OOZE, along with its on-ground partners Vanessa Peter (IRCDUC), Nundiyny Prabakaran (USWT), Shilesh Hariharan and Sudheendra NK (Madras Terrace), has developed building and habitat planning guidelines that actively integrate blue-green infrastructure in affordable housing settlements in Chennai. This research project is a part of our ongoing City of 1000 Tanks initiative under the Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities Asia programme pioneered by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and Henk Ovink. The guidelines are built on extensive interaction and participatory planning exercises with the residents, especially women and children, from 6 informal settlements in Chennai. An article covering this research, published today in the Times of India, has now created dialogue over the design requirements for affordable housing in Chennai and has set an important precedent for participatory design processes in urban planning.
