sishu Vidya Gyan Mandir 1km
(pani puri etc)
2–3km
Dangerous to walk to the park by themselves
ELEPHANT RESERVE sometimes the elephants come to the site- using the pond
GOUVERMENT SCHOOL 6km away- so they are taking a shortcut (wich is dangerous)
NANDANKANAN ROAD
Community Strengths and Weaknesses Discussions in focus groups (women and men) on topics such as garbage, drainage, open spaces, the pond and the school road. One wish that came up was to have a gathering space where a local teacher could teach children from the community after school hours.
62 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 14
METHOD: Secret Boxes
Secret Boxes The residents were asked to express their problems and dreams related to different open spaces. The boxes were left overnight by the temple area, the most common gathering spot, in order to collect as many voices as possible, also those who are at work during daytime. Results of this exercise show that many wish for places to socialise in the shadow and that the pond was to be cleaned.
64 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 14
METHOD: Problem Tree 65
Problem Tree A lot of the community’s problems have their root causes in the fact that they do not have land tenure.
METHOD: Weighting Planning Options
Weighting Planning Options The final workshop was cancelled by the community leader due to a conflict within the community the previous day. The atmosphere in the area was tense, but we were invited to sit in the temple to show and discuss the proposals with a few members of the community and representatives from SPARC and UDRC. We were prepared to present different solutions and have the community members voting for alternatives, but since there were only a few present this session turned into a presentation of our findings and proposals instead.
66 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 14
Conclusion The majority of the households in the community have access to a toilet. Both the greywater and the blackwater was let out straight into the storm water drain. We propose septic tanks on strategic locations, especially at the lower side of the main street. Garbage is a problem in many of the open spaces. A collection spot with waste segregation is proposed close to the entrance of the area, a place today used as a dumpsite. Many inhabitants stressed the need for more meeting places in the shadow. This could be arranged close to the temple area. We propose one place with seetings and thatched roof for teaching after school hours and one place for community agriculture as well as small structures for seetings around existing trees.
Community agriculture
Meeting place in shadow for teaching
Garbage collection point
Maa Mangala Basti, ward 46, Bhubaneswar
Participants
Subhakankhi Choudhury (IND) Linda Ringqvist (SWE) Catherine Garbi (UK/FRA)
Introduction The community, according to its inhabitants, consists of 270 households. The community is spread in five pockets, which are located close to each other. The community holds together by gathering for meetings and rituals at the community’s temple. There is some fraction within the community, but they are more or less one group. The police does not interfere. The community thinks that an asset is that the settlement is located in a nice part of Bhubaneswar, close to the hospital (so it is easy to reach health care), police station (so there is no petty crime in the area) and market place (where many in the settlement work). The community has 50–60 members of the Mahila Milan Savings Group. The members are divided into five groups with one president and one secretary per group. According to the community, six of the households have cattle. During the monsoon there can be water to ankle height. The houses are raised a couple of decimetres above ground so that water does not enter. Since the storm drain runs through the community the water runs off quickly. Due to lack of space the drain has partially been covered by the community to create more space for e.g. cooking and toilets. Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation collects waste from a waste pile in the community; there is no dustbin and no segregation. The community’s main issue is according to themselves the number of and the quality of toilets. The main priority of a toilet is that it should have a solid and lockable door. Many households have both an outdoor firewood driven chulla and an indoor gas driven chulla. There are two water tanks in the community, and the water is only available two times per day for two hours, which is not sufficient, neither in winter nor in summer. According to the inhabitants their grandparents moved from Odishan villages to Bhubaneswar in search of livelihood. In 1997 the community was evicted from a nearby site, owned by the housing board. The community has been on the current site since the super cyclone in 1999. The area was formerly an unused, left over area, which had to be cleared from scrubs etc. Pre-1997 the community lived together, but after eviction they had to move to the available land, which split the community into the current five pockets. In 2004 the community faced a threat of eviction, as the municipality wanted to build a sewer through the settlement. A local politician helped them to change the location of the sewer.
Semi-Structured Interviews/ Walking and Talking A crucial part during the start of our work in Maa Mangala Basti was to get to know the inhabitants and their everyday life. We asked inhabitants of the settlement prepared as well as spontaneous questions. Afterwards they showed us around in the community, whilst explaining and answering our questions.
