Rupali Gupte & Prasad Shetty：Propositions to see Cities

Propositions to see Cities
Notes from Mumbai
Rupali Gupte & Prasad Shetty

Ideas of cities have been dominated by two imaginations:, one of a technological utopia
supported by super infrastructure and a robust information system

or the opposite, a city engendered by catastrophes of environment, poverty, and
deterioration.
Inherent in both these imaginations of coherence and catastrophes, is the idea of time as a
singular linear rhythm, of space as an entity with fixed coordinates and of people as
homogenous and inert mass.

Both these imaginations have led to the city being imagined as a project – A Mission
Impossible to be undertaken. Government and Civil society alike have taken it upon
themselves to fix the problems of the city. The city is now a mission.

This is the development plan of Mumbai. What appears as one line in plan, in real life
thickens out to show a complex occupancy.

Grant Road, Mumbai shows a thickened occupancy.

Grant Road, Mumbai showing four levels of occupancy in the place of a single thin line in
the city plan.

Haribaug, Parel chawl housing with one room tenements and common areas for occupation

Poonawala chawl, Parel housing with one room porous tenements and common areas for
occupation

Poonawala chawl housing, Parel

Poonawala, Parel chawl housing, bridges that connect two buildings act like public living
rooms

Poonawala chawl housing, Parel, the porous house

Kumbharwada Dharavi, Mumbai, a potters colony where work, living and selling takes place
together.

Beherampada,Mumbai, a multi level self built housing, where work, manufacturing, living and
selling and leisure takes place together.

Community Space, Praying Hall
Owners House
Workers Dorm
Embroidery Units
Library
Grocery shop Utensils renting enterprise
Embroidery Units
Beherampada, Mumbai

In contrast are the resettlement colonies in Mankhurd, Mumbai, where only living can take
place with no transactional capacities

TRANSACTIONAL CAPACITIES vis-à-vis THE DEGREE OF BLUR (and corresponding TYPE / FORM)
Skyscraping
Apartments
Apartment BlocksOld Labor HousingDilapidated Bazaar HousingIncremental Settlements
Transactional Capacities
Densities, number of activities,
networks, transactions, care,
livelihoods, cultural settling,
security, accommodation of
diversity, etc.
Resources
Social & physical
infrastructure, space, energy
consumption, pressure on
infrastructure, etc.
Degree
of Blur

Mohammed Ali Road Neighbourhood, Mumbai, where transactional capacities give the city
its energies.

Charkop, Mumbai, A Transactional Object – A vendor uses the fence of a private building
to store her wares.

Poonawala chawl, Transactional Object – a Duchampian door that serves the dual purpose of
shutting the living room space and the kitchen storage at different times of the day.

Null Bazaar, Fort & Girgaum , Mumbai, Transactional Spaces: The pne foot shop, the shop
inside a shop, the shop under a stair

Bhuleshwar, Mumbai : A Transactional Object – A one foot shop that occupies a foot of
space inside the adjacent building and one foot outside.

Bhuleshwar, Mumbai : A Transactional Object – A one foot cupboard shop

Bhuleshwar, Mumbai : A Transactional Object – A one foot betel leaves shop

Transactional Objects at the 56th Venice Art Biennale: One foot shop

Bhuleshwar, Mumbai : A Transactional Object – A day and night one foot shop

Bhuleshwar, Mumbai : A Transactional Object – A shop that touches the city at one point

Bhindi Bazaar, Mumbai : A Transactional Object – A box shop

Bhuleshwar, Mumbai : A Transactional Object – Box shops that advertise services of
plumbing and carpentry.

Bhuleshwar, Mumbai : A Transactional Object – A basket used to transport goods

Bhuleshwar, Mumbai : A Transactional Object – A basket used to transport goods and sleep in

Grant Road, Mumbai : Idea of a blurred Urban Form and Slow Settling where negotiations
between different occupancies make the city.

Bandra East Skywalk, Mumbai, after a large infrastructure project is built

Bandra East Skywalk, Mumbai, the city slowly settles underneath

Bandra East Skywalk, Mumbai, a picnic on the skywalk

Parel, flyover, a playground underneath

A toilet built as part of a Slum Sanitation programe

slowly settles, with the caretaker using the space for community functions

Incrementally upgrading the space himself

Incrementally upgrading the space himself; an aircurtain that acts as a fan

A meeting of small contractors that convene on matters of upgrading.

A new slum house newly built by one of the contractors who has solved the ventilation
problem.

