Social Contexts and Spatial Relationships in Design of Anganwadi Centres

Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), which are the focal point of the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS), have been regarded as one of the largest and unique grassroot level early childhood development programmes to address the health, nutrition, and development needs of children, pregnant women and nursing mothers, and adolescents. It complies with SDG-3 & 4, targeting towards ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being at all ages with quality education enabling socioeconomic mobility, aiming towards sustainable development. Past studies and research assess the organisational dimensions of services in existing centres across the country but not much on the physical infrastructure considering community engagement and requirements in the design process of these centres. The study is an attempt to explore the various attributes of social contexts and its impact on the design of Anganwadi centres analysing the spatial requirements and planning principles of Anganwadi centres. It involves community engagement right from the design process, construction till execution using local materials and traditional techniques towards achieving sustainability. The outcome of the study is a set of design guidelines that could be incorporated in the design of Anganwadi centres to make them more efficient, user friendly through sustainable design approach.