International Journal of Architecture (IJA)
Volume 5, Issue 2, July-December 2019, pp. 10–21, Article ID: IJA_05_02_002
Available online at
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© IAEME Publication
MILL LANDSCAPES OF MUMBAI: WHEN
REMAINS REMAINED
Alisha Acharya
M. Arch, Urban Conservation Candidate, KRVIA
ABSTRACT
Cities are always in transition and a by-product of the events that occur from time
to time. Structures are testimonies to historic events and contexts amidst which they
thrive. So is the industrial archaeology [1] of Mumbai that includes the mills, workers
housing, docks, railways that had been born out of a trading and manufacturing
necessity. The historicity of the sites; that once formed a greater part of the urban
economics are today being looked upon as liabilities and replaced as incongruous
developments in response to high rising real estate values.
The Industrial assets of Mumbai, which once formed the city’s economic legacy
and dotted the city scape, conforms to being a valuable heritage and is on the verge of
being altogether obliterated. Hence, the remnants, attain the highest heritage value,
that of Rarity, and so must be conserved with utmost efforts. While, most Industrial
heritage assets have fallen prey to overwhelming development strategies and lost
forever, the rare remnants need to be protected with great responsibility and sustained
approach.
Key words: Industrial Archaeology, Cultural identity, Nexus of Mill district, Linked
Public Green.
Cite this Article: Alisha Acharya, Mill landscapes of Mumbai: When Remains
Remained. International Journal of Architecture (IJA), 5(2), 2019, pp. 10–21.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJA/issues.asp?JType=IJA&VType=5&IType=2
1. INTRODUCTION
The Mills of Mumbai, as one of the principal industrial heritage assets, have been plagued
with a series of overarching urban policies that singularly favour the real estate development,
without recognising the inherent heritage values and potential for integrated development
approach. They have been undergoing extensive urban transformation over decades majorly
due to the development regulations and the ownership pattern that they lie in. This has led to
the attrition of industrial heritage of the city as witnessed in the irreversible erasure of the
existing fabric. Conserving these assets would contribute to the archival richness and unveil
the potential for a continued use of the city‟s historical narrative and growth pattern.
2. RESEARCH INQUIRIES
Do these series of defunct sites have a bearing with the urban spaces around it? What impact
does it have on the urban setting of the place? How could the quantum of displaced original
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Mill landscapes of Mumbai: When Remains Remained
use be recycled into becoming a beneficial and economically viable aspect for the city? Could
the industrial heritage of the city be brought back into the public realm and included in the
city‟s landscape so as to share its heritage value with people at large with an increased
imageability and accessibility. If at all, how could these spaces be looked at as valuable
heritage assets and not just liabilities of a bygone era? The paper thus tries to probe into these
inquiries and resolve them with appropriate conservation responses.
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research aims at having a strategy for the conservation of the mill district as a cultural
identity[2]of the city. It also involves categorising the mill districts under one urban scheme
that shall avail the opportunity of carving out open spaces that links the sites in order to bring
it to the accessibility of the citizens of the city and form a linked corridor of usable open
spaces that connects these mill sites.
The paper aims to look at the network of these districts and get them recognized under the
INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE of the city. The transition of public to semi public to semi private
to private spaces is getting lost due to redevelopment considered as the only alternative. The
middle path of the preservation aspect of it as an identity is found completely missing in
today‟s scenario.
“Mills are IN Mumbai and not OF Mumbai anymore”
The paper involves an INCLUSIVE approach of taking into consideration the existence of
this infrastructure and adapting it to today‟s age and needs. The revised DCR 58, 2001 speaks
of public open space to be provided to the city by means of impartial division of the land
parcel. The research of this paper thus positively involves the aspect of an inherent
opportunity of availing valuable open spaces within the Mill land parcels and further explores
an expansion of this opportunity in a manner that creates a linked Nexus of such assets; and
thereby the open green spaces. It involves formation of a loop that could make these spaces
accessible to people at large by means of providing an educative accessibility of the heritage
assets. The city had long back lost its opportunity of open spaces due to the amendment DCR
1991 that allows putting excess industrial land to commercial or residential use. To operate
within the purview of the policies, this would serve as a last opportunity to regain the open
spaces vis-à-vis conservation of the heritage components, and deliver it back to the city.
4. GENEALOGY OF THE MILL DISTRICTS
The massive stone masonry structures built in neo classical style reflect the architecture of
mid 19th century. For the development of textile industry, mills were given huge chunks of
lands that had ample open space around the built structures. This was done in order to
minimize nuisance to surrounding neighbourhood.
Huge fifteen feet high stone walls appear to be as fortresses that shield the structures lying
