The Hydraulic Shift: Reclaiming Mumbai’s Riverscapes

Abstract

The fragmentation of Mumbai’s rivers through the pressures of continuous development and engineering control demands an urgent paradigm shift, one that reclaims riverscapes as living infrastructural systems that are more than mere conduits of waste. Using the case of the Dahisar, the thesis positions the river within a complex gradient of “socio-natures” that form an interconnected ecological system. The thesis proposes that in Dahisar’s contested aqueous terrain, multi-scalar systems are necessary for holding, permeating, and circulating waste and water. Beyond creating hydraulic synergies, it facilitates the creation of new publics through decentralized governance, polyfunctional typologies, and place-based planning. The manifesto designs a series of scenarios centering Mumbai’s rivers as infrastructural systems that catalyze spatial justice. Using these as instruments of advocacy, the thesis argues that designing for resilience in the era of climate flux requires integrating ecological systems, public stewardship, and spatial multiplicities to collectively shape urban futures.