URBAN EDGE DEVELOPMENT

Machchimar Nagar, Cuffe Parade

This project is a response to address the changes taking place within the precinct of Cuffe Parade, Machchimar Nagar and the everyday challenges faced by the Koli community to sustain themselves. Their future is jostled by the mega infrastructure projects like the Coastal Road and the Shivaji Statue Complex proposed in DCR 2034. The fishing village needs to evolve its identity and remodel itself to withstand the development pressures. In the recent past there has been a decline in the fishing activities making the community vulnerable to explore different ways of earning a living. The youth and women in the community are reaching out to explore different avenues to keep their household incomes intact.

 

The context of the project is sea front in Cuffe Parade, one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in Mumbai. Captain Prakash Pethe Marg forms the edge separating the traditional community from the high-end residential community of Cuffe Parade. The edge along Machchimarnagar suffers neglect with lack of pedestrian infrastructure. Currently a harsh wall separates the koli settlement from the city. The project details out the edge from President Hotel to the Machchimar Jetty, a distance of 750 mts.

 

The existing road section has minimum to no space to create a decent width of footpath. Space was carved out from parking space, public park space and at one stretch by shifting the median to incorporate minimum of 3 mts of walking edge. The edge was detailed out in zones depending on the land use adjoining the zone and the need of the public infrastructure at that location. The urban edge project attempts to stitch the oldest community back into the city.