within them. One thirty five feet tall chimneys stand within the mill districts, north light roofs,
trusses, large colonial windows, arches, light wells and narrow internal alleys that form a
large part of the architecture of the city. Functionally these walls acted as sound barriers for
noise created by machines and secure the mill premise from the residential premise which
rapidly and abruptly grew near the mill due to the housing needs of the mill workers. North
light trusses were used to maximise the amount of natural light falling within the work spaces.
Typical planning of these structures were linear in shape that were decentralised in a cluster
form and arranged to form a central open space that would be covered by dense vegetation in
and around the compound. The amalgamation of all these elements present in the vicinity led
to the formation of a vibrant cultural richness within the Mill district.
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Figure 1 Transition of spaces : Public to private Source: Author
5. VALUE CLASSIFICATION
Rarity Value: The history that formed the backbone of the city manifested itself into the
architecture of the place giving a spatial quality to the entire Mill districts. Hence, the
remnants, attain the highest heritage value, that of Rarity, and so must be conserved with
utmost efforts.
Associative Value: Associative and oral history that translates and integrates itself into the
built form of the city must not only be maintained as infrastructure, but also conserved for the
generations as a mean of representation of more than one hundred year old history of the city.
Scientific Value: The city had a boom in terms of economy by introduction of new kind of
technology of spinning weaving as well as mass production that was a result of the Industrial
revolution. The introduction of new machinery as well as textile units that these mills housed
had been a new and innovative approach to invention of scientific developments in the late
1900‟s.
Architectural Value: These rugged buildings constructed in stone or brick masonry are
ornamented with pediments, cornices, pilasters to convey their importance. The mill premises
include the residences of the management which are designed in colonial or vernacular styles,
surrounded by gardens, whereas large water bodies and thick foliage pose a dramatic contrast
to grand industrial structures.
Cultural Value: The genesis of the textile mills can be traced back to the mid 18th century, It
hence becomes very necessary to look at them as heritage economic assets that could lead to
its integration with the current day demands of the city keeping in mind the historical value of
this built fabric.
Social Value: Around 50 mills lie in a 3 mile radius converting this portion of the city into an
incredibly crowded, lively and dynamic hub. Almost all of the workers employed by mills
lived in close proximity of their place of work. Such an aggregation of workers within a
smaller region of the city increased the social and cultural involvement of the workers in the
community. This led to stronger community ties and a rich network of physical as well as
social infrastructure.
6. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The structures that once formed the base of city‟s economic history are very strongly
reminiscent of their role in the being of Mumbai. They speak of the city‟s story of becoming
and stand as extremely significant remains that convey their role in the formation of the
existence of the city. Along with the Associative value, historically, socially, culturally,
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Mill landscapes of Mumbai: When Remains Remained
structurally as well as due to the strong economical history that it once had with the city‟s
backbone, it stands out as a set of significant structures that lie in the city; today in a
decentralised manner.
REGULATIONS AND OWNERSHIP AFFECTING SPATIAL QUALITY
AND RESULTING URBAN FORM
Due to the, policies, regulations and ownerships that have been overarching it, The rarity
value makes the ones that are left; of extreme importance to be left back as a witness of the
city‟s identity in form of the physical fabric that still continues to exist. It hence identifies a
potential within three major historic mill district zones that require immediate attention and
action so as to retain the remaining fabric for the continuity of existence.
Until the 1990s, this section of central Mumbai: Over 600 acres in the heart of the island
city housed 54 textile mills. In 1991, when the owners of the mills claimed that their units
were unviable, the government introduced the DCR‟s that allowed them to sell the land on
which the units stood if they used the proceeds to restart their operations.
COMPARING THE DCR 58, 1991 AND THE MINOR MODIFICATION,
2001
In 2001, the rule relating to mill land sales was amended, clarifying that the two-thirds rule
did not apply to the entire plot on which their factories stood, but only to the open spaces
between structures, such as the courtyards and passageways. The DCR 58, 1991 that was to
divide the mill lands into three equal shares has reduced its share of open spaces for city due
to the minor modification, 2001. This has led to the plot development in a manner that is not
sensitive to the heritage and historicity of the city. The original formulation had given the city
400 acres of land on which to re-imagine itself. The revised version would free up only about
50 acres and shattered any prospect of implementing a holistic plan for the neighbourhood.
Figure 2 Division of Mill lands acc to: 1991 | 2001
TYING UNDER ONE URBAN SCHEME
The existing mills and mill housing could be classified under three major historic districts by
means of the physical fabric that still continues to exist within the city in a segregated and
clustered manner; namely:

