Skateboarding & Urban Spaces Of Mumbai
- May 7, 2018
- 2 min read
Mumbai being the most populated and diversified city, it brings elements which changes the entirety of the landscapes and architecture while going from area to an other sometimes within a few city blocks.for example if you travel on the eastern express way, while travelling from Dadar towards CST station, you'd find the roads changing from brick roads to cemented roads, same goes for the residential spaces transforming from old railway government buildings to Islamic architecture.
All of these places have one thing in common the streets, which have a beige color scheme to it,lined with footpaths in brick red, with the city expansion towards Navi Mumbai and ambitious projects like Mumbai metro and monorail gave rise to so many new public space which are easily accessible to anyone who seeks for a leisure activity or relaxation. Since Mumbai has a habit of sleeping from 2 AM to 4 AM, not many people use these spaces for the intended purposes.For instance take the skateboarding culture in Mumbai, even though there are places dedicated to skateboarding , they are located at a distance which is not so feasible for many skaters and also people always seek for something more than just the skate bowl.
Skateboarding has always been this activity which stood out for its rebellious attitude and the feeling of freedom which one attains while doing it. I have myself experienced this while cruising on my board across the city, low angle panning of the huge city skyscrapers or the smooth surface of the railway platform in any of the local station. Many people oppose this idea, both abroad and here, they try not to encourage skateboarding in public spaces, they want those spaces to be used for the intended purposes. But skateboarders are the people who appreciate architecture in terms of materials used and how the space is utilized. They also contribute to a different perspective from the architects or the builders, which gives further information on how these spaces can be used differently.
Nevertheless skateboarding in Mumbai has found its way to flourish due to constant jam sessions keeping the culture rich and growing. They also found a way to collaborate with Redbull and constructed a skating ramp at Khar Social and has been going good ever since.
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