Findings and Reflections Not everyone in the community has access to a toilet. Some families have joined forces and built a common toilet. Due to lack of space this sometimes means that one has to enter somebody else´s house in order to reach the toilet at the back of the house. Lack of sewer lines has led to many families building toilets above the drain that crosses the neighbourhood. The drain crossing the site is clogged with waste from community inhabitants and outsiders. It has become a dumping area, where all kinds of waste is dumped. As a consequence it is polluted and malodorous and risks becoming a health hazard, carrying illnesses brought by insalubrious water. When interviewing and collecting data, we found it hard to know if we had interpretated the answer correctly, even when the questions were straight forward. We sometimes got contradicting answers. This can of course be due to the language barrier and translation, but also a cultural barrier and a class barrier, where some might answer in the way they thought we wanted them to answer. Whenever possible, especially when it came to technical questions, we asked them to show us, rather than just answer our questions.
70 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 46
METHOD: Semi-Structured Interviews/Walking and Talking 71
Proposal for Covering of Drains Regular maintenance of the drain should be undertaken by the municipality. However, in order to avoid future use as a dumping area, we propose to cover the drain, offering a link between different parts of the community. At the start of the drain covering, vertical grills are proposed to be installed, in order to ease maintenance.
Methane vent pipes Drain cover slabs Bollards
Collecting Household Data On several occasion we revisited the community in order to collect household data, focusing on the toilet situation, since the community expressed this to be one of their greatest concerns.
Individual/Shared Toilets Individual toilet Shared toilet No toilet No information available
Complete/Incomplete Toilets
Toilet Disposal Connection Sewer
Complete toilet (pan, walls, roof/door)
Incomplete toilet (pan, wall, no roof/door)
Drain
No toilet
Septic tank/soak pit
No information available
No toilet
No information available
72 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 46
Pocket 2 (households METHOD: Collecting Household Data 73 130-154) 4 toilets 23 households
toilets households 5 Sewer Lines Proposal forPocket Extended
(households 1-18 by the state/municipality. The sewer extension should be provided
Pocket 2 (households 130-154) 4 toilets 23 households
& 105-128) 15 toilets 42 households
Pocket (house Pockets 156-18 Existing drain Pocket 412 toil Existing sewer 27 hou
(households 184-199) Community tap 10 toilets Existing community tank Temple 17 household
Pocket 3 (households 156-182) 12 toilets 27 households Pocket 1
Existing street light
Proposed sewer
(households 19-104) 49 toilets 92 households
Pocket 5 (households 1-18 & 105-128) 15 toilets 42 households
Pocket 2 (households 130-154) 4 toilets 23 households Pocket 3 (households 156-182) 12 toilets 27 households
Pocket 4 (households 184-199) 10 toilets 17 households
Toilet in house (reducing the space in existing house): 0 votes
Toilet attached, in front of house (reducing open space): 11 votes
Toilet detached from house (possibly shared with others): 8 votes
Weighting Planning Options Since there is a lack of space in the settlement, placement of toilets is a negotiation of space. The adults participating in the workshop were asked which toilet placement they would prefer: in their house (reducing the space in their existing house), attached in front of their house (reducing open space), detached from their house (possibly shared with others).
74 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 46
METHOD: Weighting Planning Options 75
Findings and Reflections We found that the inhabitants that have space in front of their house prefer to have their toilet attached, in front of their house, and the families that do not, prefer it detached. Nobody prefers to have it inside their house, since they already lacked indoor space.
Proposal for New Toilets Everyone should have access to a toilet. The number of people sharing a toilet should be reduced in Maa Mangala Basti. In order to achieve this new individual and/or shared toilets should be built. Broken toilets should be repaired, toilets in an incomplete state could be completed. The toilets should be connected to the main sewer and the sewer which overflows the drain should be repaired by the municipality. Households, who have not yet availed subsidies from Swachh Bharat Mission (Rs. 8000 for SC/ST/single women, Rs. 5300 for others) can apply for construction of a new toilet. The rest is to be paid by the household. If the roof of twhe toilet is provided with a load-bearing structure, it could support a water tank. This is something that the children of the community wish for.
Cross-beam supporting roof and water tank
<--- Water tank
<--- Water tap
Community Strengths and Weaknesses Ten sites were chosen by us together with the community. Photographs of the sites were pinned on the wall. Adult inhabitants of the community, who had come to the workshop, marked the photographs with green (positive) or red (negative) and commented on the site. The procedure was repeated with a group of children.