Lower Parel

Cotton Green

Jacob circle
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Figure 3 Location of 3 Mill districts | Source: Author
TRANSFORMATION OF URBAN FABRIC
The Mill lands over years have developed in a manner that has led to haphazard voids of open
spaces along with neglect of the fact of the presence of historic Mills on these lands. By
equating the VALUE of the asset to the PRICE, the city has already lost a huge chunk of its
heritage. By quantifying the asset in terms of the economic aspect, the city has lost its
opportunities of preserving heritage as well as its share of open spaces.
The urban fabric has been replaced by dense footprints that leave no pockets of public
open spaces. The streets are losing their character due to the change of scale and replaced
architectural language of the structures around the mill district. The regulations as well as the
ownership patterns that the lands lie in have led to complete erasure of the fabric of the mills
from the districts they were situated once.
Also, the DP 2034 suggests single land use without demarcation of heritage structures on
it. Non designation of boundaries in the development plan leads to blanket development of the
area without taking into account the heritage aspects present within the precinct.
Figure 3 Location of 3 Mill districts | Source: Author
Unlike Lancashire, Manchester and other parts of the United Kingdom, the mill district of
Mumbai was always an occupied and socially and culturally active decentralized zone that
gave rise to lot of institutions within the area that comes out as the essence of the place giving
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Mill landscapes of Mumbai: When Remains Remained
it a cultural value. The spatial hierarchy of the spaces that converge from public to semi
public to semi private to private formed a play of spaces that dealt with change of
architectural scales at various levels. The remnants of character of these can still be witnessed
on the site.
NTC : 25
MSTC : 1
Private: 32
Total: 58
Gold Mohur Mills
Dadar
Kohinoor Mills No.1 (North)
Dadar (E)
Kohinoor Mills No.2 (North)
Dadar (E)
Tata Mills (North)
Dadar (E)
India United Mills no.5, Byculla
Digvijay Mills, Kalachowkie
India United Mills no.1 (North) Parel
India United Mills no.2,3, Kalachowkie
India United Mills no.4, Kalachowkie
India United Mills no.6, Mahim
Western India Spinning & Weaving Mill
Poddar Mills,Mahalaxmi
Swadeshi Mills, Kurla, Swadeshi Garden
Bradbury Mills, Jacob Circle
Prakash Cotton Mills Worli
Shakti Mills, Mahalaxmi
Figure 4 Ownership mapping of the mills| Source: Author
Figure 5 Map showing the transformation: Rate of change of the urban fabric within the three mill
districts | Source: Author
ASSIGNING VALUES
Assigning Protective Values by assigning special land uses could act as a gain by the city in
terms of introducing new land uses for these special historic parcels of land. This shall act as
compensation by the repayment for the economic loss suffered by the city.

Educational land use

Scientific land use
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
Recreational land use

Museum Centre

Active zones for city Utility
“Land has speculative prices. Why should every square inch be assigned an economic
value? - Whose land is it anyway? ” [Urban Pattern]
PROPOSITION FOR BUFFER BOWL
The site has been enveloped by huge high rise residential complexes that stand in stark
contrast to the Mill districts in the foreground. This has been currently hampering the vantage
that the structures within the site receive.
Figure 6 Existing scenario: Stark difference in the language as well as scale of Architecture | Source:
Author
Gradually ascending urban form shall lead to the formation of Buffer bowl that would not
lead to the dwarfing of site and would hence increase its imageability and Accessibility. The
industrial heritage of the city could be brought back into the city‟s landscape by means of
providing a tourist circuit around it that would increase the awareness about the existence of
such sites within the city limits.
Figure 7 Proposed scenario: |Source: Author Maintaining the skyline by providing receding heights of
new proposed construction towards the existing mill structure
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Mill landscapes of Mumbai: When Remains Remained
Figure 8 Proposed division of Mill lands across the city | Source: Author
DEMONSTRATION SPACE
The demonstration space comprises of a cluster of eight mills located in a radius of 0.5 miles.
The linked public green relooks at the possibility of carving out a public open space around
these sites that would facilitate the tourist awareness walk for the industrial heritage of the
city.
1. India United Mill 1
2. India United Mill 2 & 3
3. India United Mill 4
4. India United Mill 5
5. India United Mill 6
6. New City of Bombay Manufacturing Mills
7. Western India Spinning and Weaving Mill
8. Digvijay Mill
Figure 9 8 Mills within the cotton green district | Source: Author
The chosen district comprises of 8 distinct mills that are chosen on the basis of:

Highest number of mills as well as worker‟s housing resided within the historic district

Immediate necessity of action as well as attention required

Consists of maximum NTC ownership
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
Larger scope of work in terms of conserving the existing as well as proposing and carving out
new buffers around the site.

