maps and histories of cities
The image of a city is a sum total of aspirations of people of a period. As this people group change so does the looming perception of it. Every generation, who stages in an account of the place has its fair share of patterns/ identity tags definitively ascribed to it. Though always narrated linearly, history is understood of having varying overlaps. These overlaps manifest in its numerous forms on the basis of an identified entity which is brought under a specific format of record. Culture to an essence is the contributing factor of this nonlinearity as traces of the past is left behind and those left out of formal narrative make its presence known informally.
The question posed _ what are the key events that have brought regional culture to its present form _ is a quest to layout the varying stages of city record which gives Mumbai its present state we are accustomed to. As several authors have given the solution towards a city history narrative, it’s now viable to summarise them and present them as four sessions _
a) inception of the city delineation from the fort,
b) context of this space in the larger political geographical timelines till independence,
c) post-independence development pangs and finally
d) status of the city as accessed today.
Based on the sectors, say the industries, history subsequently catalogues the colonial trading post, mill boom and bust, liberalisation and service industry of today. Another popular account deals with historicity spatially by tackling its form, i.e. with regards to its reclamation/ expanding city boundaries.
Seven islands to a triangulation of three city neighbourhoods of Colaba, Daishar and Mulund the city geography definitely has mutated over time from the first recorded population of 20,000 in 1661 to 13 million as of 2011. These variations in narratives, derived with their form of representation, assist communicating events in the context it’s presented in.
Elaborating on the collection maps as documents should be seen as generated in a period in time. They record several nuances of how land and its subsequent landmarks are displayed. Though the landmass has remained the same it evident from the list on how habitation in the region, via its change is reflected over the ages.
Stating a progress of sorts _ first centre for the city was the town hall, then a major introduction came the fort. Settlements and impending industrialisation arrive after that. With the growth of the city, its centres became the transit hubs. Regional plan made the city as one of the several settlement areas as governed under a single guiding regulation mandate. Big Data analytics an outcome of the present era depicts the city as a smattering of various activity centres. Finally, Mumbai as a fabric of activity represented by the development planning exercise.
As a collection the set is structured linearly because other than an approximate point of publishing of each item, details too of early maps are sparse and more importantly, making of the city is traced as per the expanding limits of the city. This trace is in principle located on how maps dictates the becoming of Greater Mumbai.
In pursuit of staging an alternative method to look at history narratives (or curated key events of significance) are told, this collection of maps is assembled which are recognised as being used both for navigation or communication of planning directives. Purely as a gathering exercise this document set is a pursuit to collect a source type and as a result try and enable alternatives in how we are meant to understand the production of Mumbai.
sm0016-BombayPlan(e6068) #
gm014001 #
1895_Times_of_India_Map_of_Bombay,India-Geographicus-_Bombay-times-1895 #
04 =Map_BOM_survey_1933 #
IOR_24_2812_1933[SVC2] #
05 =Map_BOM_survey_1962–64 #
DP01/ Broad Landuse Map Greater Bombay #
RP71/ Regional Plan of Bombay Metropolitan Area #
TTK Mumbai Road Map #
RP96/ Regional Plan of Bombay Metropolitan Area #
Graphical Map of the ever-evolving city and its region circa 2006 #
Mumbai CRZ 2011 #
Mumbai Municipal Corporation Limits 2012 #
Greater Mumbai Existing Landuse 2013 #
Last three months on Foursquare 2013 #
landsat_mumbai_2014150a3_14 #
Draft Mumbai Development Plan 2014 — 34 published 2015 #
All maps are collected as part of an ongoing research on the city and its metropolitan region. They are sourced from various internet sources and published government/ public documents as part of the work. For purposes of this post, source information is not presented. File-names of internet maps are retained as such with respect to the sites they have been downloaded from which then can be used to locate origins (well ideally).