How do informal settlements take shape? Morphogenesis in three Indian cases

Informal settlements are the primary means of meeting the demand for affordable housing in the global south cities. Yet, the urban design being produced by this now dominant form of production remains invisible in planning documents. We lack a comprehensive understanding of the forms of informality. This thesis identifies the gap in knowledge about settlement growth processes and aims to contribute to the discipline by studying the architecture and urban design of three informal settlements in India. The research adopts a multi-scalar approach that investigates the everyday logics, the particularities of the local context, and the structural processes that play out in the production of these settlements. With a methodological framework based on assemblage thinking, this thesis seeks to understand differences and similarities between settlements along with the agency of material and social actors.
This thesis compares peripheral informal settlements from Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, to answer the following key research questions –

How do informal settlements take shape?
1. How does the urbanisation process of the city impact the settlement’s morphology?
2. What are the different forms of organisation in the settlement and the politics of form-making?
3. What role does materiality play during the growth processes?

The thesis provides a nuanced account of the interrelations between urban morphology, historical context and threats of eviction; it shows that informal settlement is not unplanned but emerges through complex negotiations between the urban poor, land mafias and the state.