5. Site Selection The design dissertation is site specific to the portlands on the Eastern waterfront of Mumbai. This chapter explores the site history, criteria of site selection and data collected on the site study.
5.1. HISTORY OF MUMBAI Mumbai is located on a peninsula on Bombay Island, which was once made up of seven islands off the Konkan coast of western India. Over the course of five centuries, the seven islands of Bombay formed an archipelago that was eventually physically linked by land reclamation efforts. The islands that made up the original archipelago were: Isle of Bombay, Colaba, Old Woman's Island (Little Colaba), Mahim, Mazagaon, Parel, and Worli. The protected waters of Mumbai (Bombay) Harbour are to the east of the island. The low-lying plain of Bombay Island is flanked on the east and west by two parallel ridges of low hills, roughly one-fourth of which is below sea level. Mumbai Harbour is protected from the open sea by Colaba Point, a point formed on the extreme south by the longer of those hills.
Figure 116- ‘Island City’ Evolution. 1670, Original Seven Islands, Source- Noel Murphy
Rishita Kothari|CTESCOA
Re-thinking the Coastline| 81
