Design for Dignity

It’s the year 1947- India is born again. More than 80% Indians are living in villages and approximately 75% people are involved in agriculture. The country is feeling financially crippled but we are determined to change that. We are free to do anything. We all can have a life now that we were not even allowed to dream of! This is independent India.

Its 1950’s and free India is already making urban centric development policies. Industrial revolution has also reached India after Europe and America. With all the marginalization of farming lands, drought, lack of technology and tools, lack of infrastructure or any hope of infrastructure in near future, life in villages seems tough.

On the other hand, with all the job opportunities, health facilities, educational infrastructure, life seems quite inviting in cities. Let us all move to cities. We can have a better life and finally we will live with dignity in cities once we have a regular income and access to good education.

Oh wait! It has become a movement. Too many people are moving to cities. Who will do the farming? Who will work for the technological advancements of agricultural practices?

Its 1980’s and it has become uncontrollable! People are leaving villages and poverty behind hopeful for prosperity in urban areas. This is putting tremendous pressure on cities as well. Cities do not have so many jobs and infrastructure to employ and house everyone coming.

Exponentially growing population is making all the efforts go in vain. Cities are bursting at the seams, cannot keep up with the constant inflow of people seeking work, shelter, and a better life. Jobs are limited, housing is scarce, and basic services are stretched thin. Instead of escaping poverty, people are simply relocating it—from the villages to the urban slums. This is more like urbanization of poverty. 

Year after year, decade after decade, government is coming up with multiple housing programs and schemes. Beneficiaries for multiple known reasons do not hesitate to give up the allotted ‘shelter’. Quality of life is no different than how we used to live earlier in slums, our workplace is far, we can’t find work in nearby areas and lack of public transport makes it even more difficult. Work-life balance is only a gaiety of rich. Why not use these allotted units/benefits as an asset to at least meet some immediate goals like wedding, education, health emergency by selling it off or renting it out. We can go back to our previous life with some added money for the time being!

It’s the year 2025- India is celebrating 78 years of freedom! We are now the most populus country in the world with approximately 1.46 billion people. Approximately 37% i.e. 542.7 million of these people are living in cities now. The number is expected to become 40% by 2030. Moreover, 10.1 million people living in cities do not have access to a proper housing facility and this number is expected to become 30.2 million by 2030. A 2024 report by Nigerian Tribune which estimated slum population of 10 countries even mentioned that 262 million urban population of India is living in slums.  

The government has introduced various interventions to address the issue, but past records clearly highlight a persistent pattern of inefficiency. Decision makers, scholars and researchers – everyone is doing their own analysis and trying to come up with a much wholistic solution in the form of affordable housing, affordable rental housing, affordable transitional housing, co-housing, innovation in construction techniques, decentralization of material supply chain, amendment of bylaws, introducing zoning regulations and so much more.

One component which still needs some more attention is efficiency of design. It is vital to revisit what makes housing truly livable. Design to create a sense of belongingness and dignity- exactly what people came looking for in the cities but never got. Designing with intent makes it possible to create homes that feel open, functional, and dignified. Functional design and depth in details can create homes that users are proud of, not just forced to accept. Lack of post hand over maintenance of units to the customers/beneficiaries eventually creates ‘New Urban Slums’ and defeats the purpose of creating these assets in the first place.

It is not enough to build walls and roofs; we need to build homes and neighbourhoods that instill pride and belonging. Inclusive design practices that incorporate flexibility, adaptability, and cultural sensitivity can transform spaces from basic habitation units to thriving living environments.

The gaps often arise from prioritizing cost reduction and rapid construction over user-centric design. In most of the cases these EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) and AHU (Affordable Housing Unit) have overly compact design. As per guidelines only 30 sqm of carpet area which is approximately 322 sqft is needed for an EWS/AHU unit. Now we must acknowledge that these units are going to house families with an average HH size of 5. Such cramped spaces force residents to compromise on privacy, functionality and comfort in day-to-day life. An obvious expectation is that moving to such housing facilities will improve the quality of life to a great degree as compared to their lives in squatter slums but reality seems to be disappointing. Most of the spaces have overlapping function in an inefficient manner. Lack of storage and service areas lead to a cluttered lifestyle. Lack of solar exposure inside the units and poor ventilation often creates a melancholic environment for all.

If we ever walk into an EWS/AHU housing, we notice narrow poorly lit corridors cluttered with house-hold paraphernalia like shoes, cloth drying lines, storage boxes, overflowing dustbins etc. We often tend to infer from this cite that inhabitants have a lack sense on how to live efficiently and in an organized manner. What we need to see is that they do not have sufficient storage space, any dedicated space for laundry or such utilities, mismanagement of volumes on design level and waste management facility is completely missing.

The above points may seem less important if we see all the other issues that India is still dealing with in 2025. To fully understand the magnum of the situation it must be acknowledged that we are talking about at least 17% of India’s current population.  These issues can impact at least lives of 250 million Indians. They are a major part of countries workforce. Directly and indirectly; their participation in secondary activities, tertiary activities, domestic help and labour force; makes them a very critical pillar of country’s socio-economic balance. Home is where they go to after a long hard day of work and from where they start everyday afresh. It is critical if we are making effort to support them in having a home (not a mere shelter) then we must make it in the right direction with all our intent and sincerity.

A revision in the standards and guidelines of EWS/AHU housing units is a critical first step. All the stakeholders like central government, state government, policy makers, architects and engineers need to come together and come up with a more dignified and practical solution for it. We need to develop more efficient layouts and prototypes as a base. At the same time, we must not force on scalability of these layouts state-wide or countrywide. Every EWS/AHU housing design should be responsive to its context just like any other housing scheme without any negotiation. Low cost and affordability do not have to be synonymous to compromise, poor in quality or settling for less.

The story of independent India is not just one of freedom from colonial rule but it should also be a story of freedom to live with dignity. As we stand in 2025, with the weight of millions seeking homes and hope in our cities, the challenge is clear: to create not just houses, but dignified homes; not just cities, but inclusive communities.

Design for dignity is a call to architects, planners and policymakers alike. It is a call to design with empathy, innovate with intention and govern with accountability.

Aranya Low-Cost Housing in Indore designed by Architect Balakrishna Vithaldas Doshi