Exploring the spatial tools to generate social inclusive & empowered space for people living in margins

A good public space must be accommodative for everyone including the marginal, the forgotten, the silent, and an undesirable people. With the process of development, the city leaves behind the marginalized section of the society especially urban poor, who constitute about 20-30 percent of the urban population and are majorly involved in informal settlement like congested housing typologies and informal economy in which they face the everyday social, physical and economic exclusion. Thus, the informal sector and the marginalized becomes the forgotten elements in urban space. ‘Cities for the Citizen’ a slogan described by Douglas address the same issues of democratization, multicultural/gender difference between humans. Though these people have strong characteristics and share a unique pattern and enhances the movement in the city which makes a city a dynamic entity. The lack of opportunities and participation to such section leaves the city divided and generates the negative impacts in the mind of victims which further leads to degradation of their mental health and city life because of their involvement in crime, unemployment, illiteracy and unwanted areas. The physical, social, cultural and economic aspects of space should accommodate the essential requirements for the forgotten and provide them with inclusive public environment. It is very necessary that they generate the association and attachment to the place of their habitation. We can easily summarize that the city which used to be very dynamic and energetic is now facing the extreme silence in the present pandemic times. The same people are returning back to their homes after facing the similar problems of marginalization and exclusion even during hard times where they had no place to cover their heads. So, we have to find the way in which they can be put into consideration and make them more inclusive and self-sustaining. With the economic stability, social stability is also equally necessary for the overall development of an individual. So, the paper tries to focus upon the idea of social urbanism which talks about development of cities aiming to the social benefit and upliftment of their citizen. The social urbanism strategy in any project tries to inject investment into targeted areas in a way that cultivates civic pride, participation, and greater social impact. Thus, making the cities inclusive and interactive for all the development. The paper will tries to see such spaces as a potential investment in term of city’s finances and spaces to generate a spatial & development toolkit for making them inclusive by improving the interface of social infrastructure.