Envisioning the Waterfront Development of Haji Bunder Port : Maritime Museum & Urban Park , Mumbai

Abstract

India is about to witness its biggest urban migration in the coming decades. The country proposes to tackle this challenge with its Smart City Mission through economic growth and betterment of quality of life by local area development and harnessing technology. With increasing foreign connectivity, global cities of India, like Mumbai, Delhi & Kolkata, are expected to receive a tremendous increase in foreign footfall and investments. This, in turn increases the scope for further infrastructural development sand job opportunities.For a congested place like Mumbai, Development to accommodate this estimated surge of mass immigration could be catastrophic to the city and its citizens. For Mombai, with an open space per capita of 1.1.sq.m per person, public spaces can no longer be considerd a luxury . Rather, it is a necessity to engender a healthy city life and to tackle the lack of social and natural reliefs within the city.The new master plan re-envisioning the entire eastern port side attempts to address these issues by focusing on recreational public spaces for the city along the entire stretch. Also envisaged are tourism developments, commercial, residential and public infrastructure, such as museums. This thesis attempts to integrate the maritime museum, a public building, with an Urban Park-a network of open spaces and functions, that are open to all. This would crate a boundary-less project inviting public flow to and through the site, both as a visitor to the buildings and to engage socially as a citizen.The primary parameters for the laying out of the buildings and the activities are : 1 The site's pre-existing rich flora , 2 Maximum visibility from Mumbai;s eastern port side.