An Overview of Public Spaces in Mumbai

Hi All,
Its been ages. Sorry to delay my uploads.
Let me start by introducing Public Spaces in Mumbai as a whole and observe how this commercial capital of India, almost survives every passing day.

An Overview of Public Spaces in Mumbai

1. Mumbai vs. Other Indian Cities

- A new Pan-India Study reveals level of public discontent in Mumbai. All age groups give the city a poor rating on three parameters including clean roads, pure drinking water and public toilets. Chandigarh situated in the northern part of India emerges as the clear winner in the first-of-its-kind survey by A C Nielsen ORG Marg.
News Source - Times of India (TOI)

2. Plus/Minus of Green Spaces

- 115 trees will face the axe due to a multi-crore makeover to the Gateway of India situated in South Mumbai. Work has finally started and it will be ready by 2008.
- On the other hand work has started on Navi Mumbai’s proposed Central Park, which will be the largest leisure and Recreation Park in Mumbai. Inspired my London’s Hyde Park it will be ready by 2011.
News Source - TOI

3. Plane in Slow Lane

- No, a new airport hasn’t sprung up at Chembur. But residents have to deal with a Boeing in their backyard.
News Source - TOI

4. 26/7 – Then & Now

- Almost two years after the overflowing Mithi river claimed 400 lives on the 26/7 not a penny of the proposed Rs. 1,298 crore central assistance has reached the state.
- A group of Chembur residents is ‘26/7 Ready’. They have put together its own disaster management kit, in case of severe flooding to reduce dependence on government authorities.
News Source - TOI

5. Metro vs. Road Accidents

- The engineering and logistical challenges involved in building an overhead transport route in the suburbs are daunting.
- Accidents continue to occur regularly along the 9-km Palm Beach Road that connects Belapur and Vashi in Navi Mumbai. In 2005, there were over 45 accidents on the raod and 10 fatalities, and the next year there were over 50 accidents and 11 deaths. This year, there have been seven road deaths.
News Source - TOI

6. Sea to Sky

- Over 2,200 men from all over the country are toiling, sometimes over 14 hours at a stretch, to give shape to the engineering marvel called the Bandra-Worli Sea link.
News Source - TOI

7. Global Cities

Guy Tillim 1962Born and works South AfricaJo’burg 2004–5
View of Hillbrow looking north from the roof of the Mariston Hotel
Framed photographs; archival pigment ink on cotton paper
Courtesy the artist and Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town

looks at the changing faces of ten dynamic international cities: Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo.
Exploring each city through five thematic lenses – speed, size, density, diversity and form – the exhibition draws on data originally assembled for the 10th International Architecture Exhibition at the 2006 Venice Biennale. This unique show presents existing films, videos and photographs by more than 20 artists and architects to offer subjective and intimate interpretations of urban conditions in all ten cities.

- Read More http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/globalcities/default.shtm

- The city of Mumbai (Bombay) covers 438 km2 of Salsette Island, although almost a fifth of this area is occupied by Borivali National Park. This means the urban areas are condensed into about 350 km2, with a high gross residential density, about seven times the density of London. About half the population lives in makeshift shacks with no sewers or water. Urban housing is cramped and expensive, and open public space is limited – only 1% of the city’s area – and often poorly-maintained.

- Mumbai’s more affluent classes live in a corridor stretching along the city’s north-south axis. Taller residential structures are surrounded by densely-packed, low rise slum buildings. As the city diversifies from its core industries, former mill areas and docklands offer the potential to produce affordable housing and accessible public spaces, but given current development trends, are likely to become exclusive office and residential zones.

- Lack of investment means urban infrastructure cannot meet the demands of a growing population. 85% of residents (the equivalent of the population of Norway) use public transport every day; train carriages are regularly filled well beyond their intended capacity. Mumbai is a city where the vast majority of people still walk to work, reflecting the strong link between the location of informal housing and workplaces.

- PROJECT: CHIKHALWADI SANITATION PROJECT Mumbai lacks sanitation facilities for about half its population. The absence of running water and sewerage connections is unacceptable and potentially lifethreatening. Children in slums cannot compete in the long queues for scarce municipal toilets; they defecate outside their homes.

- The Chikhalwadi Sanitation Project consists of community toilet blocks designed, constructed and maintained by collectives. They include separate spaces for men, women and children. Capital finance for construction comes from the state or municipalities, who also have to ensure that water and electricity are provided to the blocks.ARCHITECT: VISTAAR ARCHITECTS AND PLANNERS CLIENT: SPARC COMPLETION DATE: 2004
News Source - Tate Modern, London