REBUILDING COMMUNITY

The project is an in-situ initiative implemented by Community Design Agency (CDA), working in partnership with Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation (AMC) and local non-profit Snehalaya.

- Sanjaynagar Slum

The project is the redevelopment of a slum comprising 33 homes built in the first phase and 265 homes expected to begin later this year. It is a public/private partnership that is partly funded by the Indian government through its Housing for All (PMAY- Urban) program. AMC and the US-based Curry Stone Foundation also contributed funds, along with the residents themselves. Additional funding is being raised through philanthropic donations.

The team’s mission is to deliver safe and healthy homes, jobs and training, community enrichment programs, and further female homeownership, in order to co-create a vibrant and thriving community with the residents. Current thinking on low-income housing tends to prioritize the quantity of units, resulting in impersonal high-rise structures that degrade rather than supporting the communities they seek to serve. The architects believe that addressing housing inequality is more than building individual units. It is about building communities; creating a balance of safe, healthy private and communal spaces that enhance inherent social bonds and enable human flourishing. The residents of Sanjaynagar have contributed to design decisions at all scales, from the neighbourhood level to the customizations in their individual homes. The 298 dwelling units are organized into 8 G+2 buildings. To enhance the social infrastructure of the slum, the buildings are organized around eight courtyards of varying sizes. When completed, Sanjaynagar will be a fully functional neighbourhood with all essential amenities including water, drainage, roads, street lighting, childcare and community centers, courtyards for healthy recreation, and edible rooftop gardens. At the end of the project, it will no longer be a slum.