RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Pooja Gawali and her family left the tin shack in which they'd live and moved into a new apartment building. She helped design their unit, which, she says, gives her much needed privacy and the space to take on a hobby. Her sewing machine occupies pride of place in her living room. The construction project has won an award for its innovative spirit. Viraj Nayar for NPR hide caption
Pooja Gawali used to live in a one-room home with no indoor plumbing. The walls were tin sheets. The roof leaked when it rained. The 32-year-old shared the cramped space with her husband, her in-laws and her husband's two brothers.
She never knew what it meant to truly relax, she says. The lack of privacy in her home meant that she always had to always be on alert — conscious of how she sat or behaved.
That's not uncommon in Sanjaynagar, a crowded slum in the western Indian state of Maharashtra where she lives. On mud lanes slick with goat droppings, homes press against each other. Around 900 people are squeezed into 206 metal shacks.
Today, things are very different for Gawali. In 2022, she moved into an apartment on the second floor of a newly constructed three-story building with 33 units that houses not just her own family but 30 other families from her slum neighborhood. One brother-in-law lives in the apartment below hers; the other in one above. When their home was being built, the family had a request — they wanted their apartments to be connected through an inner flight of stairs. They got that wish –- and more.
"I relish the privacy I have now," she says. "It's a joy to be able to live freely. We're still a tight-knit family, but life is so much easier when everyone has their own space."
Residents have named the three-story building Swapnapurti — Marathi for "a dream fulfilled." It's easy to see why. Each unit has its own living room, a single bedroom, a kitchen, bathroom with running water and balcony. Green plants and benches line the central courtyard. Bamboo screens along the walls provide natural shade and ventilation.
Children relax outside the newly constructed apartment building. Viraj Nayar for NPR hide caption
And it's noticeably cooler. The architects used building materials like bricks made of crushed sand and ash residue that have been found to be effective insulators, deflecting heat.
A revolutionary design initiative called the Sanjaynagar Redevelopment Project is transforming the slum where Gawali lived in stages. It's a partnership between the local government, charitable donors, nonprofits and family members. Each participating family pays 10% of the costs of construction — roughly $1,000 for a 300-square-foot apartment —which they fund by taking out low-interest housing loans provided by the social lending platform Rang De . Rang De offers peer-to-peer lending, a financial method that connects individual borrowers directly with individual lenders, bypassing traditional banks. The federal government's low-cost housing scheme, called the PMAY, contributes $2,500 and philanthropic donors such as the U.S.-based Currystone Foundation contributed the rest.
Even in these early stages, the project is generating praise, winning the Silver at this year's World Habitat Awards for innovative and sustainable housing projects.
Francesca Lionetti, an expert on housing rights at UN-Habitat, which co-runs the awards, says: "The fact it is community-led means there is a lot of attention on communal areas and social services. It's showing a path for other communities in India and in other parts of the world."
Sandhya Janardhan, an architect with the Community Design Agency, the nonprofit that helped redesign the houses, says the project focuses on the design details alongside the deep bonds the community shares.
Sandhya Janardhan, an architect at Community Design Agency, has been instrumental in this project. Here, she is photographed in a balvadi in the heart of the slum — one of seven community recreational centers set up by the state government. It's a place for children to gather after school, for play and for creating art. Viraj Nayar for NPR hide caption
"All the apartments are built around a central courtyard," says Janardhan. "This is a shared space for children to play, with benches where residents can sit and rest, and where community events can be held. The apartments are flanked by wide corridors that bring light and fresh air into the building."
No one was certain this project would succeed. That's because the organizers had to persuade families to leave the only homes they knew and move into temporary accommodations based on a promise that they would one day return to something better. Their wait spanned three years while their old houses were torn down and rebuilt.
That leap of faith was possible largely because of Snehalaya, a local nonprofit. Snehalaya had been working in the community for years before redevelopment began. Since 2004, the group has run a learning center for children, raised awareness about drug and alcohol abuse and brought doctors and mobile clinics into this neighborhood with very few basic services.
A bird's eye view of the Sanjaynagar slum in the city of Ahmednagar. The terrace of the new apartment building is visible. Roughly 900 people live in 206 metal shacks or dwelling units. Viraj Nayar for NPR hide caption
Over time, this sustained presence built deep trust with residents. When redevelopment was proposed, Snehalaya became an important voice, helping families understand the plans, express concerns and prepare for temporary relocation.
Hanif Shaik, a director of education projects at Snehalaya, says the idea began on a motorbike ride through the community in 2016. He wanted to show Janardhan, the architect, around a balvadi in the heart of the slum. It's one of seven community recreational centers set up by the state government and run by Snehalaya — a place for children to gather after school to play and to create art.
"Slums are easy...
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