A CASE STUDY ON

ARANYA LOW COST

HOUSING

BY AR. B.V.
DOSHI
PROJECT INTRODUCTION :-
Aranya, 6 kilometers from Indore, will eventually house a total population of 60,000 in 6500
dwellings, on a net planning area of 85 hectares. The master plan, prepared by the Vastu-Shilpa
Foundation in 1983, is designed around a central spine comprising the business district. Six
sectors, each with populations of 7000-12,000, lie to the east and west of the spine and are
diagonally bisected by linear parks. Ten houses, each with a courtyard at the back, form a cluster
that opens onto a street. Internal streets and squares are paved. Septic tanks are provided for each
group of twenty houses, and electricity and water are available throughout. The site plan
accommodates and integrates a variety of income groups. The poorest are located in the middle
of each of the six sectors, while the better off obtain plots along the peripheries of each sector and
the central spine. Payment schemes, and a series of site and service options, reflect the financial
resources of this mixed community. Eighty demonstration houses, designed by architect
Balkrishna V. Doshi, display a wide variety of possibilities, ranging from one room shelters to
relatively spacious houses. Most of the income groups buy only a house plot. Available to the
poorest, in addition to the plot itself, are a concrete plinth, a service core, and a room. The down
payment is based on the average income of the family, the loan balance being paid in monthly
installments. Brick, stone, and concrete are available locally, but owners are free to use any
material they choose for house construction and decoration. The jury found Aranya to be an
innovative sites-and-services project t
hat is particularly noteworthy for its effort to integrate families within a range of poor-to-modest
incomes.
LOCATION
ARANYA

DEVI AHILYA BAI

INDORE HOLKAR AIRPORT

RAJWAD
A
INDORE JUNCTION
RAILWAY STATION
DISTANCE FROM MAJOR LANDMARKS :-

• Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport - 15 Kms

• Indore junction railway station - 6.8 Kms
• Indore bus stand - 6.6 Kms
•Rajwada - 7.9 Kms
•Crystal IT Park - 14 kms
•C21 Mall - 2.2 Kms
• Apollo hospitals - 1.9 Kms

SITE :-
•Total Area of site – 86 hectares (860001.50 m2)
•Built up area of housing – 100000 m2
•Provide around 6,500 residential plots of varying sizes starting from
350 sq ft for economically weaker section to 4,750 sq ft for high-income
groups.
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD CONCEPT
CONCEPT
• Slum development project
• Inspiration from existing slum settlements in Indore.
CHARACTERSTICS
• Mixed and multiple land use
• Formation of small neighborhood and houses extending to outdoors.
• Small shops operating within congested area.
• Trees planted in public area.
• Streets accommodating social economic and domestic activities.
TOWNSHIP LEVEL
• The aim was to create a central spine. The mater plan was informal
with interlinked spaces of cultural context, maintenance of road,
open spaces, a central location of basic community service.
• The central spine was focus of covering six sectors.
SIX SECTOR LEVEL
• This enabled segregation of pedestrian and vehicular movement,
good distribution of built unbuilt spaces by promoting interactive
ZONING
ZONING II
ZONING I
DISTRIBUTION OF PLOTS
DISTRIBUTION
ACCORDING TO INCOME
ACCORDING TO LAND
GROUPS
USE

RESIDENTIA COMMERCIA
L L
Lower income and economically weaker
sections of the society
RESIDENTIAL 58 % EWS 65% uniformly distributed
COMMERCIAL 7% LIG 11% uniformly distributed
MIG 14% close to artery
HIG 9% arterial road
SITE PLAN

CONVENTION CENTER

MEDICAL
,STATIONARY,GROCERY AND
OTHER SHOPS

SCHOOL VEGETABLE MARKET ARMY QUARTERS STREET VIEW

MASTER PLAN

PLAN PROPOSED BY
IDA WITHOUT ANY INITIAL STAGE OF
CONCERN FOR OPEN PROPOSED PLAN WITH
SPACE HEIRARCHY OPEN SPACES AND STREET
,CIRCULATION HEIRARCHY
SYSTEM AND
CLIMATIC
ORIENTATION OF
BUILTFORM

