LITERATURE REVIEW

With research within the pages of this thesis seeking to take a multi-faceted approach to address the marginalization and tension in Mumbai’s urban peripheries, it was important to source information presented by a range of lenses through which the urban space can be visited.

In the following list are is this very range. These sources probe the issues in question with social, cultural, environmental, economic and political approaches to name a few. The list by itself is not one that claims to be all encompassing. Short remarks under each source summarizes their relative importance to my focus.

Mathur, Anuradha, and Dilip da. Cunha. Soak: Mumbai in an Estuary. New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 2009.

A text which provides insight in to ways in which one can begin juxtapose the physical constructs of Mumbai today and the natural terrain and its flows that we have forgotten. It speaks on the importance of the idea of impermanence through “places of wet theory and urban generativity.” Mathur and Cunha are critical of the historical practices that did shape Mumbai from the aqueous terrain of the past, while simultaneously mapping the traces of these in the contemporary urban fabric. SOAK emphasizes the vitality of speculating on the intersections of our lives with water and its ecologies and our relationship with these.

Davis, Mike. Planet of Slums. Brooklyn, NY: Verso, 2007.

Davis brings a global perspective to my understanding of informal settlements (slums). He has detailed, through examples social, economic and political mechanisms which lead to the development of slums and contemporary policies, or lack there of which allow for their spatial expansion but qualitative deterioration. The adeptness with which the fragility of the urban poor in many of the world’s metropolis, Mumbai being one of the them is portrayed has allowed me to acquire a scalar understanding of these spaces, as well as the forces of urbanization which marginalize these demographies.

Anand, Nikhil. Hydraulic City: Water and the Infrastructures of Citizenship in Mumbai. Durham: Duke University Press, 2017.

Mapping the importance of water to the development of contemporary cities, especially Mumbai as a point of departure, Anand addresses the contentious subjects of the dichotomy of legal and illegal settlements “traversing across the boundaries of il/legality and il/liberalism” in terms of heterogeneous politics, critical infrastructure, shelter, as well as he pivotal role of water in the resolution of these urban mechanisms.

Huyssen, Andreas, and Rahul Mehrotra. “Negotiating the Static and Kinetic Cities: The Emergent Urbanism of Mumbai.” Essay. In Other Cities, Other Worlds Urban Imaginaries in a Globalizing Age, 205–18. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2008.

Focusing on a new reality which reinterpreted the city in post colonial Mumbai, one where the two distinct identities of the city exist within the same urban fabric. Mehrotra terms these the “static” and the “kinetic” cities. The article touches on emergent realities which form in the city through human agency as well as the significance of the relationship it maintains with the permanent. The importance of the source is in the fact that it attempts to theorize on the fluid negotiation between this relationship of intersections in Mumbai. It points at the issue of housing in Mumbai as one of the most real evidences of this negotiation, and how this affects the city on a global scale.

Mehrotra, Rahul “One Space, Two worlds.” Architecture + Design, 12-19. Mumbai: Nov-Dec 1991.

This journal article observes again the duality of Mumbai in its recent history, one of the “pukka versus the kutcha city.” It speaks of the changes that have shaped this duality, which have their own duality of large scale transformations versus the smaller incremental changes which have strengthened the idea of the two worlds within the city. Mehrotra finds historical seeds in colonial practices which normalized this contrasting environment. The divide created was never resolved due to a “lack of will” to find “architectonic clarity in the emerging city.” It concludes that the normalization of this divide encourages a capitalist pedagogy of urban growth, one devoid of a consideration of social issues, resulting in lack thereof of a focus on adaptive growth which seems to be the only way forward.

UNDESA. “World Population Projected to Reach 9.8 Billion in 2050, and 11.2 Billion in 2100 | UN DESA Department of Economic and Social Affairs.” United Nations. United Nations, 2017. https://www. un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2017.html.

A projection of global population rise, especially that in the developing nations. This gives insight into the challenges that cities such as Mumbai must be prepared for.

Mehrotra, Rahul “Bombay: A Factitious City.” The Taj Magazine, 56-71. Mumbai: Nov-Dec 1991.

Here, Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay and it’s evolution is shown to pivot on singular primary aspiration—establishing a sense of permanence when it comes to the edge between land and sea. In this vein the act of land reclamation becomes the central theme in this article, illsutrating Mumbai as a city of incremental patchwork in the name of expansion and economic endeavors rather than a holistically considered urban environment. These practices as mapped in the temporal dimension as well, from the colonial Mumbai to the contemporary one.

