Address-giving as Expression of Identity: Study of CIDCO Housing in Navi Mumbai

Abstract

A series of territorial markers are created at the boundaries of urban residences in community living (spatial, physical, olfactory, auditory) that indicate spatial ownership. Way-finding and address-giving for residences utilize such markers, along with other elements that are part of the existing environment. These are read and navigated to reach the destination. When a resident gives her address, she is telling you how to navigate various boundaries in an appropriate fashion to gain access. The objective of this research is to understand how people provide addresses and how this is linked to their perception of their house. It also attempts to read the identity of a collective whole, for example, a housing society, as seen by its local residents. The address-giving/ way-finding exercise helps understand how an architect-built space is identified and referred to by its users and by the world at large creating an alternate identity for the space. This research paper looks into the relevance of elements/ markers (created by residents or already existing in the local environment) navigated in address-giving that aid in accessing residences. It analyses why certain landmarks are more popular than others and attempts to find variations (and the reasons behind them) in address-giving within the same housing communities.