PROPOSED MASTER PLAN

LATER STAGE OF
WITH INTERLINKED OPEN
DEVELOPMENT WITH
SPACES ,BUILTFORM
RECTIFIED TO
ORIENTATION
MINIMISE HEAT GAIN
,DISTRIBUTED AMENITIES ,
ANDINCREASE
ROAD NETWORK
NATURAL SHADING
HEIRARCHY AND CLIMATIC
FRIENDLY ORIENTATION
•The location of Aranya Low-Cost Housing was strategic. The area has Delhi-Mumbai
Highway running on the east and has developing industrial areas on the north, south and
west.
•The site was selected on the basis of linkages to the city and employment opportunities in
the surroundings.
•Aranya master plan was informal with interlinked space of cultural context and
maintenance of roads, open spaces and a central location for basic community services.
• The MIG and HIG plots were placed close to arterial roads while EWS and LIG plots
were uniformly distributed across the plot.
•Almost 58 per cent of the total space was occupied for housing, 26 per cent for roads, 9
per cent for open spaces and 7 per cent for community and commercial facilities.
• Ten houses, each with a courtyard at the back, form a cluster that opens onto a street
• Internal streets and squares are paved. Septic tanks are provided for each group of twenty
houses, and electricity and water are available throughout. The site plan accommodates
and integrates a variety of income groups.
•The poorest are located in the middle of each of the six sectors, while the better off obtain
plots along the peripheries of each sector and the central spine.
•Payment schemes, and a series of site and service options, reflect the financial resources
of this mixed community.
• Eighty demonstration houses, designed by architect Balkrishna V.
Doshi, display a wide variety of possibilities, ranging from one room
shelters to relatively spacious houses.
•Areas for school and hospitals were also included.
•The township is divided into 5 sectors (A,B,C,D,E)
•Each sector is than subdivided into 6 splices respectively (1,2,3,4,5,6)
CONNECTIVITY TO MAIN ROAD AND OTHER SUB
ROADS ROADS
A.

BASIC GRID PATTERN

ENVISAGED FOR
SIMPLE LAYOUT
B.

TWISTS AND STAGGERS

INTRODUCED TO
DISCOURAGE TRAFFIC
C. SECTOR
LEVEL ROA

CITY
ROAD
HIGHW
AY
CIRCULATION AND LINKAGES

• Segregation of vehicular and pedestrian traffic

• Offsets break visual monotony
• Hierarchy is based on the volume of the traffic and
Activities
•The roads suit human scale
•Use of cul-de-sacs to avoid traffic
For clear segregation of vehicular and pedestrian traffic:
•Vehicular access in the form rectilinear and formal roads in
the hierarchy of 4.5m wide to 15m wide road draw the
vehicles outwardly.
LAND USE DISTRIBUTION

26%

RESIDENTIAL SPACE
COMMUNITY AND COMMERCIAL FACILITIES
OPEN SPACES
58% ROADS
9%

7%
SITE AND SERVICE SCHEME OF DESIGN
•In this scheme services like water tap, toilets and
street lights and a plinth are provided around which
houses can have different configurations.
•Longer side of a block of row house was oriented
north south to reduce solar radiation
•Provision of vertical expansions
INCREMENTAL GROWTH
•Housing was seen more as a process than a product
1) The building height to street width ratio is such
that streets are shaded except when the sun is
overhead.
2) The courtyards within the houses, public
squares and small activity areas are shaded
FORM VARIATIONS adequately by adjacent buildings.
3) Back in 1989, each plot was provided with a
water tank, sewerage connection, paved access with
street lights, stormwater drainage.
4) For landscaping the area, trees that require little
maintenance were planted including casuarinas,
FACADES bottle brush and eucalyptus.
Plan showing varied houses with backyards (private open spaces)
Initially the residents were alloted plots
with constructed plinth and toilets
only.Aranya is flexible, changing and
growing with its inhabitants. It was
incomplete 20 years ago, today and may be
20 years later. The houses built by these
4000 Economically Weaker Sectioned
families may appear incomplete, yet one
sees in them vitality, hope and a desire to
match the other classes around. As the
people of Aranya grow socially,
economically and culturally the housing
changes, complementing the vision for the
project. Today, we are proud that the
houses build about 20 years ago, are no
more recognisable, as were seen by us,
during the first few years. Aranya has
witnessed the poor, putting continuos
effort, to improvise their living standards,
which is reflective in their housing. The
Images of Aranya 20 At present
years ago
AREA STUDY
NUMBER OF PLOTS IN EACH INCOME
CATEGORY
Income Number of Monthly Percent of Plots area in
category plots income plots m2
(rupees/
month)

