Who is not frightened by the idea of the unstoppable growth of cities in Asia and in the former "third world", or by the perspective (apocalyptical, though critically framed) of
moving towards a planet of slums? But in the places closer to this phenomenon - for example in the popular neighborhoods of
Mumbai, India - the idea of
slum has been criticized
since many decades. These urban zones that don't even deserve being called neighborhoods, always presented towards the exterior as
marked by lacks (of hygiene, of safety, of integration, of control, even of morality), under a deeper scrutiny reveal histories and dynamics complex and functional, that
had been interpreted in various forms according to the different theories. Based in an office in
Dharavi-Koliwada (the enormous neighborhood
popularized by Slumdog millionaire), the two urban activists
Matias ECHANOVE and Rahul SRIVASTAVA (from
Urbz collective) show how a series of spontaneous social structures, internal to the so-called
slums, cause a constant improvement and development, often obstructed by local authorities or by urban reform plans. In territories
as thick and reticular as forests of mangroves, the only valid ways to development are those generated by their very users:
homegrown, as the neighborhoods themselves.