SHAPING THE ‘EDGE’ “In all sectors of housing, transportation, recreation, ownership of land, health or education, segmentation got pronounced leading to a visible dualism in the social and economic space of the metropolis.” Swapna Banerjee-Guha, 200019
A multitude of theorists and practitioners have proposed their take on these new sets of parameters. Although these vary in scope and proposal, what they do agree on is the importance of critical consideration of environmental and social issues which prevail in the city, especially that on the urban peripheries. Lack of planning to accommodate the urban poor and the critical infrastructures they need has created conditions where they are “directly invading vital ecological sanctuaries and protected watersheds.”16 Ironically, on the other hand, local institutions fail to realize that “cities need an alliance with Nature in order to recycle
20 | Peripheral Mechanisms
their waste products into usable inputs,”17 which could allow economic efficiencies in the provision of resources for the marginalized communities. With instances of the authorities of Mumbai uprooting residents of informal settlements as well as mangroves to make space for development for the privileged, while simultaneously exposing them to the toxicity of unregulated urban industries, the fates of the two seem inarguably intertwined.18
Open waters Koliwada (Fishing Village) The original islands of Mumbai
Mahim Creek, circa 1600
With an increasing realization of the culmination of the planning practices of reclamation and displacement which strengthen the duality of the city, not only at the local level of Mumbai but on a global scale, redefining the parameters which dictate the urban form has gained traction.
Mahim Creek