In another instance, instead of a large toilet block, built by Non Governmental organisations

Lower level government officials helped upgrade self built settlements

with toilets inside the house, turning it into a liveable neighbourgood
.

Our next contention is that cities are made with people who have trips and kicks. This is
the instance of a man who lives in a very small tenement but whose trip in life is to find
people who have left their vilages and have got lost in cities.

He is not bothered of his loss of job or his small apartment. He has another absurd goal in
life, which he lives for

The toilet caretaker has another trip, to upgrade the toilet and make it into a community
centre.

And trips of lower level government staff who against interests of upper officials and Non
Governmental organisations.

Other trips in the city include collecting of
outdated computer parts which are sought
after
by others whose trip is to repair.

Trips to repair, workshops under staircases
in Lamington Road, an area that specialises
in computer peripherals mostly from China.

Trips where three friends take care of each
others shops

Trips where the landlord rents out his wall for a one foot shop and hangs out outside it.

Trips where a shop keeper of LED lights, influenced by a Bollywood film gets his tailor
father to stitch him a suit made of lights.

And walks around the city with his lit clothes.

Trips: the story of Pradeep who has lost his jobs in the repair market for sound recorders

Because computer parts are now becoming more microscopic. But he still says he enjoys his
job.

He has subdivided his shop now and rents it to his friend to store his goods

He collects Gods of all faiths

Shows how he has been told by a finance expert how he is a fool to keep his shop as
he is losing money but still keeps it because he enjoys the work.

Trips where in his spare time he designs for himself the most ergonomical chair.

And redesigns a watch which he can read more clearly.

And designs pens out of left over acrylc

And designs pens out of left over brass pipes

And makes several iterations of it.

Being Nicely Messy
‘On Futures’

TWO DOMINANT IMAGINATIONS OF FUTURE
THE APOCALYPSE THE HIGH-TECH
Images: http://good-wallpapers.com/misc/14759 ; http://lava360.com/30-breathtaking-future-city-concept-art/

IDEAS AROUND URBANSATION
UBBANIZATION AS A PREDATORY PROCESS URBANISATION WILL PRODUCE CRISES
Images: http://cybergeo.revues.org/24798, http://blog.shiftboston.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/the_urban_crisis.jpg

Colonial
Business
District
Inner City
Area with
old
dilapidated
built fabric
Eastern
waterfront
(port &
industry)
Dense
Incremental
Settlement
near a
railway
station
Western
waterfront
(elite
residential
areas)
Suburban
areas with
incremental
settlements
New Business
Process
Outsourcing
Areas
City edge
Suburban
neighbor-
hoods
(middle
class areas)
New Business
Process
Outsourcing
Areas
City edge
Suburban
areas with
incremental
settlements
Suburban
neighbor-
hoods
(middle
class areas)
Western
waterfront
(elite
residential
areas)
Dense
Incremental
Settlement
near a
railway
station
Eastern
waterfront
(port &
industry)
Inner City
Area with
old
dilapidated
built fabric
Colonial
Business
District
From ‘BEING NICELY MESSY’
crit.in
LOOKING CLOSELY AT THE MECHANICS OF FUTURE URBANISATION
The Case of Mumbai

Colonial
Business
District
Inner City
Area with
old
dilapidated
built fabric
Eastern
waterfront
(port &
industry)
Dense
Incremental
Settlement
near a
railway
station
Western
waterfront
(elite
residential
areas)
Suburban
neighbor-
hoods
(middle
class areas)
Suburban
areas with
incremental
settlements
New Business
Process
Outsourcing
Areas
City edge
Further
dilapidation of
old building
stock
Small
piecemeal re-
developments
of individual
properties
Large scale
urban
renewal
Growth in
culture
industry
Growth of
informal
enterprise
Dilapidation
of buildings
Conservation,
Eviction and
cleaning of
arcades
every condition in the city
has a possibility of a different future
… of many futures depending on who is imagining it
and how it is imagined
crit.in

