Marine Drive, reimagined: The future of a historic precinct

Mumbai: Reclaimed from the sea in the early 20th century, from its inception, Marine Drive was part of an objective to reimagine Mumbai, then Bombay. {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} Despite his many reservations about the final execution of Marine Drive, it led eminent architect Claude Batley to comment: “If you have any doubt of its worthwhileness, watch the happy throngs of promenaders, of all sorts and conditions, drinking in the sea air morning and evening; an asset that has never been put down as of any tangible value in the profit-and-loss account of the scheme.” These throngs of “happy promenaders”, the people of Marine Drive, are at the heart of this precinct. Development must go hand-in-hand with aesthetics and heritage, and Mumbai is lucky to have so many heritage precincts.” {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} Lentin’s views on the canopy are echoed by several Marine Drive residents. The “public” character of Marine Drive “I would argue the promenade of Marine Drive doesn’t belong only to the precinct of Marine Drive. For Jenai Wadia, a designer who has been renting her Marine Drive apartment since 2019, the precinct is a “safe and open space” to raise her children.