Invisible inequalities: ethnographic evidence from chawl residents in Mumbai City

Purpose The purpose of this study is to find out how spatial scarcity, infrastructural inadequacy and social marginalization affect the mental health and everyday well-being of dwellers in Mumbai City’s chawls. Although chawls are a historically important urban housing type, they are now characterised by overcrowding, sanitation stress and noise pollution. These issues have effect on vulnerable groups like women, children and the elderly, yet remain underexamined in mental health literature. Design/methodology/approach This research adopts a qualitative ethnographic approach, using narrative vignettes derived from fieldwork in chawl settlements located in Pydhonie and Nagpada areas of Mumbai. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and participant observation with 15 residents, including domestic workers, youth, elderly women and a local medical practitioner. Grounded theory methods were applied for thematic analysis, focusing on how space, infrastructure and identity intersect to produce psychosocial stress. Findings The study reveals five interrelated stress domains: (1) water scarcity and its management routines, (2) the gendered burden of domestic labour in cramped environments, (3) disrupted educational focus among children due to noise and lack of private space, (4) shared sanitation and its physical and emotional risks for older adults and (5) clinical insights into slow-developing mental and physical illnesses linked to poor housing. These findings support the idea that space and infrastructural conditions affect mental health in marginalized urban settings. Research limitations/implications While based on a local study, the findings suggest broader implications for understanding spatial injustice and mental distress in legal but under-serviced housing forms, through ethnographic study which is in-depth and adds value. Originality/value This paper adds to the limited literature at the intersection of urban planning, lived experience and mental health. It introduces an innovative narrative-based methodology to highlight how everyday spatial conditions shape emotional well-being. The study advocates for participatory, inclusive urban policy frameworks that recognize spatial justice as integral to mental healthcare in low-income housing.