76 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 46
METHOD: Community Strengths and Weaknesses 77 Adults:
Adults:
5
0
0 Comments: Clean Children: 0 0 Comments:
2 Comments: Not clean, no slab on drain Children: 3 6 Comments: Not maintained properly, tree, open space, good as it is
Adults:
Adults:
0
4
7
0
Comments: Not clean
Comments: Clean
Children:
Children:
0 9
3 0
Comments: Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want that everybody throws their garbage here, untidy, dirty
Comments: Clean, play, dark at night
Adults:
Adults:
10
5
0 Comments: Sacred place, peaceful, clean
0 Comments: Peaceful, clean, Head of Society
Children:
Children:
16
7
0
2
Comments: Temple, colour of temple, playing around, gather during power cut
Comments: Like to cycle, need to play, clean, tree in the middle, area to sit, want light, needs clean up
Findings and Reflections The activity made inhabitants talk. The motivations were telling more than the actual marking of green or red. At first the workshop was mostly attended by women, but after a while some men joined. The men were very dominant and there is a risk that some inhabitants answers might have affected the answers of others. The same goes for the children; we are a bit afraid that they were affected by how they should answer, instead of expressing how they felt, since there were adults watching them during the activity.
Drawing Workshop Exploring Your Neighbourhood Street lights
The children of the settlement were asked to draw how they would like their home to be. After finishing drawing they were asked to explain what they had drawn. Thereafter the children showed their favourite area as well as a place they wanted to change.
Water tank
Clean streets and dust bins
78 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 46
Trees
METHOD: Drawing Workshop Exploring Your Neighbourhood 79
Wall mounted solar lamp
Roof mounted solar lamp
Solar panel LED bulb
Findings and Reflections The children drew street lights and explained that there are few lights. In informal settlements many activities are carried out outside the house. Therefore the requirement for light outdoors is greater. As there is a lack of open space, children often use the streets to play on. The children chose the street in front of the temple as their favourite place to play. They pointed out however, that they did not like the building debris that had been dumped on the side of the street and that it at night gets dark under the tree. They expressed their wish for more street lights in order to feel safe, especially on the street approaching the temple. Toilets, dust bins and access to sufficient amount of safe drinking and bathing water are other wishes, that the children expressed through their drawings. When we started the workshop, we provided the children with colour crayons and paper. The first thing that happend was that the whole community mobilised in order to find rulers and pencils. The children are probably taught in school, that the proper way to draw is first to create a rectangle with pencil and then to fill in with colour.
Proposal for Open Space and Street Light Our proposal is to install solar lights, as they do not require electricity and hence function during power cuts. They can either be fixed to the wall, using special screws to avoid theft or clipped to the roof.
Waste Segregation Game Adults and children where given cards of different kinds of waste. They had to choose if they wanted to keep it, throw it in a bin for organic waste (to be composted), dry waste (recyclables) or others.
Findings and Reflections During the workshop we found out that some people of the community were enthusiastic about composting. Although the families that have cattle feed their animals with their food waste, other families do not. This waste could be composted. Some keep their recyclables in order to sell, whereas others throw away certain recyclables. Local bins in the community will increase the possibility that the area is kept clean. The game was a great way to make the community talk about waste segregation. We understood their current habits and they started to think about how they could gain from changing their habits.
80 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 46
METHOD: Waste Segregation Game 81
Proposal for Waste Management Both the adults and children expressed their wishes for a cleaner environment as currently there is a lot of waste on the streets and in the drains. In order to achieve a cleaner environment we propose multiple waste containers in different parts of the settlement. The community has agreed to segregate waste and expressed interest in composting. Therefore we propose three containers; one for organic, one for recyclables and one for other waste. The recyclables that do not get retrieved should be picked up by the municipality along with the other waste.
Developing Neighbourhood Scenarios We presented a plan of the settlement with landmarks and asked the community to identify locations for more street lights, bins for waste, water tanks and a community hall with coloured pins; yellow for light, red for community hall, blue for water tank, green for waste bins and light green for compost.
Findings and Reflections Unfortunately not all areas of the community were represented and therefore the pins on the board only reflect the view of part of the community. Many wanted to have as much as possible close to their house. If more people from the community had been represented an interesting discussion and negotiation would probably have taken place.
