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Periodically, Mumbai’s assorted set of concerned citizens groups and bodies cast their attention on Mumbai’s long and spacious Eastern Waterfront (EWF), occupied mostly by the Mumbai Port Trust Authorities as a source of land supply for urban infrastructure. The authorities themselves are not as enthusiastic about all the attention since it devalues the tremendous economic contribution of the port to the city’s economy by measuring its worth only in terms of land value. Several studies conducted by institutes such as Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) and the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute amongst others have made significant contributions to this debate and the officers of the Port Trust have responded with their own arguments.
The Columbia University Urban Design Studio lead by Richard Plunz and Geeta Mehta, which is co-organized by URBZ, revisits some of these debates and take another look at the waterfront with their students between the 9th and 13th of January 2010. They will be accompanied by students of the Habitat School, Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the JJ College of Architecture, who will deepen the study conducted through their perspectives from social science and development studies as well as aspiring architectural practitioners in the city.
The Columbia EWF Studio has made, as the sites of their inquiry, some creative choices of locations – starting from Colaba and Chor Bazaar in the south, to P.D.Mello Road and Mazagaon as vital nodes and Sewri Fort and Wadala as the northern points of their study. The learning from the studio – whetted as it will be by previous studies as well as ongoing debates – becomes an important input into a panel discussion specially organized with the Earth Institute and JJ College of Architecture. This will take place on January 13th 2009 at JJ College, from 2:00 p.m. onwards. The panel discussion is open to the public. See the poster for more details.
The Earth Institute at Columbia University together with URBZ and UDRI are co-sponsoring this panel discussion in a run up to the establishment of the Columbia Global Centre/South Asia. This Center to be launched in March 2010 is part of their ongoing commitment to help address the challenges of sustainable development in India including poverty alleviation, energy, water, health and urbanization,
Sir JJ College of Architecture has been at the forefront of urban issues since its founding, and is committed to promoting a robust dialogue among academicians and all stake holders on important urban issues facing Mumbai and India.
The panel discussion “Mumbai Eastern Waterfront: Envisioning the Future” will focus on the Mumbai Eastern Waterfront to discuss strategies and policies that can play a constructive role in its future development. The process and the result of EWF development will have a profound impact on the Mumbai as well as the greater Mumbai Region. Eminent thought leaders will serve as panelists to discuss balancing environmental and ecological concerns with the desire for rapid economic development; balancing local, city and regional interests; balancing public interest and profit motives of developers; and balancing the interests of the middle class with the needs of the poorest residents.