Colonial
Business
District
Inner City
Area with
old
dilapidated
built fabric
Eastern
waterfront
(port &
industry)
Dense
Incremental
Settlement
near a
railway
station
Western
waterfront
(elite
residential
areas)
Suburban
neighbor-
hoods
(middle
class areas)
Suburban
areas with
incremental
settlements
New Business
Process
Outsourcing
Areas
City edge
Growth in
culture
industry
Conservation,
Eviction and
cleaning of
arcades
Growth of
informal
enterprise
Further
dilapidation of
old building
stock
Small
piecemeal re-
developments
of individual
properties
Large scale
urban
renewal
Growth in
environment &
heritage
Tourism
Large scale
assembly of
land &
urban
renewal
Piecemeal
changes in
property
Growth of
intensity in
the
settlement
Growth of
new
enterprises on
the skywalk
Dismantling
and
reconstruction
of
infrastructure
Cleaning up
of waterfront
to make
public space
Growth of
the
aggressive
civil society
New life
under the
metro line
High property
speculation and
redevelopment of
old
neighborhoods
Displacement of
existing
occupants
Clarification
of edges
along the
new corridor
High land
speculation
and growth in
gated
communities
New
rehabilitation
colonies
Decline in the
business
process
outsourcing
industry
Increase in
old-aged
people
Growth of
hard edges
between
neighbor-
hoods
Growth of the
new
enterprises
Consolidation of
service industry
Growth in
formal
commerce
and retail
Growth in
systems to
regulate city
entry
Environmental
Crises & growth
in aggressive
civil society
Increase in
families of
old-aged
people
Environmental
crises and
Removal of
ship repair
yard
Dilapidation
of buildings
crit.in

Consolidation of
service industry
Conservation,
Eviction and
cleaning of
arcades
High property
speculation and
redevelopment of
old
neighborhoods
High land
speculation
and growth in
gated
communities
Growth in
culture
industry
Growth of
informal
enterprise
Further
dilapidation of
old building
stock
Small
piecemeal re-
developments
of individual
properties
Large scale
urban
renewal
Growth in
environment &
heritage
Tourism
Large scale
assembly of
land &
urban
renewal
Piecemeal
changes in
property
Growth of
intensity in
the
settlement
Growth of
new
enterprises on
the skywalk
Cleaning up
of waterfront
to make
public space
Growth of
the
aggressive
civil society
New life
under the
metro line
Displacement of
existing
occupants
Clarification
of edges
along the
new corridor
New
rehabilitation
colonies
Decline in the
business
process
outsourcing
industry
Increase in
old-aged
people
Growth of
hard edges
between
neighbor-
hoods
Growth of the
new
enterprises
Growth in
formal
commerce
and retail
Growth in
systems to
regulate city
entry
Environmental
Crises & growth
in aggressive
civil society
Increase in
families of
only old-
aged people
Environmental
crises and
Removal of
ship repair
yard
Dilapidation
of buildings
Dismantling
and
reconstruction
of
infrastructure
1. trajectory of high polarization – social and physical edges between communities will
harden reducing the blur and hence the transactional capacity of the urban form.
crit.in

Transformation of old housing stock Transformation of slums Transformation of old co-op housing
Transforming City – Mumbai – The new built form seems to have lesser transactional capacity

Planning with its obsession towards clarity conceives the blur as a problem and clarity is sought

This clarity produces a highly polarised city threatening the logic of the city.

Consolidation of
service industry
Conservation,
Eviction and
cleaning of
arcades
High property
speculation and
redevelopment of
old
neighborhoods
High land
speculation
and growth in
gated
communities
Growth in
culture
industry
Growth of
informal
enterprise
Further
dilapidation of
old building
stock
Small
piecemeal re-
developments
of individual
properties
Large scale
urban
renewal
Growth in
environment &
heritage
Tourism
Large scale
assembly of
land &
urban
renewal
Piecemeal
changes in
property
Growth of
intensity in
the
settlement
Growth of
new
enterprises on
the skywalk
Cleaning up
of waterfront
to make
public space
Growth of
the
aggressive
civil society
New life
under the
metro line
Displacement of
existing
occupants
Clarification
of edges
along the
new corridor
New
rehabilitation
colonies
Decline in the
business
process
outsourcing
industry
Increase in
old-aged
people
Growth of
hard edges
between
neighbor-
hoods
Growth of the
new
enterprises
Growth in
formal
commerce
and retail
Growth in
systems to
regulate city
entry
Environmental
Crises & growth
in aggressive
civil society
Increase in
families of
only old-
aged people
Environmental
crises and
Removal of
ship repair
yard
Dilapidation
of buildings
Dismantling
and
reconstruction
of
infrastructure
2. trajectory of economic restructuring – older economic generators of commerce, finance &
business process outsourcing will decline and new enterprises related to culture,
environment and old age will emerge
crit.in