82 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 46
4 toilets Pocket 5 23 households METHOD: Developing Neighbourhood Scenarios 83 (households 1-18 Pocket 3 & 105-128) (household 15 toilets Pocket 2 Proposal for Placement of More Bins, Street Light, Water Tanks (households 156-182) 42 households 130-154) 12 toilets 4 toilets Pocket 5 23 households 27 househ (households 1-18
Pocket 5 (households 1-18 & 105-128) 15 toilets 42 households
Pocket 2 (households 130-154) 4 toilets 23 households
& 105-128) 15 toilets 42 households
Pocket 3 (households 156-182) 12 toilets 27 households
Pocket 3 (households Pockets 156-182) Pocket 412 toilets Existing drain 27 households (households
184-199)
Existing sewer 10 toilets
17 households Existing street light
Community tap
Existing community tank
Temple
Proposed sewer
Proposed street light
Proposed waste bin
Proposed compost
Proposed community tank
84 Maa Mangala Basti, ward 46
Conclusion During this workshop we integrated a way of analysing that is different to what we are used to, taking in the perspective of different stakeholders rather than from former personal experiences and practice. We have learned to adapt our listening to take in the way the community is living, their history, their organisation, how they relate to each other within the neighbourhood, how they go to work. Additionally, we have also considered available construction materials and methods. We have also learnt the importance of being flexible. We had e.g. planned a meeting that took a different path because we had missed an important element in the organisation of the settlement. The last workshop we organised did not proceed as planned as the community chief needed to consult with other inhabitants. After a while, most of the workshop participants left since it was time to collect water; a vital daily routine since water is only provided twice a day. However, by accepting their system we got a deeper understanding of the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s priorities: the way they operate, what is feasible, and what their limits are. Regardless of our intentions, we are dealing with peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives and we do not want to impose our proposals on them. The interest and solutions have to come from them, so we have to get as close as possible without creating unrealistic expectations, as we are not necessarily in control of the progress and future development of the project. Some of the best suggestions came from the workshop we organised with the children, during which we asked them to draw their ideal home or the place they preferred. The spontaneity of their drawings gave us a lot of material to develop into the design proposals. We are aware that we have only been involved in the early stages of Maa Mangala Bastiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current community development project. We now hope that the process continues in a participatory manner together with the local partners.
Goddam Sahi, Bhubaneswar
Airphoto of Godam Sahi with the agricultural fields of the university in the background
Introduction The settlement of Godam Sahi in Bhubaneswar started around 60 years ago during late 50’s. Many dwellers came from Ganjam district in south Odisha to find a job in the city. They used to be construction workers but after moving here most of them became agricultural workers. They work on the fields next to the Godam Sahi growing rice, vegetables, potatoes and cultures for the research done by the university. Many of them own cows. There are around 20-50 cows in the area. According to the community leader, who has represented the neighbourhood since 1973, there are around 142 households and 1000 dwellers in Godam Sahi. Many people moved to the settlements in 1999 affected by the “Super Cyclone”.
Participants
Debashreeta Mishra (IND) Manon Troux (FRA) Marianna Svanberg (SWE) Alok Ranjan (IND)
Measuring the community building
Semi-Structured Interviews and Mapping The first day we went to Godam Sahi we met the community leader who gave us a brief first idea about the site. We walked around from household to household and talked to the dwellers. The residents were asked about their way of living, their families, their households, the basic services in the area and the surroundings around Godam Sahi. At the same time notes were taken and houses measured.
1. Entrance
88 Goddam Sahi
2. Temple
3. Backyard areas (Open Defecation Area)
4. Backyard areas
METHOD: Semi-Structured Interviews and Mapping 89
Findings and Reflections The site of Godam Sahi is located close to the city between the urban settlements of the city on the west side and the rural area with the open fields on the east side. Only 200â&#x20AC;&#x201C;300 meter away from the site is the busstation of Bhubaneswar which facilitates the transportation of the inhabitants to other places. The people from the community do not travel very far, especially not the women. Some men used bicycles to go to work. Around one kilometer from Godam Sahi there is a market place, the Puchika Market where people often buy food for cooking. A lot of vegetation are growing within the community, for example papaya-, pineapple-, mango-, banana-, and coconut trees. The area is quite lush and some households have their own kitchen garden to grow vegetables. Most houses are made of semi permanent pucca materials like mud and bamboo for the walls and corrugated sheet, bamboo and plastic covers for the roof. For water supply they use either the wells or taps with water from the municipality. The municipality water supply is very limited; only a few houses closest to the city have access during some hours per day. The rest bring water from a common tap close to the temple or from the wells. The water in the wells is not very clean and mainly used for watering plants or washing. Since 5 years electricity is installed in many houses which is a big advantage. Still there is a lack of electrical light in some houses and after sunset the outdoor space also becomes really dark. The land is owned by the University of Agriculture The site has a natural slope towards a big storm drain that was built on the west side of the settlement. Water from rain, washing clothes/dishes, showering, cooking, cleaning, watering the plants ends up there. This place is very polluted and has a dangerous passage over to the fields.
