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Who gets to use a city’s roads, beaches and neighbourhood spaces, and who gets pushed out of them? That question brought fish vendors, auto drivers, people with disabilities, community organisers, artists, lawyers and activists together in Chennai on Saturday, September 19, for the fourth edition of Porombokkiyal.
Held in Mylapore, Porombokkiyal 2026 explored the idea of the commons and how shared spaces shape the lives of people who use them. The event brought together people from different parts of the city to discuss who gets to access public spaces, how these spaces are planned and developed, and what happens when the needs of communities are left out of those decisions.
The word “poromboke” in Tamil traditionally refers to shared or common spaces. For the organisers of the event, it also became a way of asking who the city is actually being built for.
“Our main aim is to bring the commons and the experts together to put their knowledge out to the people,” said Monali Bala, one of the organisers and volunteers.
The discussions brought together experiences that are rarely placed in the same conversation. A fish vendor from Nochikuppam spoke about the threat to traditional livelihoods in the name of beautification, while women auto drivers spoke about the lack of dedicated spaces for them. A person with a locomotive disability questioned the way cities are designed without considering the needs of people with disabilities.
Speaking at the event, Mullai, a fish vendor from Nochikuppam, said fishing had been her community’s livelihood for generations, but the “development” around Chennai’s beaches was putting that livelihood at risk.
“Fishing has been our job for ages and without that we don't know how to survive. The government is trying to add beautification to the places near beaches by putting our livelihoods at stake,” she said.
The question of access to public spaces also has a gendered dimension, said Veera Pengal Munnetra Sangam president and auto driver Mohana Sundari.
“No women auto stands are there. Even if we try to do something for ourselves (women), they try to bring in many unsaid rules,” she said.
For Dr Aiswarya Rao, a person with a locomotive disability, the problem goes beyond individual facilities. She said the way cities are designed often fails to account for people with disabilities who are also part of the community.
“The cities are designed for superhuman purposes, not considering the needs of the people with disabilities who are also a part of the society,” she said.
The event also looked beyond physical spaces to ask how communities are built and sustained within neighbourhoods. Lawyer and founder of Vyasai Thozhargal, Sarathkumar, spoke about the lives of people in North Chennai and his efforts to create spaces for the community by breaking existing barriers.
Archana Mohan, founder of Pagir, a community space in Chennai, spoke about the need for people to come together and build connections in their neighbourhoods at a time when opportunities for community interaction are increasingly limited.
The idea of sharing also extended to culture and creative work. Singer-composer Bindhumalini, Atti Culture founder Ofro, and lawyer and intellectual property specialist Swaroop discussed the challenges artists face when their work is used without their knowledge or consent, as well as the implications of the rapid growth of artificial intelligence for artists.
The programme concluded with an open house titled ‘Naa Porombokku! Nee Porombokkaa?’, which invited participants to reflect on the role that both familiar and unfamiliar people play in their lives.
This story was written by a student interning with TNM.
