Vishakhapatnam,
Andhra Pradesh

Visakhapatnam, an important port city located along the Bay of Bengal, has a geographical setting defined by the presence of gigantic mountain ranges sporadically present across the city. The inner-city areas around the port, along with some of the early suburbs are together referred to as the bowl area of the city - as they are bounded by a large mountain range on the West and the sea in the other direction. Port-related activities and large-scale manufacturing industries, particularly in the Southern regions of Visakhapatnam, form a crucial economic base of the city. Visakhapatnam has also seen a steady increase in the IT and education sectors. Catering to these transformations, the study looks at various housing typologies across different contexts of the city - from old row houses to upcoming townships. The study focuses on sites such as the Peda Jalaripeta fishing village, the One Town Industrial Housing, etc. to explore residential patterns along with gendered common spaces across settlements, labor junctions across different nodes in the city, and the development of the commercial and industrial sector across the port city.