Abstract
Microclimate plays an important role in understanding the thermal and the environmental comfortability of a given city, neighbourhood, area etc and it is essential to understand the effects of microclimate. Khotachiwadi is a heritage neighbourhood that is nestled among the urban fabric of Girgaon, in South Mumbai, India. The neighbourhood is known for its old houses that have a distinctive character which is generally of Old Portuguese style architecture. The characteristic features of the neighbourhood are Mangalore tile sloping roofs, the intricate architectural detailing on the structures, the narrow pedestrian lanes and the streetscape. Khotachiwadi represents the relationship between residents, users and communities with the physical, cultural and economic growth of the neighbourhood. Over the past 2 decades because of rapid urbanization in Mumbai city, the neighbourhood is under constant threat. Khotachiwadi has now considerably reduced in size because of enterprising developers, negligence by the occupants, or the unregulated rules and by laws or by collapse or damage of the structures. This neighbourhood is worthy of preservation and the area has been declared as a Heritage Precinct as per for Greater Mumbai, 1995. Heritage Regulations. It is designated as a Heritage Precinct because of its architectural value, unique streetscape and detailing. It is important to conserve such neighbourhood with heritage value understand the changes that are happening in the neighbourhood. This thesis aims to understand the microclimate of Khotachiwadi with respect to the impact of Heritage Conservation Control and how it has morphologically evolved through the decades. The thesis aims to map out the different changes in the built form of the neighbourhood from the past to the present and how the neighbourhood has been sustaining itself in the present. It aims to understand built and unbuilt spaces and their climatic responses and study the current scenario, regulation and the various environmental parameters of the neighbourhood analysing for the climatic performances. The past and the present morphology has been studied through various parameters such as the built and unbuilt spaces, the orientation of the streets, types of streets, Shadow pattern analysis, vegetation, characteristic of the buildings, building materials etc. From these observations of the background data, the microclimate of Khotachiwadi neighbourhood has been studied through simulation software called ENVI-met. In this software, the neighbourhood has been simulated at 3 different times and in 3 different months and the microclimate parameters which have been studied are- Temperature, Wind, Humidity and Solar radiation. The results of these simulations have been analyses and compared to the Standards of the parameters. From the analysis, the thesis concludes what are the learnings from the study of such neighbourhoods, what learnings we can carry forward with us in future planning and why such neighbourhood needs to be conserved.