The mills are situated in vicinity of each other and could be connected by means of a Linked
public green

It enables tying up of all the mills as well as housing under one broader urban scheme.
LINKED PUBLIC GREEN
The sites physically lie in close vicinity to each other and could be tied together by means of
an open belt that could act as a park for the citizens of the city. It could facilitate the
possibility of relooking at the mill landscape category in the realm of designing as well as
have open spaces that go hand in hand with the existing historic urban landscapes of the mill
settings. Also it could act as a buffer that would provide a transitional space for the new
construction to come up in the areas enveloping the site for maintaining the skyline.
Figure 10 Visitor experience diagram | Source: Author
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Figure 11 Redesigning of the digvijay complex | Source: Author
Zonal division of the site, demarcating the zones
THEORIZING ADAPTIVE REUSE
Structurally adhering to a function that involved industrial and heavy weighted activities, the
Mills were designed to take loads of high end machineries as well as textile units. It hence
consists of a very strong structural infrastructure that in today‟s context could be utilised by
identifying the needs of today‟s requirements.
Figure 12 Adaptive reuse of Digvijay Mill | Source: Author
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CONCLUSION
The policies are pertaining to the Mill lands, not taking into account the presence of Mills
within them, treating them as empty land pockets that yield abundance of opportunity. This
approach towards planning will not only act as a threat to the existing heritage structures, but
also destroy the city‟s opportunity to claim its open spaces on these parcels of land. The
historic way of planning of the mill district facilitates the possibility to decentralize open
spaces in terms of planning for the city. The current scenario of planning does not take into
account integrated planning that leads to left over open spaces as opposed to planned public
open spaces. This shall end up leaving decentralised non functional public open spaces around
the site. The district layout has considerable potential to carve out open spaces in the midst of
the existing structures that could act as buffer/ transitional zones between the historic district
and the structures to come up in the future scenario.
The language of the replaced fabric that surrounds the site ends up in the dwarfing of
structures present within the mill district. The layer of MHADA buildings as well the high
rises that surround these structures lead to affecting the imageability of these districts.
Does the modern day planning integrate with the heritage and historic model of the city‟s
past? How should planners think for the city infrastructure up gradation vis-à-vis the need to
protect the history of the city? The thesis tries to probe into these inquiries and summarize an
integrated approach in order to save the remaining heritage of the city that still stand as a
testimony to the historicity in terms of the urban form that still remains.
KEYNOTES
1. Industrial Archaeology: Industrial heritage refers to the physical remains of the history of
technology and industry, such as manufacturing and mining sites power and transportation
infrastructure, museums or historic places related to industry, including worker housing and
warehouses.
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2. Cultural identity: The identity that the place has gathered due to cultural events that have been
associated with the sense of the place.
3. Nexus of mill districts: A connection or series of connections linking two or more network of spaces
4. Linked Public Green: A linked connection of open spaces forming a green corridor around the
network of sites.
5. Buffer bowl: Buffer bowl refers to creating construction zones around the site in a receding manner
that shall give the due vantage to the site in terms of imagealility and visibility within the city street
scale.
6. Adaptive Reuse: Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an existing building for a purpose
other than which it was originally built or designed for.
REFERENCES
[1]
(Adarkar Neera, 2005) One Hundred Years One Hundred Voices: The Millworkers of
Girangaon : an Oral History
[2]
(Shekhar Krishnan, „How a bowling alley in a „workers club‟ cleared the way for Parel to
become Mumbai‟s leisure hub‟ )
[3]
(Sharda Dwivedi, 2006, Past times: Layers of history and culture, „Mills for Sale: The way
ahead‟)
[4]
(Adarkar Neera, 2005, Chawls Of Mumbai: Galleries Of Life)
[5]
(Charles Correa, Recycling the Urban land, „Mills for sale, the way ahead‟)
[6]
(Sharda Dwivedi, 2006, Past times: Layers of history and culture, „Mills for Sale: The way
ahead‟)
[7]
(Adarkar Neera, 2006, Mumbai‟s Industrial landscape)
[8]
( Urban Pattern, 2003, Arthur B. Gallion, Simon Eisner)
[9]
(Sandhya Sawant, David cardoz,1996, The conservation status of the cotton textile mills
in Mumbai)
[10]
(Darryl D‟ Monte,2001 „Ripping the Fabric: The Decline of Mumbai and Mills‟ )
[11]
(Darryl D‟ Monte,2006 „Mills for Sale: The Way Ahead‟ )
[12]
Study group on integrated development of mill land headed by Charles Correa,
Government of Maharashtra, February 1996
[13]
Praful Bidwai, „From riches to rags: Textile Mills down skid row; Times of India, 19
March 1984
[14]
„A question looming Large‟, Kolkata, 24 March 1994
[15]
„NTC in tatters‟, Business India, 31 August 1992
[16]
Tirthankar Roy, „Development or distortion? “Powerlooms” in Idia, 1950-1997,
Economical and Political weekly,18 April 1998
[17]
Neera and Arvind Adarkar, P.K. Das, Draft proposal for development of mill lands,
Mumbai, March 1999.
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