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URBZ is a platform for experimental urban action-research created by Matias Echanove, Rahul Srivasta

urbz is an experimental urban research and action collective with collaborators in Mumbai, Goa, New York, Bogota, Sao Paulo and Geneva. urbz organizes collaborative workshops, conducts field research, generates ideas and projects, and produces web content about urban space and places since 2008. urbz believes that residents are experts in their neighborhoods. Their everyday experience of the places where they live and work constitute an essential knowledge for planning and urban development.

09/07/2026

Urban Design and The Homegrown City

Talk by Matias Echanove Columbia GSAPP, New York, July 20th 2026

The vast majority of human habitat worldwide is built by inhabitants, local artisans, and microfirms. The Homegrown City does not sit at the margin of urban development — it is the norm, in poor and rich countries alike. That reality demands a rethinking of architecture, urban design, and planning. Across the world, a new generation of practitioners is working with collective intelligence and local initiatives, drawing on participatory methods and developing new digital tools. This lecture presents cases from India, Colombia, Japan, France, and Switzerland, and argues that radical urban transformation emerges from polycrisis. The pressures bearing down on cities today make homegrown urbanism not just viable, but necessary.

06/07/2026

“The true experts of urban life are the inhabitants themselves”

We are proud to announce that The Homegrown City: Reclaiming the Metropolis for its Users by Matias Echanove & Rahul Srivastava was chosen from 81 submissions received from across the world for the 2026 Pattis Family Foundation Global Cities Book Award. It is featured on Metropolis - World Association of the Major Metropolises, list of 10 Books Worth Reading This Summer !!!

Have you read yet?

Here is what acclaimed author Amitav Ghosh has to say about it: “The brilliance of The Homegrown City lies in its emphasis on a simple but rarely acknowledged truth: that the true experts of urban life are the inhabitants themselves—the local builders, artisans, and families who, through sheer ingenuity and collective agency, shape environments in ways that official planning often fails to imagine.”

The book published by Verso Books book in January 2026 can be ordered in digital and paperback editions from Verso and all other online bookstores.

18/06/2026

Dharavi Koliwada is on a mission to re-establish a dwindling connection to its fishing ponds. Along with the crew from Sullivan Carpentry and the urbz team, they built an amphibious ramp that helps fishing boats get into the water.

The coming together of carpenters from Sydney and the Kolis from Dharavi, Mumbai, is an example of how a local community is actively shaping its trajectory by drawing the outside world in, on its own terms.

Visit urbznet to read more about the project!

02/06/2026

El grupo arquitectura, Anarquismo y descolonización convoca a este espacio de discusión con Stefany Escobar Arquitecta con enfoque en construcción sostenible y sistemas de tierra cruda quien nos compartirá su experiencia sobre Bloque de Tierra Comprimida —BTC— una forma de volver a escuchar la tierra.

En un mundo donde la vivienda se ha vuelto mercancía, cemento y distancia, construir con tierra cruda abre otra posibilidad: habitar desde lo cercano, lo colectivo y lo vivo. El BTC reduce el impacto ambiental, aprovecha materiales locales, disminuye costos y fortalece la autoconstrucción comunitaria. Pero, sobre todo, nos recuerda que construir también puede ser un acto de memoria, autonomía y cuidado del territorio.

Promover la tierra cruda y los biomateriales en las políticas públicas es reconocer los saberes ancestrales, dignificar las capacidades locales y sembrar comunidades más resilientes, sostenibles y arraigadas.

Invitan:

03/05/2026

Junto con docentes y profesionales desde Urbz Colombia pudimos compartir experiencias en torno a la construcción en madera, Guadua, autogestión e identidad en el marco de procesos comunitarios. Gracias por la invitación a este Foro.

26/03/2026

link in bio ;)

25/03/2026

Paris here we come! Book launch tomorrow ! 26.03.26 at 7:30 pm with and

25/02/2026

Friday, 27th February,2026 at 6:30 pm.

Join us for the screening of “Living Euljiro”, by Liron Shalit.

Living Euljiro explores the hidden losses faced by the people of Euljiro, undergoing massive redevelopment. Through the eyes of Liron, an international filmmaker drawn to its charm, the film captures the beauty of the century-old alleys and the deep relationships formed with residents whose lives are being upended. Through a mosaic of voices, the film moves beyond a simple story of gentrification, capturing the tensions between progress and erasure. It becomes a meditation on memory, identity, and the quiet acts of those determined to survive.

Liron has been creating award-winning short documentaries since 2017, exploring themes such as social issues, human rights, disability, natural disasters, and urban life. Since relocating to Seoul in 2022, he has focused on documenting disappearing spaces and communities, capturing the distinctive culture of Euljiro and the stories of the people who live and work there.

We look forward to seeing you at the screening, followed by a short conversation with Liron!

Venue: urbz, 3rd Floor, Pasco patil Chawl, Dharavi Main Road, Koliwada, Dharavi, Mumbai 400 017.

Limited seating, so please register on the link in the bio.

See you all on Friday!

05/02/2026

Update on Solar Street Light Project

The solar street lighting for Dharavi Koliwada is an incremental civic infrastructure project. After designing and installing bespoke streetlights, we are now connecting the lights to solar energy.

Making this connection involved months of surveying several terraces in the neighbourhood to find the one with the best combination of space, height and orientation for the solar panels. Next came a round of discussions with the residents and the Dharavi Koli Jamat to negotiate a fair exchange for the use of their terrace. It was decided to produce extra solar energy to subsidise residents’ electricity bills.

The installation of the panels is underway, and the lights will be solar-powered in a matter of
weeks!

Photos:

1. Streetlights in action.

2. Surveying locations with the highest potential to generate solar energy

3. Discussions between Chandrakant Koli, who has a solar installation business, and the
resident, whose terrace was found to be most suitable.

4. The terrace is used to dry fish. The placement of solar panels was carefully planned to accommodate fish drying on the terrace. Drying of fish is an important seasonal activity and ensures that seafood is part of the diet even when outside of the fishing season.

5,6. Inauguration of the installation project
Solar panels being transported and carefully hoisted up to the terrace, each panel
weighs about 30 kgs!

7. Dutta Koli, a local fabricator, puts up the supporting framework for the panels.

8. The team, including friends and neighbours help with the installation

9. Chandrakant Koli and Santosh Salgaonkar of Solar Power Systems and Solutions, the team responsible for ex*****on of the project.

Address

Room 56/AB, 1St Floor, T-Junction Dharavi, Koliwada, Sion-Bandra Link Road
Mumbai
400017

Telephone

+917738467192

Website

http://www.urbz.net/

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