This film is the first in a series that advocates for better urban planning and governance as part of the Development Plan making process in Mumbai, India. Floor Space Index has become the most significant planning tool in Mumbai’s urban development since the 1990s.

The film conveys how Floor Space Index, or FSI, is used in Indian cities, how FSI works, and how it became such a significant planning tool. After twenty-five years of manipulation in the real estate market in Mumbai, FSI is no longer based on the carrying capacities of each locality. It is assumed that FSI can be randomly increased, without consequence for living conditions in that locality.

Must we continue to commodify FSI or can we choose other logics with which to plan the city?

CLIENT
Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI)

SCRIPT & ILLUSTRATIONS
Vineet Diwadkar, Vyjayanthi Rao, Farzan Dalal

POST-PRODUCTION
Pradeep Patil, Roaming Design

VOICE ARTIST
Shraddha Sakhalkar

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Anuj Bhagwati, Pankaj Joshi, Rahul Mehrotra, Shirish Patel