SKYCITY

VERTICALITY IS THE REQUIREMENT OF FUTURE, THOUGH HUMAN BEINGS ARE

EVOLVED FOR HORIZONTAL DEVELOPMENT. CONSIDERING SKYSCRAPERS AS
POTENTIAL COMMUNITY SPACES AND DESIGNING THEM ACCORDINGLY IS RELATIVELY
NEW CONCEPT, INITIALLY SKYSCRAPERS WERE INFLUENCED BY MASS, MATERIAL AND
STIFF STRUCTURAL DESIGNS WHICH WERE MAKING THEM MONOTONOUS AND
INSENSITIVE TOWARDS HUMAN RESIDENTIAL NEEDS.

THE RISE OF THE SKYSCRAPER WAS NOT DRIVEN BY PROGRAMMATIC NEEDS OR

ARTISTIC DESIRES, BUT RATHER ECONOMIC CONDITIONS COUPLED WITH TURN-OF-
THE-CENTURY TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS. AS IT EVOLVED, SYSTEMS MATURED TO
PROVIDE COMFORT AND SAFETY WHILE ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY WAS ALWAYS
PRIORITIZED. THE SKYSCRAPER AND ITS SYSTEMS REACHED ITS EVOLUTIONARY
PLATEAU IN THE 1950S WHEN MECHANIZED SYSTEMS TRANSFORMED THE BUILDING
TYPE INTO AIR-TIGHT HOMOGENOUS STRUCTURES, MAXIMIZING EFFICIENCY AND
ECONOMY.

THIS WAS BASED ON AN OFFICE CULTURE THAT TODAY, DUE TO INNOVATIONS IN

COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY, IS GROWING EVER MORE OBSOLETE. HOWEVER,
AS CITIES CONTINUE TO GROW, SKYSCRAPERS ARE INCREASINGLY RESIDENTIAL. IN
FACT, RESIDENTIAL SKYSCRAPERS CAN HAVE POPULATION AND LAND AREAS SIMILAR
TO CITY NEIGHBORHOODS, YET LACK ANY CHARACTER OR IDENTITIES THAT GIVE
NEIGHBORHOODS DIVERSITY. DESPITE VAST FUNCTIONAL DIFFERENCES, RESIDENTIAL
TOWERS ARE ONLY SLIGHT MODIFICATIONS OF THEIR OFFICE TOWER ANCESTORS -
SOME SUPERFICIALLY DOMESTICATED VIA THE USE OF BRICK AND GABLE ROOFS.
APPEARANCE DOES NOT ACCOUNT FOR THE LACK OF DIVERSITY AND OPPORTUNITIES
FOR SOCIAL INTERACTION

THEREFORE, THEY ARE NOT INCLUDED WITHIN THE CONVENTIONAL CATALOGUE OF

SYSTEMS, AND THE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THEM, THAT TRADITIONALLY
DEFINE THE BUILDING TYPE. THE INFLUENCE OF THIS PRIORITIZATION ALSO
REDEFINED THE CURRENTLY PARASITIC RELATIONSHIP OF THE SKYSCRAPER TO THE
CITY INTO A SYMBIOTIC ONE: THE LIVING SKYSCRAPER BECOMES PART OF AN URBAN
FOOD CHAIN, DEPENDENT ON THE ENVIRONMENT TO INSURE ITS OWN SURVIVAL,
AND ON THE CITY TO PROVIDE IDENTITY AND CULTURE.
MUMBAI: THE CURRENT SCENARIO
THE CURRENT POPULATION OF THE CITY OF MUMBAI, INDIA, FORMERLY KNOWN AS
BOMBAY, IS ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT 13 MILLION, WHICH IS AN INCREASE OF ABOUT
4.2%

FROM THE LAST RECORD OF THE POPULATION. THE CITY, WHICH IS THE CAPITAL OF
MAHARASHTRA, IS THE MOST POPULOUS CITY OF THE COUNTRY AND THE FOURTH
MOST POPULOUS CITY IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. BASED ON THE TOTAL LAND AREA AND
THE TOTAL POPULATION OF THE CITY, THE POPULATION DENSITY OF MUMBAI IS
ABOUT 55,794 PEOPLE PER SQUARE MILE. LASTLY, THE POPULATION OF THE CITY IS
CALLED MUMBAIITES. MUMBAI IS THE GATEWAY OF INDIA AND
THE FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL CAPITAL OF INDIA AND THUS THE POWERHOUSE
OF THE COUNTRY. WITH A TOTAL POPULATION OF OVER 19 MILLION (2001), IT IS THE
SIXTH LARGEST CITY IN THE WORLD AFTER TOKYO, NEW YORK, SEOUL, MEXICO CITY
AND SAU PAULO AND THE LARGEST CITY IN INDIA. MUMBAI CONTRIBUTES ABOUT
33% OF THE COUNTRYS INCOME TAX, 60% OF CUSTOMS DUTY AND 40% OF THE
FOREIGN TRADE.