Map with the surrounding of the site
Semi pucca house in Godam Sahi
90 Goddam Sahi
Main drainage dike behind the houses and a well for water supply.
METHOD: Semi-Structured Interviews and Mapping 91
Permanent individual toilets
Only a few houses have individual toilets. We counted around 4 permanent toilets and 14 that were temporary (a hole in the ground with plastic sheet to prevent insight) in Godam Sahi. Those who do not have access to these toilets are using the fields or the open area behind the houses for open defecation. The lack of proper toilets and showers is a problem because it is uncomfortable for many inhabitants to walk far to the open defecation, especially when the weather is bad. Garbage is also a big problem. All garbage is thrown at some few points on the back of the site. After a while when the piles of garbage become big enough they are put on fire. The waste is both a health risk and gives bad smell in the area. One solution to the waste problem is municipal collection through trucks, but to be able to drive a truck through the site the roads would have to be a bit wider. There is one road through the settlement to the back of the site that is wide enough for a truck.
Garbage behind the houses
Very few in the community can speak English and to be able to communicate we had to translate everything from English to Odia (the local language) and the other way around. This was done mainly by the indian members of the group, but also by members of SPARC and UDRC that were with us and helping us at some points. After using this methodology we got a brief but holistic picture of the site. The most important things to focus on later in the analysis were:
1. Water supply 2. Electricity 3. Drainage 4. Toilets
92 Goddam Sahi
Drawing Workshop with Children Many children gathered in front of the temple and were asked to draw how they wanted Godam Sahi to be like. After finishing the drawing some of the paintings were chosen and the child who had drawn each one was encouraged to briefly present the drawing and the thought behind it. A lot of people were gathered around them to listen.
Findings and Reflections The drawings had a lot of things in common; the pucca roads, the street lights, the garbage bins, the entrance to the site and the pucca houses. All drawings were gathered and the information on the drawings was developed into numbers. We wanted to get a clearer picture of the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wishes and needs by counting how many time different things appeared on the drawings. These are the results from the 23Â drawings we got:
Garbage bins 20/23 Street light 18/23 Water supply 14/23 Pucca road 11/23 Distinguishable entrance 8/23 Day nursery 7/23 Hospital 4/23 Library 1/23 It was interesting to see how the children imagine and dreamed about their site. They had very similar wishes. It is possible that they affected each other because they were all sitting and drawing together. In that aspect it might have been interesting to separate the children in groups and see if the results would differ from group to group. After this methodology the main focus of the developed solutions were:
1. Garbage bins 2. Electricity 3. Water supply
94 Goddam Sahi
METHOD:Drawing Workshop with Children 95
Presentation of the drawings
96 Goddam Sahi
METHOD: Dreambox 97
Dreambox The dreambox was a simple box where everyone could put small pieces of paper with dreams written on. It was placed closed to where we held other workshops.
Findings It was easy to transform them to a diagram and we could get a clearer picture of people’s needs by counting how many times different things were mentioned. The result on the 26 papers showed that:
1. 9/26 participators mentioned toilets 2. 5/26 participators mentioned street lights 3. 4/26 participators mentioned water supply Pucca roads, gas connection, drainage, garbage disposal, play ground was also mentioned. We were surprised by the fact that street light s were the second most mentioned.
Reflections This methodology is perfect to use for understanding and analysing the situation in an area together with the community without influencing the results. Not even the participants could influence each other (which could happen in other workshops) because in this case their wishes were written down and put directly in the dream box. There were no limits in what you could wish for and the participants had the possibility to think “outside the box”. This workshop was very fruitful but also easy in many ways. The Preparation went quickly; all we needed was a shoebox, some paper and pens. On the site we just had the box close to us and encouraged people to write their wishes or dreams and put it in the box. At the same time we could do other workshops parallel to this one as it didn’t need much participation from our side. To focus on after this methodology:
1. Toilets 2. Street lights 3. Water supply
98 Goddam Sahi
METHOD: Exploring Through a 3D Model 99
Exploring Through a 3D Model To better understand the site of Godam Sahi our group built a physical model made by styrofoam and cardboard. It was used when talking with a stakeholder from the municipality but also for discussions in the group and with the community. We also made a 3D-model in a computer program to elaborate the different proposals.
