Mumbai's Tool-House

Abstract

Across Mumbai, millions of people, with insufficient capital to purchase or rent property at market rates, occupy space in the most economical ways possible. In the process of optimizing the li le space they have they often mix and merge living and working functions. We refer to this typology as the 'tool-house'. While similar live–work conditions have been identi fied under various avatars all over the world, we look at its particularities in the context of Mumbai and show how its emergence is both context induced and context generating. Entire neighbourhoods, such as Dharavi in the heart of Mumbai are shaped by the presence of tiny tool-houses which, taken together, represent a fantastic productive network. We argue that tool-houses should be recognized as legitimate urban forms, not just in Mumbai but everywhere. In this paper, we show how tool-houses (and more generally live–work structures) have been essential building blocks of urban economies in various moments and times and, along with focusing on Dharavi in Mumbai, we also describe the speci fic case of postwar Tokyo.