Manecksha, Freny. “Pushing the Poor to the Periphery in Mumbai.” Economic and Political Weekly 46, no. 51 (2011): 26-28. Accessed September 14, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23065542.

Manecksha questions the unchecked pedagogy of the displacement of slum dwellers and delves into the forces that are at play. Through the text, policies and their methods of implementation are highlighted, with qualitative and quantitative data used to critique these.

Corner, James. “The Agency of Mapping: Speculation, Critique and Invention.” Essay. In Mappings, edited by Denis E. Cosgrove, 213–52. London, UK: Reaktion Books, 2002.

Corner expands on the meaning of the act of mapping and the importance of its use as a way to unearth and address obscure entities and their relationships rather than the redundant practice of the duplication of reality. The text brings attention to the critical inventiveness needed in map making through the examples of techniques such as “Drift,” “Layering,” “Game board” and “Rhizome.”

Pathak, Sushmita. “Mangroves Help Fight The Effects Of Climate Change. So Why Is Mumbai Destroying Them?” NPR. NPR, November 25, 2019. https://www.npr.org/sections/ goatsandsoda/2019/11/25/781990792/mangroves-help-fight-the-effects-of-climate-change-so- why-is-mumbai-destroying-t.

The article touches on the intrinsic link between nature and the urban fabric—mangroves in the case of Mumbai. Detailing the benefits of the coastal forests, the author goes on to underlines current policies and arguments which fail to understand the comprehend the urgency for their preservation. These claims are backed by graphic and historic examples, most notably the 2005 floods in the city.

NAPM. “Truth & Lies Of Slum Rehabilitation in Mumbai.” Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan, September 12, 2010. http://gbgb.in/docs/reports/Report%20of%20Public%20Hearing%20 on%20Slum%20Rehabilitation%20in%20Mumbai.pdf.

Details the information validated and conclusions drawn form the public hearing on the policies and actions taken in relation to the rehabilitation of slum dwellers in Mumbai. The hearing mainly focuses on the fallout of the Slum Redevelopment Scheme, its promises, shortcomings and expected actions to be taken to remedy these. The report also captures the depositions of individuals ranging from slum dwellers, to social activists, to government workers.

Banerjee-Guha, Swapna. “Ideology of Urban Restructuring in Mumbai : Serving the International Capitalist Agenda,” Mumbai, 2000.

Banerjee is critical in addressing the current trend of industrial globalization, which has impacted the structure of local life and policies in a city like Mumbai. Through the lens of government initiatives and their implementation, the literature finds that the urban systems prioritize conservation of capital over public interest. Mumbai is being “restructured,” but not equitably, with great gaps between positive planning and mediocre execution, with critical infrastructure failing to reach a majority of the population. This frame of mind bleeds into the environmental consciousness of the city planners as well, where economic impetus always overpowers environmental stewardship.

Bose, Shibaji, Ghosh, Upasona, Chauhan, Hemant, Kumar,Narayanan, N.C., and Parthasarathy,D “Uncertainties and Vulnerabilities among the Koli Fishers in Mumbai: A Photo Voice Study.”Indian Anthropologist 48, no. 2 (2018): 65-80. Accessed September 23, 2020. doi:10.2307/26757766.

This report is an account of the marginalization of the original inhabitants of Mumbai— the Kolis, through a Photo Voice study. This method allows the understanding of the reality of these communities through individual accounts by using photography as a documentation tool, in the process consolidating “critical consciousness.” The findings demonstrate political marginalization through discriminatory policy making and accounts of economic as well as environmental effects of these on the Koli communities. It points specifically at the Coastal Zoning Act and the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme as the primary policies at play when is comes to environmental and social ignorance in the planning of the contemporary city.

Voiland, Adam. “Landsat Image Gallery - Monitoring Mumbai’s Mangroves.” NASA. NASA, November 28, 2017. https://landsat.visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=91333.

Commentary on the spatial evolution of mangroves based on temporal parameters using satellite imagery. The imagery highlights how the coastal forests were overlooked in the past and stresses on the importance of this very tool in the conservation efforts.

Kale, Owi. “Environmental Problems of Mumbai.” Bartelby. St. Xavier’s College, August 2, 2012. https:// www.bartleby.com/essay/Environmental-Problems-of-Mumbai-PK6ATZ4KRYYS.