THE UNIQUENESS OF THE MUMBAI MEGACITY LIES IN ITS VERY HIGH POPULATION
DENSITY, ITS SUBSTANTIAL SIZE OF SLUM AND MIGRANT POPULATION, AND ITS
PHENOMENAL ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE LAST FEW
DECADES. THE AVERAGE POPULATION DENSITY IN MMR IS ABOUT 4445
PERSONS/KM2. GREATER MUMBAI, WITH A POPULATION OF 11.9 MILLION IS THE
CORE OF THE METROPOLITAN REGION. SLUM POPULATION CONSTITUTED ABOUT
54% OF THE TOTAL POPULATION OF GREATER MUMBAI IN 2001. IN THE SAME YEAR,
ABOUT 43% OF THE POPULATION OF GREATER MUMBAI WAS CLASSIFIED AS
MIGRANTS. OF THE TOTAL MIGRANTS ONLY ONE-THIRD ARE FROM WITHIN THE STATE
OF MAHARASHTRA. THE REMAINING ARE FROM OTHER INDIAN STATES.

THE CITY IS FACING SEVERE PROBLEMS OF AIR AND WATER POLLUTION,

UNSATISFACTORY SOLID WASTE AND SEWAGE MANAGEMENT, EXPLOITATION OF
WETLANDS, HIGH TRAFFIC VOLUME, INSUFFICIENT HOUSING, POOR
INFRASTRUCTURE AND SEVERE ECONOMIC DISPARITY.
THE WORLDS NOT FLAT

BUILDERS AND ARCHITECTS ARE CONCENTRATING ON BUILDING SKYSCRAPERS

PRIMARILY BECAUSE THEY ARE CONVENIENT IT ALLOWS THEM TO CREATE A LOT OF
REAL ESTATE ON A RELATIVELY SMALL GROUND AREA.

NO ONE KNOWS THIS BETTER THAN ABHISHECK LODHA, THE MANAGING DIRECTOR
OF LODHA DEVELOPERS, WHICH IS BUILDING OVER A DOZEN HIGH-RISES IN THE
ISLAND CITY, INCLUDING THE 110-STORIED WORLD ONE BUILDING AT LOWER PAREL.
THE ASPIRATION TO BUILD THE TALLEST RESIDENTIAL BUILDING IN THE WORLD IS A
REFLECTION OF THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE CITY. WORLD ONE MARKS THE ARRIVAL OF
MUMBAI ON THE GLOBAL STAGE, SAYS THE 32-YEAR-OLD.

THERE ARE SOME, THOUGH, WHO FEEL THAT MUMBAI IS NOT GOING VERTICAL
ENOUGH. GIVING A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE TO THE VERTICAL ASPIRATIONS, PIROJSHA
GODREJ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GODREJ PROPERTIES, SAYS, ENCOURAGING VERTICAL
GROWTH IS VERY IMPORTANT TO MUMBAIS FUTURE. MANY SUCCESSFUL LAND-
CONSTRAINED GLOBAL CITIES LIKE MANHATTAN AND HONG KONG HAVE PROSPERED
AS VERTICALLY-DENSE CITIES. THE PROBLEM IN MUMBAI IS THAT WE ARE TOO
HORIZONTALLY-DENSE, AND NOT VERTICALLY-DENSE ENOUGH. EVEN WITHOUT MANY
TALL BUILDINGS, MUMBAI IS ALREADY ONE OF THE DENSEST URBAN
AGGLOMERATIONS IN THE WORLD; 60% OF MUMBAIS RESIDENTS LIVE IN SLUMS.

