Informal settlements are an unavoidable (for the moment) part of urbanization in India and Global South. When building houses in such settlements, people are often constrained to various degrees by various factors. Land tenure, financial resources and emic knowledge, all play a part in the decision-making around the physicality of the constructed house. Can we, as more etic researchers and practitioners, contribute to these endeavors, with some specific suggestions?

The premise is: heat mitigation is not necessarily a strong determinant of building material and architecture choices for most people in informal settlements. Yet, there is (as our research in Singareni colony evidences) an understanding that heat plays a significant role in quality of life, productivity and general well-being. So, we design some interventions, that can be considered by people while constructing or during repair or as retrofits to their houses.

In this way, the solution has two distinct aims. One is to suggest small, economical and locally relevant practices in building materiality and architecture that can make life in these buildings a little more comfortable. The second is to communicate these suggestions in ways that do not add unnecessary cognitive load on people already beset with other, often larger problems. Keeping this in mind, a small booklet was developed by the research team. The content for the booklet is derived as extensions or minor alternatives to current practices; the form of the booklet is that it is in formats that can easily be socialized within communities using smart phones.

Here are the English and Telugu versions. The Telugu version was shared with the community through the Dalit Women’s Collective, Singareni Colony.

Research supporting this post was supported by funding from the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC), UK Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) for the project, Cool Infrastructures: Life with Heat in the Off-Grid City (Award No: ES/T008091/1).