Advocacy for a Greener City in Mumbai
We believe public spaces are the lifeblood of a city. Our advocacy work is dedicated to reclaiming Mumbai’s streets and waterfronts for people, prioritizing community over traffic.
This illustration from a comic strip shows our vision for a vibrant, people-first waterfront promenade. Our public interest litigation proposes small design modifications to the BMC's plan to create a much wider and more accessible public space.
A diagram comparing the current Coastal Road plan with our proposed alternative. By slightly reducing the road divider and swapping the open space, we can create a massive 120-meter-wide public promenade directly by the sea.
The cover of a comic strip explaining our public interest litigation for the Coastal Road project. We believe in using accessible formats like comics to communicate complex urban planning ideas to a wider audience.
A presentation of our activation and pedestrianization plan for the JVPD area in Juhu. We identified that over-planned, single-use zones can become unsafe, and proposed activating these spaces to create a safer, more vibrant community.
A panel from our Coastal Road comic, emphasizing that it's not too late to create a space for walking, cycling, and enjoying the sunset. We advocate for prioritizing human experience in large-scale infrastructure projects.
This comic panel explains the potential of a 6.7km stretch of the Coastal Road to become an accessible open space with a world-class waterfront promenade. We see opportunity where others see only infrastructure.
Our proposal questions the necessity of a wide road divider and suggests safer, at-grade pedestrian crossings for the Coastal Road. These small, practical changes can dramatically improve accessibility for the elderly, children, and people with disabilities.
An illustration of the ongoing construction for the Coastal Road. While the project will help decongest traffic, we are fighting to ensure it also delivers uninterrupted public space by the sea for all Mumbaikars.
This comic panel makes a crucial point: a waterfront is an urban space, and the road is only one part of it. An expressway without signals prevents people from stopping to enjoy the view, which is why our advocacy is so important.
We believe Mumbai has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get the Coastal Road right. This project can improve well-being and build climate resilience, but only if we make good use of the reclaimed land for public benefit.
About Advocacy for a Greener City
We translate complex urban planning into something anyone can understand. By using accessible formats like comic strips to explain our public interest litigation for the Coastal Road, we bridge the gap between technical blueprints and lived experience, ensuring that every Mumbaikar can visualize the potential of our shared public spaces.
Our design philosophy is rooted in one question, what happens when we prioritize people over vehicles? We view every project through the lens of social equity and environmental resilience. Take our Coastal Road proposal. Instead of focusing solely on vehicular speed, our public interest litigation advocated for a 120-meter-wide waterfront promenade, prioritizing walking, cycling, and sea access for the elderly and children. It is about shifting the narrative from a road that separates to an urban space that connects.
In neighborhoods like JVPD, we look at underutilized institutional edges and propose tactical urbanism. We believe that with simple interventions like paint, planters, and community engagement, dead zones can transform into vibrant social hubs. Our approach is never top-down. We work with local stakeholders to ensure that the design respects the unique fabric of each neighborhood. Whether we are planning for a campus or a city street, we advocate for green buffers, permeable paving, and climate-resilient master plans. We do not just build, we help shape the city's future by designing for the people who walk it every day.
Abraham John Architects
We are Alan and Anca. We live and work in Mumbai, and we fight for these spaces because we want a better city for our children to grow up in. Our work isn't just about buildings, it is about making sure Mumbai stays livable, connected, and vibrant for everyone.
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