A CASE STUDY ON

ARANYA LOW COST HOUSING

BY AR. B.V.
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 land use
ZONING
ZONING II
ZONING I
DISTRIBUTION OF PLOTS
DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING
ACCORDING TO INCOME GROUPS
TO LAND 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.
•Pedestrian access in the form of informal interlinked open spaces draws people
inwardly.
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
•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
INCREMENTAL GROWTH the sun is overhead.
2) The courtyards within the houses, public squares and small activity
areas are shaded 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, bottle brush and eucalyptus.
5) For clear segregation of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, informal
interlinked open spaces were created that were only used for
FORM VARIATIONS
pedestrians. Vehicular access was limited to rectilinear and formal roads
which were 15-meter wide.

FACADES
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 housing must give an
opportunity to reflect ones well-deserved success with life
They started with a plot with basic infrastructure, a
bathroom and toilet with the plinth of their house, putting
brick by brick on their own, adding rooms, marking their
identity and their signatures on their dwelling.
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 station, sports club, library, museum, open air theatre, auditorium, community Hall, petrol
pump. However, these facilities have not come up in totality. But, perhaps, it is now the right time for the
commercial development to come up with the population already at the site. Because of the increased real
estate value of the spaces, 20 years after, it would be more commercially feasible.
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 every 2
clusters.
•Water drawn from 3 local reservoirs.
•To economize, 20 toilets are connected to
1 manhole.
• One service line serves four rows of
houses
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 cables
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 wheelers to pass through.