EWS I,II,III 4262 350 65.1 35

LIG II,III 799 450 12.2 55

LIG I 296 600 4.5 92

MIG II 626 1100 9.5 139

MIG I 265 1800 4.0 223

HIG II 180 2.7 325

HIG I 75 1.1 474

FLATS 40 0.6
Benefits to clients:
•EWS I - income 200, Plot size 35.32, no. of plots 1962, population 19620
• EWS II - income 300, Plot size 35.52, no. of plots 1500, population 15000
•EWS III - income 400, Plot size 35.52, no. of plots 800, population 8000
EWS total 66.35%
• LIG I - income 450, Plot size 44.62, no. of plots 182, population 910
•LIG II - income 500, Plot size 55.82, no. of plots 617, population 3085
• LIG III - income 600, Plot size 93.03, no. of plots 265, population 2950
LIG total 10.82%
• MIG I - income 1100, Plot size 139.54, no. of plots 626, population 6260
• MIG II - income 1800, Plot size 223.26, no. of plots 265, population 2650
MIG total 13.87%
•HIG I -- income 1800+, Plot size 325.59, no. of plots 180, population 1850
•HIG II - income 1800+, Plot size 474.43, no. of plots 75, population 750
•FLATS - income 1800+, Plot size 613.94, no. of plots 40, population 3200
HIG total 9.02%
•Moreover, the township also provides spaces for with facilities and
amenities like Community science centre, playground, Formal and Informal
Commercial activities, police station, swimming pool, fire station, police
CLIMATE RESPONSIVE FEATURES

• Most of the plots small in size and clustered in low rise blocks.
• Longer side façade oriented in north–south axis to reduce solar
radiation on building.
• Each house has minimum exposure to wall surface and a common
wall.
• Use of locally available building materials.

The north south orientation of clusters The building height to street width ratio
is such that streets are shaded except
when the sun is overhead
•The two openings on the north and south permit light and cross
ventilation.
• Courtyards within the houses, cul-de-sacs, public squares and small
activity areas shaded adequately by adjacent buildings.
• Use of locally available building materials.
• Topography used for orientation of major infrastructure network
and
spatial organization.
SERVICES SITE AND SERVICE
APPROACH
• Cost-effective
• Progressive development of
facilities.
• Houses built by the people
themselves to suit their needs.
• Each family provided with a
plot having a water tank,
sewerage connection, paved
access with street lighting,
storm water drainage
• Service cores - key to this
site and
service scheme. - nuclei
around which
houses were built.
• Houses were clustered in
groups of 10.
• Septic tank provided for
SEWERAGE SYSTEM

•Major alternatives:
- Sewer-less sanitation.
-Conventional sewerage system.
• The soil being impermeable black
soil of 2m depth, conventional
sewerage system was adopted.
• Designed after thorough analysis
of topography – naturally slopes
towards NW
• Higher income groups, using
more water were located at high
ground level to generate large flow.
• Lower income groups, using less
water located at lower ground level
• This resulted in 10-15%
savings.
TREATMENT SYSTEM
• For conveyance system, a wet well and lift station was constructed
near
the final manhole.
• Oxidation pond - located on the NW corner of the site.
- removes biological oxygen
- simple in operation
- effluent suitable for disposal
STORMWATER DRAINAGE SYSTEM
• Very efficient and facilitates healthy and clean living.
• Combination of underground and surface drainage system.
• Underground used for wider roads
• Surface drainage used for internal roads
ELECTRICITY
• High income and middle-income groups were provided with
overhead
cables.
• Economically Weaker Sections were provided with underground
CONSTRUCTION DETAIL
FOUNDATION
Under rimmed piles in concrete.
STEUCTURAL MEMBERS
Reinforced concrete plinth beams, load bearing
brick walls
, reinforced concrete slabs.
EXTERIOR FINISHES
Bright color in facades, railing, grills and cornices
seen in old houses of Indore used in some houses in
the township.
Residents were free to use any material like brick or
stone that were locally available.
• Exterior finishes: Bright colour in the façade,
railing, grills and cornices seen in the old houses of
Indore used in some houses in the township.
• Residents were free to use any material like brick
or stone that were locally available.
CONCLUSION
• It understands the traditional Indian habits.
• Planning and designing is in accordance with the prevailing socio-
economic and technological conditions.
• Cost-effective construction materials and techniques have been adopted.
• Planning is from “whole–to-part” i.e. From township level to dwelling
level.
• Accessibility has been an essential factor for designing.
• Consistency in every aspect.
• Staggered roads, prevent through traffic congestion, reduce speed of
vehicle.
• Climate and Site responsive design.
• No space for parking is taken into consideration because of which the
residents at present time park their vehicles on roadside which sometimes
make it difficult for the vehicles to cross.
• In some areas the road width is about 2.5 m which make it difficult for 4