Kale speaks of Mumbai as a city that is stuck in two kinds and cannot embrace either because it is chained to “bureaucracy and politics.” Looking at the city through the lens of the environment, he credits “pollution, population and lack of space” to be the three main issues. Covering topics of historical practices, consideration of the environment, sub-par policy making and their illegal workarounds, as well as reporting their social and environmental fallout, the text sets a stage for a dystopian extrapolation of these urban mechanisms.

Kozlowski, Gabriel. “Walls of Air.” ISSUU, May 23, 2018. https://issuu.com/g.kozlowski/docs/16a_mia_ catalogo_eng_low_completo.

A book compiled on a part of the exhibition curated for the Brazilian Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale. The exhibition seeked to map the hidden boundaries and spatial evolutions created through interactions between people and “processes of urbanization” in Brazil. This document is an influence conceptually and graphically on thesis.

Miller, Johnny. “Mumbai.” Accessed August 31, 2020. https://unequalscenes.com/mumbai.

Miller displays the evident dichotomy of the urban fabric of Mumbai through aerial photography. The images and the accompanying text finds the importance of he slum to the identity of the city but also as a space of negotiation between the planned and the unplanned.

Watson, Julia. Lo-Tek: Design by Radical Indigenism. Cologne: Taschen, 2020.

Described as the retelling of “an ancient mythology—that humankind can and must live symbiotically with nature,” the text is critical of the obsession that our civilization has had with the presumed perfection of novel technology, which has resulted in the alienation of the community from the context that they occupy. Demonstrating the sustainable practices of indigenous communities and their “traditional ecological knowledge (TEK)” on a global scale through detailed explanations of their lifestyles and through diagrams to show their resiliency historically and in the Anthropocene. These case studies and the conclusions drawn from them by Watson to suggest “biodiversity as a building block,” inspires a new urban vision of indigeneity.

Warrier, S. Gopikrishna. “Mangroves: Do They Make Economic Sense?” Nature India, March 27, 2017. https://www.natureasia.com/en/nindia/article/10.1038/nindia.2017.44.

Warrier used quantitative data to illustrate the economic impetus that the conservation of mangroves can offer. The most financially significant benefits that are noted are the fish, coastal protection and carbon sequestration. Using this data, the text determines exactly why it makes sense for the governing bodies to promote policies to protect these forests in the face of encroachment and pollution.

Rademacher, Anne. “Rectifying Failure: Imagining the New City and the Power to Create It.” In Building Green: Environmental Architects and the Struggle for Sustainability in Mumbai, 65-90. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2018. Accessed September 27, 2020. http://www.jstor. org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt2204r4v.8.

Noting the current trends of Mumbai as a city which is failing to meets the housing and critical infrastructure needs that the current population demands, while recognizing this as an opportunity for environmentally conscious designers to contribute to redefining this narrative of the city. Rademacher lists various proposals for the revitalization of Mumbai through its environmental assets and critiques them on their still evident top down approaches instead of “civic agency and inclusion.” Through the description of the history of Mumbai land use and the social, political, economic, as well as environmental layers of the urban condition, the text highlights the complexity to be contended with.

Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. Disaster Risk Management Master Plan in Collaboration with Earthquakes & Megacities Initiative . MCGM. Mumbai: MCGM, 2010.

A document composed by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai detailing the various institutional and legal agreements in place that relate to disaster risk management. It details these policies at national and state levels while noting the contribution of and implication for various governmental organizations.

“Absolute Hell: the Toxic Outpost Where Mumbai’s Poorest Are ‘Sent to Die’.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, February 26, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/feb/26/mumbai poor-mahul-gentrification-polluted.

The article talks about the marginalization of the urban poor through forced displacement and relocation to toxic environments. Mahul, a historic Koli fishing village was chosen to be the rehabilitation housing space for the slum dwellers who were displaced to make space for developments which they would realistically never be able to use. It notes that the area that they were relocated to had no amenities, industrial and urban pollution, poorly planned housing and virtually non-existent transportation links. The results this is illustrated through personal accounts of sickness, deaths and loss of livelihood, among others.

Hosagrahar, Jyoti. Indigenous Modernities: Negotiating Architecture and Urbanism. New York, NY: Routledge, 2005.

The book centers around the study of colonial influences of the definition of eastern cities of today and then proposing an alternative view of an indigenous modernity which could redefine these urban spaces.

