The Urban Opportunity Project, a research initiative of the Institute of Design at IIT Chicago, has provided the scope for adopting a collaborative approach of working between ID Chicago, IIT Bombay, and non-governmental organisations like the Society for Human and Environmental Development (S.H.E.D.) in Mumbai. This collaborative approach has enabled the acquisition of true and valuable insights on the livelihoods in city slums. Dharavi was taken as a specimen for the study.

The Society for Human and Environmental Development (SHED) was formed in October 1982 with the prime objective of improving the outlook and living conditions of those living in slums and rural areas, especially tribal areas. At present, the society is working in the major slums of Mumbai—Dharavi, Jogeshwari (East), Sagbaug, and Kalina—and also in a village and 21 tribal hamlets of Saphale Block and Palghar Taluka in Thane district.