Agrarian Mercantile/
Administration
Industrial /
Administration
Finance, Commerce, Retail /
Administration
Culture, Environment, Health,
Old Age / Administration
ECONOMY
URBAN
FORM
MAIN
ECONOMIC
ACTORS
Skyscraper apartments, Malls,
Commercial Blocks, redevelopment of
incremental settlements
Urban renewals, resettlement
colonies, conservation, gated
communities
Pastoral Landscapes
with incremental
settlements of
farmers & fisher folk
Trade Nodes, Dense
Inner Cities with
markets, guesthouses,
religious spaces
Smoke Stack
Landscapes, industries,
worker housing,
incremental settlements
Farmers, feudal
lords
Merchants, colonial
government
Workers,
industrialists,
government
Corporate, Entrepreneurs & Agents
Culture Workers, Environmentalists,
Senior Citizens, Health Workers
Pre 1650s 1650s to 1850s 1850s t0 1980s 1990s to 2020s 2020 onwards
1. New technological developments will reduce the
need for proximity in conducting business
2. New national / international locations will displace
businesses from Mumbai
3. The competitive advantage of the city are its
cultural & environmental assets, film industry,
health sector, etc.
REASONS
FOR SHIFT
changing Mumbai
1.Technological
Developments
2.Demand for
textile (National
& International)
3.Infrastructure
Support
1.Establishment of
Port
2.Establishment of
Govt. HQ
3.Encouragement to
Trade
1.Reconfiguration
of production and
growth of
entrepreneurs
2.Liberalization
3.Discouragement
of Manufacturing
Units
crit.in

Consolidation of
service industry
Conservation,
Eviction and
cleaning of
arcades
High property
speculation and
redevelopment of
old
neighborhoods
High land
speculation
and growth in
gated
communities
Growth in
culture
industry
Growth of
informal
enterprise
Further
dilapidation of
old building
stock
Small
piecemeal re-
developments
of individual
properties
Large scale
urban
renewal
Growth in
environment &
heritage
Tourism
Large scale
assembly of
land &
urban
renewal
Piecemeal
changes in
property
Growth of
intensity in
the
settlement
Growth of
new
enterprises on
the skywalk
Cleaning up
of waterfront
to make
public space
Growth of
the
aggressive
civil society
New life
under the
metro line
Displacement of
existing
occupants
Clarification
of edges
along the
new corridor
New
rehabilitation
colonies
Decline in the
business
process
outsourcing
industry
Increase in
old-aged
people
Growth of
hard edges
between
neighbor-
hoods
Growth of the
new
enterprises
Growth in
formal
commerce
and retail
Growth in
systems to
regulate city
entry
Environmental
Crises & growth
in aggressive
civil society
Increase in
families of
only old-
aged people
Environmental
crises and
Removal of
ship repair
yard
Dilapidation
of buildings
Dismantling
and
reconstruction
of
infrastructure
3. trajectory of intensification of environmental concerns
crit.in

crit.in

Consolidation of
service industry
Conservation,
Eviction and
cleaning of
arcades
High property
speculation and
redevelopment of
old
neighborhoods
High land
speculation
and growth in
gated
communities
Growth in
culture
industry
Growth of
informal
enterprise
Further
dilapidation of
old building
stock
Small
piecemeal re-
developments
of individual
properties
Large scale
urban
renewal
Growth in
environment &
heritage
Tourism
Large scale
assembly of
land &
urban
renewal
Piecemeal
changes in
property
Growth of
intensity in
the
settlement
Growth of
new
enterprises on
the skywalk
Cleaning up
of waterfront
to make
public space
Growth of
the
aggressive
civil society
New life
under the
metro line
Displacement of
existing
occupants
Clarification
of edges
along the
new corridor
New
rehabilitation
colonies
Decline in the
business
process
outsourcing
industry
Increase in
old-aged
people
Growth of
hard edges
between
neighbor-
hoods
Growth of the
new
enterprises
Growth in
formal
commerce
and retail
Growth in
systems to
regulate city
entry
Environmental
Crises & growth
in aggressive
civil society
Increase in
families of
only old-
aged people
Environmental
crises and
Removal of
ship repair
yard
Dilapidation
of buildings
Dismantling
and
reconstruction
of
infrastructure
4. trajectory of higher average age of people – city of the old
crit.in

