The Model Slum

"Dharavi, a Mumbai slum where 600,000 residents are crammed into 520 acres, contains the attributes for environmentally and socially sustainable settlements for the world's increasingly urban population, he said. The district's use of local materials, its walkable neighbourhoods, and mix of employment and housing add up to 'an underlying intuitive grammar of design that is totally absent from the faceless slab blocks that are still being built around the world to 'warehouse' the poor'.

he prince's comments are likely to be seen as a criticism of western developers who export plans for large-scale, often high-rise buildings to developing countries. They will also come as a boost for residents of the Mumbai slums who protested against Slumdog Millionaire for characterising them as 'dogs' and fought attempts to demolish their homes to make way for skyscrapers."