Posted on by Taylor
One cannot mention India, and especially not Mumbai, without talking about Cricket. This game is equally synonymous with recreation, television, and popular culture; Mumbaikars share a deep passion for the sport. Any level terrain, no matter its size or context, gives way to high-spirited matches in the early morning or late afternoon.
The following images were captured at the Cross Maidan in South Bombay, a space which brims with Cricket-playing youths on weekends.
Posted on by Taylor
When I first proposed to catalogue Mumbai’s plans for development over the next half-decade, I assumed fieldwork for this project would be relatively straightforward. Given the widely-publicized urban agendas for centers in the United States, China, and Europe, it seemed logical that Mumbai, a city of twelve million people, would have well-documented and verifiable information regarding its most pressing urban matters. By interviewing architects, urbanists, educators, and NGOs, I predicted a relatively effortless collection of verifiable facts regarding present urban issues, future plans for development, and a cohesive vision for Mumbai over the coming decades; experts within the city should have a reasonable grasp on the problems at hand, and how the political bodies of India are working (or not working) to propel Mumbai into the twenty-first century.
As of this writing, however, it’s become clear that––in strong contrast to the widely-publicized planning strategies employed by the United States, China, and Europe––current understandings and future visions of Mumbai are overwhelmingly scattered, if not simply misinformed. Not only is there a lack of knowledge relating to the government’s sweeping plans for future development, there is a complete lack of agreement regarding many of the city’s most prosaic contemporary statistics. As an example, many of my interviewees thus far are divided as to whether Bombay’s population is still increasing; many more seem vague on the projected completion or expansion of major infrastructure projects currently underway within the city. Even more expressed confusion regarding Mumbai’s more abstract plans for regeneration and redevelopment, even in the most immediate future.
This lack of knowledge, however, has not stopped offices, schools, and NGOs from producing a seemingly-endless supply of plans to regenerate the city: during my time in Mumbai thus far, I have been confronted with an untold number of proposals for redevelopment, betterment, and expansion, all attacking seemingly disparate topics, issues, and spaces for intervention. Approaches are chaotically varied, from individual public art installations, to the grandiose razing of the city’s largest slums, to providing a sea-ferry connection between Bombay’s northernmost and southernmost extents.
While not unusual for the profession of architecture and urbanism, the distinct lack of unified voice amongst Mumbai’s design elite seems particularly extreme. This may not be unwarranted. While many European, American, or Asian cities are concerned with relatively prosaic design concerns and agendas, such as the beatification of public space, the improvement of public transit, or the gentrification of dilapidated neighborhoods, Mumbai has a far wider, more serious, and more immediate range of symptoms to address. With sixty percent of the city’s population living in slums, for example, and many without access to running water, electricity, sanitation, or medical care, architects, urbanists, and NGOs alike seem overwhelmed in the sheer quantity of issues to address.
To complicate matters further, political structures which generate long-term urban visions have seemingly little imagination for or control over development in Mumbai. Guiding documents, such as the twenty-year urban plan produced in concert with many governmental organelles, remain largely unimplemented throughout their supposed lifespan, and their formation is a largely secretive process. Consequently, architects, urbanists, and NGOs are uninformed as to the true reality of development taking place within the city, not to mention any long-term urban agendas which might provide a frame for designers and planners to work within. Any cohesive intervention within this arena proves difficult, if not impossible.
In many ways, this discord would seem a death sentence for a future-capable Mumbai. Without clear design objectives and routes toward implementation, the city should stagnate, or be thrust into an uncontrollable siege from unfocused planning and construction. Some argue this reality is already upon the city; many bottom-up processes can be seen to compensate for the glaring oversights of designers and politicians at a macro level. Yet, perhaps here lies opportunity. Bombay’s present urban condition is an untamed response to economic, political, and social forces, where small-scale and competitive processes are currently most effective in determining Mumbai’s metropolitan composition. Can urbanists, architects, and NGOs somehow harness this chaos for the betterment of the city?
Undoubtedly, as mentioned previously, there are an excess of design and policy proposals which seek to better Mumbai. What is needed most immediately, in order to transform the city on a broad level, is dialogue. Professionals operating within the city must seek to establish communication between architects, urbanists, NGOs, and educators in order to network fragmentary design strategies into a larger cohesive whole. With architects and designers so focused on creating products––tangible means of intervening within the urban realm––few seem to operate at this managerial level, to the detriment of both professional and public spheres. The role of the architect, especially in the world’s most prolific and complex cities, must broaden beyond the conceptualization and design of tangible objects.
The strengthening of broad, trans-disciplinary dialogue would make an immediate impact on the city, and would moreover seek to correct many failures (arguably) made by governmental planning agencies and organizations. This change could only be beneficial. The essence of generative processes is teamwork; without it, Mumbai may fall victim to its most exciting potentials.
Posted on by Taylor
I recently had the good fortune to befriend a member of the Hare Krishna movement, a branch of Hinduism which worships Lord Krishna (George Harrison, of Beatle fame, was a devotee). Today, my new friend invited me to celebrate Hindi New Year with members of his temple.
Celebrations took place near Chor Bazaar, and were held in the form of a jubilant street festival. Idols, mounted on an oversized cart, were pulled through city streets by revelers as families presented offerings to the Gods. The space in front of this cart, lined on either side by enormous ropes used to pull the entire assemblage forward, was filled with dancing and singing devotees showing their happiness to Lord Krishna, while bystandards threw rose petals from adjacent balconies. The atmosphere was ecstatic. This celebration lasted for over five hours as worshipers and passers-by pulled the idols through the winding streets of South Bombay.
One of the most incredible experiences of my life thus far.