Findings and Reflections The physical site model was useful to have and discuss around. With the computer model it was possible to try different solutions and to illustrate how a place would look like after making some changes. Comparing the physical model with the 2D siteplan of the area, it was clear that the our group used the plan a lot more. It was absolutely necessary to have and to discuss around, to make notes on and mark places. The physical model was good to have to show to the community as the 2D drawing is not always so easy to understand. The 3D model is a good way to illustrate and present different ideas.
Priority Tool Kit We chose seven photographs of places on the site that were interesting to analyse. Those photographs showed:
1. 2. 3. 4.
The entrance (from three different points) The open defecation area The garbage area Airphoto of the site-center (two different)
Different symbols representing trees, flowers, showers, toilets, playgrounds, street lights, water taps, garbage bins, etc were put next to the photos. When everyone was gathered the participants put the symbols on the photos where they thought it suited best. If some activity or object were missing the participants could draw their own symbols on post-it notes and place them on the picture.
Findings and Reflections Throughout our work and discussions with the community we realised a lot of new things and some answers were unexpected. For example in one case the children put a water tap at the entrance of the site and we asked them to explain why. They said that they wanted people from outside the site to come and take water so they can meet and socialise with them. At the moment they rarely got visited by people from outside the community which they found quite sad. They wanted the entrance to be used as a meeting point between different areas. The analysis took a large part of our work and for the discussion we focused on the two most important places:
1. The entrance: vegetation, shops, water, garbage bin, bench, street lights 2. The open defecation area: vegetation, street light, playground, water tap, bench, garbage bins, street lights This methodology was fun and immediately attracted a lot of people. It was easy to understand without a lot of explanation and even children that was not so loud and talkative could participate by placing the symbols on the photographs.
100 Goddam Sahi
METHOD: Priority Tool Kit 101
Improvements to the implementation of this methodology would be to have more different types of symbols to give more possibilities and less restrictions to the participants. It would also help to present all the photographs next to each other at the same time rather than discussing one at a time, in order to easier ponder the choices and define priorities. Tasks to focus on:
1. Designing the entrance 2. Designing the open defecation area
102 Goddam Sahi
METHOD: Community Strengths and Weaknesses 103
Community Strengths and Weaknesses We chose 6 different points on the site to focus on:
1. The whole site 2. The entrance 3. The defecation area 4. The pits/wells 5. The common spaces (tempel, community house) 6. Garbage Under the pictures we divided the paper into two columns. The positive and the negative space. The participants had to come up with advantages and disadvantages of the different places and we put them in the right column.
Findings and Reflections The whole site has a very good location close to the bus station and most residents worked within the surrounding area. The entrance was pointed out as a problematic place and need for improvements was expressed. The defecation area as well. Pits and wells were unsafe for children and animals and in urgent need for development. The common spaces were appreciated and loved by everyone. Its was interesting to hear their point of view of the participants regarding the advantages and disadvantages of their community. They have a more holistic idea of the place. Many things changes during the rainy season or during night and only those who live there can identify those problems. For example the garbage disposal on the back of the site doesn’t smell much during the dry period but that changes when it rains. Also the open defecation area is worse at night and during the rainy season. These disadvantages were brought up and discussed. To focus on after this methodology:
1. The entrance 2. Toilets / Open defecation 3. Pits / wells
Toilet Bathroom Drain Bins Container Bins Cows’ Dung Water Supply Proposal Water
Developing Scenarios This map summarises our different physical proposals presented to professionals of UDRC and SPARC in order for them to develop findings and ideas further. The main areas developed throughout the discussions with the community were:
• Drainage • Toilets • Water supply • Garbage • Streetlights Key locations:
• Entrance • Backyards areas
104 Goddam Sahi
METHOD: Developing Scenarios 105
Drainage The proposal developed for the drainage of the water in the area was to use the existing natural slopes to lead the water to the main dike at the lowest side flows through several paths, which can be used as an advantage. Instead of letting the water run uncontrollable and gather on undesirable spots it should be lead in strategic locations by building a proper drainage system. The dikes should have big capacity to manage a big quantity of water during the rainy season.
Possible solution for drainage on the site
Section showing dikes
Toilets For the toilets, we understood from the community that they have various needs and possibilities, depending on the number of the family or their location. Some families can have an individual toilets while others do not have space for it. That’s why our proposal suggest to work with a basic unit, which can be adapted. For this unit, we have four main ideas:
• Each family has one unit with a personal lock. • For the drainage, a septic tank with 3 steps of purification. • Due to the high natural level of water, the toilet is placed on a high platform. This platform resemles the vernacular houses of the inhabitants. Inside this platform is the shared septic tank. • A gap between roof and walls, for ventilation and sunlight. This unit can be adapted with the needs of the inhabitants. For example, there is possibility having two, three or six toilets together. We can also imagine a shower with a toilet unit, sharing the same platform.