“About Us: Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority.” Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority, Department of Environment Government of Maharashtra, Mumbai. Department of Environment Government of Maharashtra. Accessed October 1, 2020. https:// mczma.gov.in/content/about-us.

The official homepage of the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority. The ‘About Us’ page provides historical background information on the organization such as when is was established, as well as the tenets based on which it is supposed to make policies.

Chouhan, Hemantkumar A, Parthasarathy, D, and Pattanaik, Sarmistha. “Urban Development, Environmental Vulnerability and CRZ Violations in India: Impacts on Fishing Communities and Sustainability Implications in Mumbai Coast.” Environment, Development and Sustainability 19.3 (2017): 971-85. Web.

This report looks at the connection between mangroves and the indigenous inhabitants of Mumbai— The Kolis. In this context the authors go on to highlight the legislation that is supposed to protect the fragile coastal ecosystems through coastal zoning, but have failed to do so. The failures are cited through named examples of the breach of policies through illicit or discriminatory means, affecting not only the ecosystem but also the livelihood of the coastal communities that depend on them.

Everard, Mark, and Jha, Rohit. “The Benefits of Fringing Mangrove Systems to Mumbai.” Research Gate, April 2014. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264405208_The_benefits_of_fringing_ mangrove_systems_to_Mumbai.

Jha and Everard identify the importance of the preservation of mangroves. They also understand that there needs to be a quantitative backing for these efforts in the face of the opportunity cost of the profits that any form of replacement development could yield. Looking at mangrove as a sustainable commodity, their economic value is extrapolated through the lenses of Supporting, Cultural, Regulatory and Provisioning services , while also attempting to decipher the value of unquantifiable services provided by the coastal ecosystems.

Aravena, Alejandro. “Transcript of ‘My Architectural Philosophy? Bring the Community into the Process.’” TED, 2014. https://www.ted.com/talks/alejandro_aravena_my_architectural_philosophy_bring_ the_community_into_the_process/transcript.

Aravena speaks on the importance of dialogue with the community that one is designing for and how this step is often overlooked by governing bodies. He uses the example of the social housing projects undertaken by Elemental, in Chile. He speaks of the knowledge that emerged from the conversations that he had with the inhabitants of the marginalized settlements, and how based off of these the studio undertook the certain priorities during the executions of the projects such as access to critical infrastructure to each family and opportunities to expand their living spaces as their families grew.

Förster, Wolfgang, William, Menking, and Mladen, Jadric. “Asia: Public Housing in China, India, Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea.” Essay. In The Vienna Model 2: Housing for the 21. Century City, 28–43. Berlin: Jovis, 2018.

The section on Asia in the book stresses on the importance of good housing solutions in contemporary urban spaces, especially those in many of the cities in Asia which are projected to grow exponentially in the coming decades. One segment of this section on Asia focuses on cities in India and their collapsing infrastructure, inadequacies in coping with housing demand and attempts of the past by architects such as Balkrishna Doshi to address these issues.

Gupte, Rupali, Prasad Shetty, Rajeev Mishra, Anuja Mayadeo, Apoorva Jalindre, Apoorva Shenvi, Darshan Maru, et al. “TYPOLOGIES and BEYOND.” Critmumbai. School of Planning and Architecture, July 2010.

A study by researchers and students from the School of Planning and Architecture along with teams from other educational institutions to address the vulnerabilities faced by the informal settlements in Mumbai and the underlying mechanics that has brought the city to this impasse. The merit of this study is in how it posits and acts on the idea that the issues within the settlements can be worked on only through a more microscopic understanding if the social, economic, cultural and spatial organization of these spaces. It has served as an inspiration in my graphic understanding and representation of the built environments of these settlements.

Worldwide map files for any design program. (2013). Retrieved December 07, 2020, from https:// cadmapper.com/

A source for digital information that I used to produce layered maps of the city.

Mehrotra, Rahul, Felipe Vera, Diana L. Eck, Dinesh Mehta, and Dipti Mehta. Kumbh Mela: Mapping the Ephemeral Megacity. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2015.

A book produced through a collaboration between a range of disciples at Harvard, lead by the Harvard University South Asia Institute. Its aims understand and record the intricate processes of deployment and execution of the Kumbh Mela in India. My interest in this investigation lies in the methods used to graphically represent these processes and their relation to the natural elements, as well as material constraints that influence the site.

13 | Literature Review