HIGH-RISES AND THE EXPENSIVE HOMES IN THEM KEEP CROPPING UP SIMPLY

BECAUSE IS A HUGE DEMAND FOR THEM. GULAM ZIA, NATIONAL DIRECTOR,
RESEARCH AND ADVISORY SERVICES, KNIGHT FRANK INDIA, THE INDIAN LUXURY
REAL-ESTATE MARKET IS WITNESSING AN UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH. THE RATE OF
INCREASE IN HIGH NET-WORTH INDIVIDUALS IS HIGH AND THESE HIGH NET-WORTH
PLAYERS ARE BUYERS OF THE NEW LUXURY PROJECTS.

TODAYS BUYERS OF BIG HOUSES HAVE A MINDSET DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF

CONSERVATIVE HOMEBUYERS OF THE 1980S AND 1990S, WHO WERE MORE THAN
HAPPY WITH EVEN A 2BHK FLAT. TODAYS BUYERS OF BIG HOMES ARE MUCH
YOUNGER AND RICHER, ARE RIDING THE BENEFITS OF THE ECONOMIC BOOM AND
ARE KEEN ON ENJOYING THEIR WEALTH, EXPLAINS ZIA.
 THE OBJECTIVE
TO CREATE A SELF SUSTAINING NEIGHBOURHOOD THAT WILL PROVE TO BE THE
SOLUTION TO URBAN PROBLEMS
TO CREATE A VERTICAL CITY THAT HOUSES RESIDENTIAL , COMMERCIAL ,
CULTURAL AND OPEN SPACES THAT CO-EXIST AND STRIKE THE PERFECT
BALANCE TO NEGATE THE URBAN PROBLEMS THAT WE CURRENTLY FACE SUCH
AS POLLUTION , EXCESIVE TRAVELING TIME THAT HAMPERS OVERALL
PRODUCTIVITY
TO CREATE A VERTICAL CITY THAT HARNESES THEENERGY NATURALLY RATHER
THAN FROM THE CITIES RESOURCE GRID THERBY CREATING A ZERO NEGATIVE
IMPACT ON THE CITY AND ITS SURROUNDINGS
TO ERECT AN EDIFCE THAT CONTRIBUTES TO THE RESOURCE GRID RATHER
THAN CONSUME IRRATIONAL AMOUNTS OF ENERGY
ERECTING SEVERAL SUCH BUILDINGS COULD ON THE LONG RUN BRING ABOUT
A POSITIVE INFLOW OF ENERGY WHICH COULD SOLVE SEVERAL ISSUES SUCH AS
POWER CUTS , WATER SHORTAGE , IN METROPOLITAN AREAS
TO CONSERVE PRICELESS LAND AND HAVE AS MANY SPACES IN A
COMPARATIVELY SMALLER FOOTPRINT
TO INTRODUCE THE CONCEPT OF TRANSPORT MINIMALISATION
TO ADDRESS THE NEED FOR OPEN GREEN SPACES ALONG THE LINES OF
VERTICAL EXPANSION
AN IMAGE CREATING TOWER THAT DEFINES THE EASTERN WATERFRONT
CARVING OUT A NEW IMAGE FOR MUMBAI IN THE WORLD
TO FULFIL THE NEED FOR AN ICONIC BUILDING THAT ACTS A MODULE WHICH
CAN BE IMPLEMENTED AT PLACES THAT ACTS A LYNCHPIN TO A DOMINO
EFFECT THAT OVER A PERIOD OF TIME CHANGES THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THAT
PLACE FOR THE GREATER GOOD.
THE PROGRAM
THE BUILDING WOULD HOUSE A COMMERCIAL CORE BUILDING ALONG WITH
SEVERAL RESIDENTIAL POCKETS ACCOMPAIED WITH OTHER CULTURAL AREAS
AND OPEN SPACES.

A REVAMPED FERRY TERMINAL THAT CATERS TO A LARGER CROWD AND

SUITABLE TO HOST FERRIES OR YACHTS UNDERTAKING LONG JOURNEYS

A 5 STAR HOTEL TO ACCOMPANY THE PROPOSED THE INTERNATIONAL CRUISE

TERMINAL

WILL ALSO HOUSE SOCIAL SPACES LIKE A WATERFRONT PROMENADE TO

ACTIVATE THE EASTERN WATERFRONT.

THE WHOLE COMPLEX WILL ACT AS A SELF SUSTAINING COMPLEX

THE DESIGN OF THE BUILDING WILL ACT AS A LANDMARK BUILDING THAT

REDEFINES MUMBAIS SKYLINE.