Basic Unit – Concept
106 Goddam Sahi
Basic Unit – Building Materials
METHOD: Developing Scenarios 107
Today there are around 19 taps for 142 households. They are mostly located in the main street and next to the temple. There is a lack of water supply especially in the south area. During the priority toolkit activity, we understood that the community also needed more water supply in common areas. Therefore we proposed to install taps in:
â&#x20AC;˘ Playground area â&#x20AC;˘ Entrance â&#x20AC;˘ South area
Garbage Garbage is a major issue in the area. It takes up a lot of space, especially in the backyard areas. There are no bins. The collection from the municipality is irregular. We propose to add bins and bigger containers in various places. As the kids said during the drawing workshop, we suggest to install bins for recycling. We also propose more gathering space for cow dung.
Bins along the main street can be collected by the municipality
Street Lights Street light was a dream for many in Godam Sahi. The proposal is to install street lights along the main roads, however the issue of land ownership might be a limitation. The site is owned by the University of Agriculture.
Entrance The propsal for the entrance was to be transfered into a meeting point for people inside and outside the community. The space can be more open by removing garbage and cleaning the place. The shops placed there to attract people and benches for socialisation. To make big and expensive changes would not be realistic for now, but even smaller changes would hopefully make big difference for the site.
Proposals for the entrance from the 3D-model
108 Goddam Sahi
METHOD: Developing Scenarios 109
Picture taken from Priority toolkit activity
Backyard Areas According to the results of the workshops, the community proposed to transform the open-defecation area into an meeting place withs:
• Playground for children • Community toilets • Taps • Benches
Reflections The goal of this publication is not to compare the different studies and neighborhoods, neither to evaluate good or bad practice or assess the impact of our interventions, but to document the use of participatory methods in different specific contexts and display practical examples of the use of theorised methodologies and tools for participatory engagement and design. We therefore would like to share thoughts and reflections from some of the participants on the set of methods used during the course, the main difficulties encountered as well as reflections on our role as architects in participatory design and participatory planning processes.
The Set of Methods Used During the Course ”We went back and forth between theory and field work. The set of methodologies presented was very relevant and we then combined and adapted them to fit the specific community and context in which we were working” (Laxmanpur group) “We adjusted the methods and improvised” (Malgodam group) ”Following the different proposed steps was at time a playful way of putting in place an activity with very serious purpose. The fact that we would organise the different events in a casual way made the community in the slum free to express their needs.” (Anonymous) ”Thanks to the participatory methods we could get unexpected answers and a more correct picture of what the inhabitants really wanted.” (Godam Sahi group) ”This experience gave me a lot of confidence in the potential of participatory methodologies” (Malgodam group) “Because of these methods, I now have new ways of thinking and new ways of working in a field. This methods are for me a precious communication medium” (Godam Sahi group)
Difficulties Encountered “I was not prepared for our community having so low literacy rate, so some of the methods did not work out so well because of this. […] It would be good to discuss how methods can be adjusted for similar situations.” (Malgodam group) ”Translation between the facilitating group and community members became a daily challenge. The people able to translate (indian participants or local NGO members) were not trained as neutral translators and not always aware and complying with the non-dictating principles of participatory methods. ” (Laxmanpur group) “We had difficulties with translation. We sensed that they [the translators] tried to influence the answers from the community and sometimes translated biased or omitting some comments, which also complicated the communication” (Malgodam group)
”It would have been great that each group member had studied the methodologies and tools beforehand, so we could have a common knowledge and references base and be able to prepare the exercises better” (Maa Mangala Basti 46 group) ”I wish we had more time to discuss about the workshops within the group, both before to prepare how we planned to facilitate the activity, and after to discuss the outputs” (Godam Sahi group) ”Finding out the best ways to communicate with the community members was one of our main obstacles.” (Laxmanpur group)
