ABSTRACT
Spread across two acres in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra is Sanjaynagar, home to 937 low-income residents who have lived here for the past four decades. The area is being converted to provide residents with 298 sustainable, well-designed, climate-resilient homes created through a participatory design process with the Mumbai-based design and architecture studio Community Design Agency (CDA). This chapter explores how social sustainability can be achieved through investing in the community’s social capital and tapping into their collective resilience, built over years of living together and overcoming adversities and challenges. Through its community-driven approach, CDA is establishing a benchmark for low-income housing that can be scaled across India.
When communities at the margins are placed at the center of decision-making and equipped with adequate tools to thrive, they see transformative impact. CDA’s approach to leveraging social capital is two-pronged – collectively designing robust, well-equipped homes and outdoor spaces, such as courtyards and rooftop terraces, that enhance the community’s social bonds and facilitating financial mechanisms that aid low-income families in becoming homeowners. Because marginalized groups in the Global South are disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis, the Sanjaynagar housing project pays special attention to developing sustainable, climate-resilient homes for this community to prosper and grow.
