Urban practitioner Celine D’Cruz is one of the founding members of the Society for the Promotion of Area Resources Centers (SPARC), working in over 60 Indian cities and towns to build the capacity of urban poor organizations to address issues of urban poverty. She is also one of the founding members of Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI), a movement of the urban poor that has supported thousands in building new housing and sanitation facilities in many cities in Asia and Africa.

In this podcast, Celine D’Cruz highlights the role of communities in architecture as well as the challenge raised by the informal settlements in cities. Exploring the question of how to formalize informality, D’Cruz argues for the involvement of governments to embrace and include informality as an opportunity, contributing to the city’s economy. She understands the importance of inclusion and including the most underprivileged and issued from informal settlements, unifying the formal and informal through design and community.

#NFFStories is a series of podcasts produced by the Norman Foster Foundation that aims to empower our community to make positive change. A new platform for people around the world to share and hear inspirational stories and ideas that are going to shape the future.

www.normanfosterfoundation.org