These urban dwellings built decades ago can rent now for the equivalent of $1 a month. But plans are to demolish many to build high rises.  

(This article is part of Bloomberg CityLab’s ongoing series exploring the iconic home designs that shaped global cities. Read more from the series and sign up to get the next story directly in your inbox.)

For more than a century, the chawls of Mumbai have acted as one of the city’s most important forms of affordable housing. Large tenement complexes built during Mumbai’s industrial boom from the 1850s through the first half of the 20th century, chawls once housed workers from the sprawling ports and textile mills of what was then called Bombay.