Why Are We Designing Poorly For The Poor?

Prasoon Kumar is an urban planner and architect with over 10 years of international design experience with his work spanning Asia, United States, Africa and Australia. In 2013, he co-founded billionBricks, a non-profit design studio which innovates shelter solutions with a vision to end homelessness in the world. He leads multidisciplinary teams, engages with communities and stakeholders to provide for high quality shelters to the poorest communities, creating opportunities for them to emerge out of poverty. Since its founding, billionBricks has rehabilitated more than 4000 homeless through its work.

- Shriti Das

India’s GDP has increased from US$ 36.536 billion to US$ 2.264 trillion from 1960 to 2016. During this time-period, the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991 created added opportunities for private and foreign sectors. Yet, poverty and homelessness has only multiplied. The Millennial Development Goals in 2000 enlisted ‘eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015’ as the first goal. The big change is yet anticipated. The challenge of homelessness is multifaceted. Urban-rural migration, refugee crisis, displacements coupled with unemployment, poverty and low wages are the basis of the housing crisis that glares countries and governances in the face. The frameworks to address these entities are controlled by the larger stakeholders – the policy makers, financial institutes, politics, and land-laws and so on. The bottom-line remains that the poor cannot afford homes. This demand is immediate and glaring. A single organisation or body cannot resolve or even address these complex issues and agendas. If dependency on the larger frameworks were to be reduced or even eliminated entirely, can design strategies tackle the predicament objectively and tangibly?