Urban regeneration of historic, cultural landscapes: a case of banganga talao, Mumbai

Abstract

Urban agglomerations are dynamic organisms that continuously strive to adapt to social, economic and physical changes. Historically, cities have adapted to natural disasters, economic flux and political upheaval. Today’s cities constantly battle pressures from economy-driven mass immigrations that trigger housing crisis. Extreme urban densities blur the boundary between ‘public’ space and ‘private’ homes. Urban settlements also affect the ability of coastal ecosystems to appropriately respond to the changing climate, thereby fostering vulnerability. By 2025, 40 million people in Mumbai and Kolkata will be at risk due to rising sea levels. Today’s cities are not planned to respond to climate change. In Mumbai, over 60% of the population lives in informal housing, however, they only cover 8% of the land. To further the housing shortage, rent-control policies leave no incentive for maintenance, causing the urban structure to deteriorate. In historic-core precincts, as the traditional social structures fail to adapt with contemporary life, they are eventually abandoned or left to decay. The regeneration of historic core areas must fulfil the demands of contemporary growth by assuring the preservation of architectural and cultural values. One of the last surviving freshwater tankis of Mumbai, Banganga is the oldest Hindu tirthsthala on the Island city. But skyrocketing land prices, physical encroachment of the seafront by squatters and high-rise visual encroachment adjacent to the tank threaten to ravage the unique character of the precinct. The thesis aims to understand how deteriorating historic, cultural landscapes with ethnic, occupational diversity in user group can be socially, economically and physically regenerated by integrating historic values with contemporary life. It is the contention of this thesis that all the present-day stakeholders of the precinct be integrated as direct beneficiaries of a participatory process: a) original residents of the old fabric b) people in illegal squatters c) people in nearby high-rises