Socio-economic organization of urban research and urban practice most often dis-empower and alienate communities in whose name these are undertaken. This presentation will seek to explore the credibility of the various 'fields' that constitute urban practice and their various 'publics'.

  • What is architecture's public? What is research's public?
  • What is education's public?
  • What is activism's public?
  • Is their public these practitioners themselves?
  • Their clients and patrons?
  • Or the people who they purportedly serve?
  • Is there a possibility of becoming part of an urban praxis, that combines reflection and action directed at structures to be transformed?
  • Is there a possibility of moving beyond engagement through 'projects' and 'case-studies', to collaborating in an urban process where where learning is dialogical, engagement self-critical, and transformation mutual?

Hussain Indorewala & Shweta Wagh teach at the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture & Environmental Studies and have been involved in research & advocacy planning, and work with community groups on issues of urban development in the city.