169 responses

Mumbai Cultural Poll has been done as part of the ongoing research in cultural planning for the city of Mumbai. Conducted at the MArch (by research) Program at Sir JJ College of Architecture, context to the exercise is to put together a possible perspective and opinion on some of the commonly identifiable aspects of city culture. The survey via its introduction tries and injects a conversation on culture to the collaborative city planning exercises. In both the plans presented by UDRI and YUVA Urban culture as an instrument in planning exercises isn’t evident among the several themes submitted via principles and vision plans. A lack of available perspectives the following sample therefore can be built on towards a more detailed documentation instrument on cultural planning as and when the task is initiated. As for methods to have generated this sample _ the survey form has been developed on google forms and distributed over approximately 1500 email addresses. Additionally it has been sent across on Twitter and Linkedin with few friends soliciting input from their immediate available networks. The resultant response rate has been the expected 10-15%. Application and building on the survey is relative to its reception and participation. A sample level survey in this case would assume any analysis built off from the survey as draft findings. To elaborate on the questions and its structure would be to look at the list in eight parts. Introducing will be the identity of the respondent. The next locates aspects of city culture, which is followed by festivals and activity centres. Significant city regulations impacting key elements of culture are heritage, hawking and open-space. Audit of cultural areas are is performed by frequency of visit, quality of spaces/ public art and stake in locality. List of ideas to upgrade the city cultural landscape with the concluding opinion on creativity and the city. The outcome could be considered positive as it has corroborated several employed ideas. Working alongside the upcoming development plan processes should be to engage in the Proposed Land Use plan suggestion and objection stage. This would be conducted ward wise therefore the mandate when presented have to maintain both the city wide vision at the same time propose conditions for neighbourhood cultural activation. As it’s relatively late in the consultation process either of the citizens groups to revise their methods to incorporate culture within its frameworks is very unlikely. Most viable option is to propose a third front for to draft out an ideal 5year progressive city/ locality specific mandate for a span of twenty or the time period of the development plan i.e. 2014 – ‘34. Accommodating the four cultural stands of tangible, intangible, industries and indigenous communities, the collective stakeholders from cultural spaces, institutions and communities would frame a city specific mandate for culture to be considered. Learning from the missteps from earlier submitted citizens plans specificity of projects proposed, funding, implementation and monitoring capabilities are key pointers to consider in this anticipated task. A survey thus will be one of the several tools that will then consolidate a final submittal.

you are?


male _ 94 _ 56%

female _ 75 _ 44%

and you would be between?


15 - 24 years _ 35 _ 21%

25 - 44 years _ 108 _ 64%

45 - 64 years _ 21 _ 12%

65 + 5 _ 3%

which aspect of city culture is important to you?


buildings, places, landmarks _ 113 _ 30%

food, shopping, leisure _ 61 _ 16%

arts, cinema, theatre, music, education, literature, events _ 133 _ 36%

indigenous communities of koli, adivasi, east indian _ 64 _ 17%

what is your favourite festival/ event type in the city?


religious _ 35 _ 21%

neighbourhood _ 51 _ 31%

government _ 4 _ 2%

college _ 17 _ 10%

other _ 59 _ 36%

where do you want your theatre/ multiplex/ mall/ restaurant to be?


near you stay _ 53 _ 32%

near you work _ 5 _ 3%

different parts distributed around the city _ 85 _ 51%

away from city limits _ 5 _ 3%

it depends _ 19 _ 11%

what should be done with heritage structures in the city?


repaired _ 86 _ 51%

retrofitted _ 64 _ 38%

redeveloped _ 8 _ 5%

don’t know _ 9 _ 5%

should hawking be permitted?


yes _ 76 _ 46%

no _ 22 _ 13%

it depends _ 69 _ 41%

should performances such as music/ theatre be allowed in public open spaces?


yes _ 149 _ 88%

no _ 8 _ 5%

it depends _ 12 _ 7%

when was the last time you visited any museum or art gallery in the city?


go on and off bunch of times a year _ 62 _ 37%

sometime in the recent past _ 63 _ 38%

its been a while now i don’t remember _ 37 _ 22%

never actually _ 6 _ 4%

what do you think about the quality of the existing city cultural spaces?


should try new things _ 153 _ 92%

how they are is fine _ 11 _ 7%

don’t care _ 3 _ 2%

do you like the public art [not wall paintings] in the city?


really good _ 35 _ 21%

sucks big time _ 30 _ 18%

i don’t know where they are _ 56 _ 34%

it depends _ 45 _ 27%

how would you want your neighbourhood streets to be named?


remain as they are _ 95 _ 57%

renamed after famous local resident _ 17 _ 10%

renamed after state hero _ 1 _ 1%

renamed after national hero _ 11 _ 7%

it depends _ 43 _ 26%

can local cultural industries [bollywood, art, theatre, music, cuisine] be the driving force in the city’s economy?


yes _ 95 _ 57%

no _ 28 _ 17%

it depends _ 36 _ 21%

am confused _ 9 _ 5%

what can be done to make the city more tourist friendly?


upgrade the mumbai darshans & heritage walks _ 97 _ 12%

clean up parks, pools, sport fields, sidewalks & waterfronts _ 138 _ 18%

make more museums, art galleries & theatres _ 70 _ 9%

do some fancy like a mumbai eye _ 20 _ 3%

build enormous monuments to patrons _ 4 _ 1%

better its shopping experience _ 25 _ 3%

sort out theme parks _ 21 _ 3%

showcase the koli, adivasi & east indian communities _ 79 _ 10%

improve health care _ 64 _ 8%

facilitate more speciality education courses _ 40 _ 5%

coordinate festivals & events _ 100 _ 13%

work out circulation around its religious sites _ 48 _ 6%

provide easy access to hotels, hostels and dormitories _ 74 _ 9%

do you think Mumbai is a creative city?


yes _ 126 _ 75%

no _ 23 _ 14%

it depends _ 20 _ 12%

the survey was conducted between May 29th to June 21st 2014