Agrarian Mercantile/
Administration
Industrial /
Administration
Finance, Commerce, Retail /
Administration
Culture, Environment, Health,
Old Age / Administration
ECONOMY
Pre 1650s 1650s to 1850s 1850s t0 1980s 1990s to 2020s 2020 onwards
changing Mumbai
No migration, lesser reproduction
Migration of Traders
and Trade workers
Migration of
Industrial workers
No migration, growth
only by reproduction
PercentageGrowthinPopulation
crit.in

Transactional
capacity
Polarization of
communities,
Hardening of
Boundaries
Commerce,
Finance & BPO
Culture &
environment
industry
Environmental
Concerns,
Sea Level,
Temperature,
Flash Flood
Occurrences
Population
Average Age
URBAN SPACE &FORM ECONOMY ENVIRONMENT DEMOGRAPHY
the trajectories for mumbai’s future
crit.in

Catalogue for
designing
boundary walls
between
neighborhoods
Catalogue
for
rethinking
Waterfront
Edges
Catalogue
for
retrofitting
bridges
and
skywalks
Catalogue for
enterprise
paraphernalia
Catalogue
for new
clocks
and
calendars
Catalogue for
losses and
opportunities
Catalogue
of new
programs
Catalogu
e of
senior
infrastruct
ure &
systems
Catalogue of
new
enterprises
Catalogue
for
retrofitting
old
settlementsCatalogue for
promoting
heritage and
environment
tourismCatalogue
for
greening
vertical
neighborh
oods
Manual for
redevelopment
of old buildings
TOOLS
tools to blur the social and
physical edges to allow
transactions
tools to help create and harness new
opportunities
tools to engage with the
environmental crises
tools to help the old to live in dignity
crit.in

catalogue for retrofitting old settlements: in a context of large scale urban redevelopment
and renewal the existing occupants of inner cities, slums and old buildings are threatened
and often displaced. this catalogue discusses many ways in which such older settlements
could be retrofitted.
senior city: this is a catalogue for developing senior infrastructure and systems. in 2030,
mumbai will have many more old people. this catalogue is a compilation of new possible
institutions, programmes, enterprises, infrastructure and systems that respond to the city
of the old.
crit.in

catalogue of new enterprises: the changes in the economy, environment, demography and
intensified polarities will create a context for new entrepreneurships. this catalogue is a
compilation of such enterprises.
catalogue for greening vertical neighborhoods: in 2030, environment will be central to
discussion on urban crises generating a context for greening vertical blocks. this manual
is designed to convert high resource consuming apartments into green blocks.
crit.in

In collaboration with CAMP & Khanabadosh

Displacement Locations since 2000
Source: Parin Vasaria, Studies of Resettlement
Colonies in Mumbai, 2016
Around 50,000 households from different parts of
Mumbai have been shifted to 38 new Resettlement
and Rehabilitation (R&R) Colonies since 2004 on
account of large urban projects – new roads, road
widening projects, clearing of river edges, airport
redevelopment project and railway project .

SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT &
ARCHITECTURE

June July August September October November December January February March April May
1 2 3 4 65 1 2 3 4 65
The Module System
Exams &
Vacations
Exams &
Vacations

Ground
1827
1900
2000Engaging with the Geography – Terrain, Energy, Water & Air

Slow Wanderings – Cultural Histories

SEA Studio
Research initiations
HISTORY OF URBAN HOUSING
(2 years)
Through a compilation of
different types of housing, this
project aims at building a
narrative on different
dimensions of urban housing
in India including a spatial
history, a technological history,
a policy history, a history of
the delivery system and a
cultural history.
The project is conceived in two
parts:
a. History of Housing in
Mumbai
b. History of Urban Housing
in India
ARCHITECTURE AND THE CITY
(2 years)
While the primary aim of this
project is to develop
conceptual frameworks to
understand urban architecture
in India, it aims at compiling a
systematic analysis of urban
form.
REPAIR / RETROFITTING /
IMPROVEMENT (3 years)
This project is conceived with
twin agenda:
a. first, to compile existing
practices of repair /
retrofitting /
improvement; and
b. Second, to develop
techniques on actual
undertaking of repair /
retrofitting /
improvement.
The aim of the project is to fill
the current gap that exists in
architecture and engineering
academia regarding the issue.

SEA-Assembly (Internal discussions on everyday events in the world – every Friday)

SEA-City (Public platform for conversations with young practitioners)

SEA-Exhibitions (featuring new practitioners)

Rupali Gupte & Prasad Shetty：Propositions to see Cities

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Rupali Gupte & Prasad Shetty：Propositions to see Cities