Thinking about our class session last night, a few things are still rolling around my head. We all seem to agree that there are some good things about slums and some bad things. As architects and planners ( I guess I'm just an engineer), we want to separate the total slum "idea" into issues like density, infrastructure, social networks, domestic and commercial life, health and sanitation - defining what we like (density, flexibility) with what we don't like (health conditions, safety). But really we all know that these issues are all connected into one lived experience. Perhaps this level of density can only be achieved when there is a shared bathroom (eg. it creates a communal intimacy).
The struggle seems to be the tension between wanting to "fix" the slums and wanting to "preserve" the slums, wanting to "improve" the slum conditions and wanting to "learn" from the slum conditions.
What if the parts we want to "fix" are actually parts we should "learn" from? How do we know the difference?
... other thoughts?...
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