Ahmedabad, with a huge hinterland of processing industries reflects the dynamism of fast urban growth in the context of a developing economy. This city, with a more or less stable population of industrial workers and traders for many decades has suddenly transformed itself into a city of unprecedented industrial growth (due to government policy) due to its being identified as a growth centre for the entire western region of India since independence. Chawls or tenements for industrial workers have been identified by the author as the biggest available housing stock for the unprivileged. The dilemma of the planners is not so much the physical quality and life cycle of the buildings, but how best to integrate and upgrade these aging city structures to cope with the emerging needs of a greater population that has and will continue to join the workforce. The author has emphasized the need for not only political will but also legislative support and ingenious planning to turn what would otherwise be slums into more habitable settlements with the possibility of further growth, optimizing land use.