Reflections on Our Role as Architects in Participatory Design and Planning Processes ”Engaging with communities through participatory methods allow us, professionals in the field of architecture and urban design, to better understand the real needs and the existing structures in place within communities. This understanding leads us, for example, to identify specific actions that are likely to provide the best impact on the improvement of the resilience of the communities, and to propose concrete solutions that are gradually implementable in the specific physical and social context of each settlement. Those solutions are not necessarily technical. They are rather recommendations and strategies of development that need to be further developed by competent technicians and engineers that are aware of the merits provided by those strategies.” (Laxmanpur group) ”The community had a lot of ideas for improving the site, but as the local organisations told us everything was not possible to accomplish. Therefore our role was also to inform them about the possibilities of the site and what kind of subsidy the Governments could contribute with.” (Godam Sahi group) ”It was necessary to understand the framework at National, State and Local levels to determine what could be the possibilities, which institutions can be involved and what the procedures are.” (Maa Mangala Basti 46 group) “Urban poverty […] is for me one of the most important issues that we have to face in the next years. As an architect, I feel very concerned and I would like to work full time on this subject” (Godam Sahi group)
”This workshop not only allowed us to put into practice the theoretical knowledge acquired during the previous stages of Challenging Practice course by tackling many issues discussed in the introduction readings and using participatory methods presented during Stage A case studies. It also brought me a better understanding of the specific need for architects in slum upgrading.” (Laxmanpur group) “In my present work I haven’t had the chance to meet the actual users organisations community in any project. […] Probably very few clients would like to pay for the time it is taking” (Malgodam group) “One of the most important lessons for me is about creating a real exchange of knowledge between architects or urban planners and the inhabitants for whom we work. I work in an urbanism office and we also organize meetings with inhabitants. The methods that we experimented during the workshop give me more ideas. I would like to improve these meetings, to work more deeply with them, more than a simple talk.” (Godam Sahi group) ”I think I will be able to use these participatory methods both in Sweden and internationally in my work, both commercial and pro-bono work. The knowledge of the Indian context will mostly be useful in India, but I think there are also some things which are applicable in slums worldwide.” (Maa Mangala basti 46 group) ”Learning in action is an efficient process. The direct application of the information and methodology and re-evaluation of our professional standards allow us to provide better builtenvironment solutions.” (Maa Mangala basti 46 group) “This workshop helped us in developing critical thinking.” (Maa Mangala basti 46 group) ”It is useful to know how to find ways to reveal the needs of those we design for.” (Godam Sahi group)
Glossary Basti/ Sahi Community or settlement BMC (Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation) Administrative and executive body of the municipality of Bhubaneswar CMC (Cuttack Municipal Corporation) Administrative and executive body of the municipality of Cuttack Chulla/Chulha Traditional earth cooking stove using biomass like wood, wood chips, sawdust, dung or any other combustible matter as fuel Godown Warehouse or other storage place (often used by waste traders or stockists), in India and Southeast Asia Kutcha/Katcha House Non-durable house, often constructed of bamboo, mud, thatch, tarpaulin, polyethylene and/or reed Mahila Milan Network of poor womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collectives, performing informal banking services and representative functions. Patta right Land tenure right stated on an official document. Pucca/Pacca House Durable house, often constructed of brick, cement, plaster and with reinforced cement concrete roof Self Help Group (SHG) / Saving groups Community or village-based saving groups, where members make small regular savings. When there is enough capital the group begin lending, to members or to others in the community.SHGs may also get micro-credit from banks. SPARC (The Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres) Nation-wide NGO in India, working to improve the status and living conditions of urban poor and slum dwellers UDRC (Urban and Development Resource Centre) Odisha-based NGO, functioning as an extension of SPARC and a support organisation of Mahila Milan
ASF Sweden In Situ studio Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Trydells Tryckeri, Helsingborg 2018 1st print, 1st edition Editors: Teres Selberg, Sabine Lepère. Contributors: Texts, photos and drawings have been provided by workshop participants and facilitators, in particular Edith Humble, Helena Ohlsson, Linda Ringqvist, Marianna Svanberg, Sanna Edqvist and Vinodkumar Rao. Graphic design: Kerstin Hanson. In collaboration with: SPARC (Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Center), UDRC (Urban Development Resource Center), Mahila Milan and NSDF (National Slum Dwellers Federation). With financial support from: ASF Sweden, ARQ Foundation for Architecture Research and FFNS Foundation for Research, Development and Education. © 2018 ASF Sweden (Architecture Sans Frontières Sweden) has the rights to this book. All contributors have the intellectual rights to their own produced material, photos and drawings. ASF Sweden can use material produced for the book in similar, related projects. Any violation are involunteerly and unintended. Claims related to this will be met as if a permission was granted ahead.
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