the Homegrown Cities project: p2p urbanism for Mumbai

[Michel Bauwens]

via Matias of Urbz:

"We are reaching out to you today because we just launched a crowd-funded project and need your help spreading the word, through your email list and social networks. 

We are proposing a new model for "slum rehabilitation" in Mumbai. The idea is to build on, and enhance existing construction practices in slum-notified areas. In contrast with wholesale redevelopment projects, which dominate the field, we believe that the "solution" is much closer to the "problem" than policy-makers and urban planners seem to imagine. 

We want to demonstrate that it is possible to collaborate with local masons, craftsmen and residents, and add value to their work, by opening venues with collaboration with architects, engineers and material producers. Our starting point is a pilot project in a slum-notified area in Mumbai. 

We will build a fantastic small house and sell it at the price of any other houses in the neighbourhood. And then we will get the ball rolling, repeating the scheme in the initial area and others. The long-term goal is to create housing cooperatives that bring together the people who have benefited from the scheme. These will become agents in the development and improvement of neighbourhood-wide infrastructure and amenities. 

We have written about the project on urbz.net, created a support page on facebookand opened a crowd-funding page on indiegogo. We also have a twitter account."

Here is the Indiegogo crowdfunding page:

http://www.indiegogo.com/project/share/410087