Home for Mithi —— A new balance between the river and sustainable communities for the poor
Landscape Architecture Design Studio
Beijing Forestry University
Mumbai has become a world-class super city with a population of more than 21 million. The relationship between human and nature in the city is becoming increasingly tense. The Mithi River is an important channel for flood discharge in Mumbai. With the spreading slums occupying the river bed and the serious pollution blocking the river, they brought more and more serious seasonal floods. Meanwhile, isolated slums gradually lag behind the urban development, which has done great harm to the region's economic and social development. Our plan aims at expanding river space by the flexible strategy of retreating levees and building urban flood diversion areas. Through the restoration over time, we can improve the city's ability to respond to the natural disasters. By using natural levees built by solid garbage in the river, we plan to transform the river space into a mode of “urban green space - urban agriculture - the community for the poor”. We hope to protect slums against flood threats, meanwhile, to provide more income for residents. In this way, we can drive the slum's economic mode towards a sustainable direction. In addition, the protection of clean water and energy within the community are also considered. Finally, in the time of restoring nature environment, the slums will become the city's compact community, and the city will get sustainable and healthy development.