Social Sustainability of Urban Waterfront- The Case of Carter Road Waterfront in Mumbai, India

Abstract

Urban waterfronts are interface between city and water bodies of sea, river and lake. The host city maintains visual image as well functional characteristics of it. One such mega city waterfront is located at the Carter Road at Mumbai, India with elements of visual and functional interpretation as one walks through it. This is a unique formal urban waterfront constructed, maintained and operationalized largely by the public participation without the direct support of local and the provincial governments. It was constructed in the year 2002 initially, but become fully operational and opened for the public use after the restoration in 2008 under the public space reclamation project. The responsibility to manage is shared between and amongst the two community based organization - Bandra West Residents Association (BWRA) and Kurla-Bandra-Santa Cruz foundation. Public access to waterfront is universal however; accessibility is limited to non-commercial use of this urban space.This paper tries to understand sustainable principles of urban waterfronts based on its design, functionality, and management components. Further the principles of urban waterfronts have been divided into physical and social factors. Chronological evolution of Carter Road Waterfront has been studied to understand sustainable factors mentioned above. Stakeholder's consultations have been carried out to assess the design, functions and management aspects of the waterfront. The main stakeholders in this case are local residence, a local member of parliament, a group of design professionals and a commercial agency. Users’ survey has been conducted to know the activities that are being carried out on the waterfront on a regular basis largely manifested by the surrounding land uses. The Carter Road Waterfronts provides access to all the age groups, while it designates spaces for recreational and health facilities. It also provides spaces for social events as and when needed. It appears that the waterfront is attracting people from all section of the society both local and tourist alike, however there exists a few conflicts of local fishing community and daily users of the promenade