Researcher: Oriana Fernandez

Guide: Prof. Vishvesh Kandolkar

Co Guide: Prof. Sankalpa

Capstone Project
Masters in Architecture (Urban Design), 2015
CEPT University, Ahmedabad

Theoretical Premise (15 December 2014)

Introduction
The four hundred and fifty one years Portuguese colonial rule influenced both Goan economy and society
and is visible even today. Goas economy and social practices are very distinct and follow their own
pattern, unlike the rest of India. The two main events in Goan history that have contributed towards this
local phenomenon are namely Goas past as a Portuguese colony and its present as one of the most
popular tourism destinations in India. It is evident that after Liberation in 1961, Goa has transformed
from a colonial society dominated by international trade to that of a postcolonial culture influenced by
tourism. The current issues in Goa revolve around communal strains, politics of identity, anti-migrant
reactions, emigration and environmental destruction. There is a need to theorize Goan social relations
and its historical developments to authenticate their role and connection to current phenomena of
urban transformation.
Mapusa, the Crown of Bardez1 is known for its market place which serves as a major hub for the district
of North Goa. The Sukraracho Bazar (Friday Market) was, and still is, an important occurrence where goods
are brought in from surrounding places and bought and sold at Mapusa. Presently, it is an important
transit and commercial centre. According to Dominic Fernandes, Mapusa was an agrarian community with
a well established ganvkari (community farming) system. In the community farming system, villagers
formed associations, worked on community land, and shared their produce in a pre-determined measure
every three years. Places in Mapusa were named according to the trades that dominated the area, and
consequently, the castes. Catholicism does not follow a caste system, but it is prevalent, even today, long
after religious conversions (2012: 11-13). Today, contestations over space have arisen where political and
religious groups assert their claims over their right to territorial space. At the same time, spaces are also
being sold and utilized for commercial purposes. Areas divided by religious/ caste ranks will provide
clues towards creation of a tourism destination within Mapusa.

Key Words
Goa, Goa Dourada, Goa Indica, Mapusa, urban morphology, urban structure, urban tissue, building
typology, spatiality, social space, leisure spaces, created spaces, tourism, tourism destination, commodity,
produced culture, experience, territory, history, sight, site

Hypothesis
1. To quote Trichur (2013: 16), the tourism destination in Goa is more than just an agent of economic
growth; it is also an arena, a discursive frame where the Indian State intersects with Goan society. In
the words of Lefebvre, the tourism destination in Goa is a stake, the locus of projects and actions
deployed as specific strategies, and hence the object of wagers on the future (1991: 142-3).
2. Mapusa is witnessing changes in its urban fabric and urban life, both of which are encompassed in the
realm of the urban built environment. In time, if Mapusa is conceived as a constructed social space
offering tangible and intangible experiential characteristics instead of just a physical space used to
1

Bardez taluka was taken over by the Portuguese in 1543 and is one of four territories belonging to the Old
Conquests in Goa (the others being Tiswadi, Mormugao and Salcete).

conduct daily trade and commerce, it can become a place for both, the production and consumption of
the commodity (the authentic Goan touristic experience).

Aim
To introduce strategies to construct a tourism destination in Mapusa by taking advantage of existing
landscapes, reinforcing/ creating sights and sites, and drafting in other related projects (e.g. the renovation
of the old residential quarters and reconstruction of the inner town).
The study seeks to understand the spatial and social structures and characters of Mapusa by:
1. Examining the patterns of its component parts, and
2. The process of its development
The project will look into the operationalization of space in terms of place and its incorporation either
through the process of ownership of site or through the inclusion of these places as sights (Trichur,
2013: 166).
To quote Trichur (2013: 183-184), the introduction of the concept of spatialization makes it possible to
explain the links between the production of the tourism experience and the making of the society within
which the touristic space is situated. The development of tourism activity within society can be viewed as
emerging from and influenced by the conflicts and contradictions inherent to the societys need to interact
with the capitalist global economy. The idea is to introduce a scenario which fits into the urban
mechanisms already existing in Mapusa by enabling intervention of social relations through capitalism
and urbanization.
This approach establishes the importance of understanding Mapusas history in order to comprehend the
exact nature of tourism development.

Objectives
The project would attempt to view the tourism destination through the three moments of social space
(Trichur, 2013: 176) namely:
Spatial Practice: Relations of production and reproduction encouraged by the establishment of the
tourism destination, its location and its spatial characteristics [e.g. the range of individual activities
(internal courtyard) to collective activities (communal festival celebrations)].
Representation of Space: Dominant forms of spatial configuration within a capitalist society represent
the spatial interests of the dominant social classes within the society (Lefebvre, 1991) (e.g. convenient
access and mobility between market place, bus stand, taxi stand and community garden)
Spaces of Representation: Spheres that provide the opportunity for redefining and altering dominant
social order (e.g. understanding the manner of appropriation of tourism space by various castes in Goa).
This demonstration will accommodate mixed use, all the while retaining old heritage coupled with new
developments. The experience i.e. the tourist commodity will be produced and consumed accordingly. The

incorporation of tourism should not be restricted, but should go across and reach all castes within
Mapusa.
According to Trichur (2013: 165), touristic experiences are standardized, regulated and predictable. The
tourist production system (Walker, 1988) is simultaneously a mechanism for the extraction of surplus
value, the generation of profit through exchange and generation of rent.
Tourism is dominant in the capitalist world. There is a potential for creating a tourism destination in
Mapusa. The image of Goa being sold currently is no longer restricted to just a beach experience. There
is a need to craft an authentic tourism destination and experience with the help of transformation within
the domain of what already exists where parts of old heritage and new development can go hand in hand.
These transformations have to be subtle and need to be more controlled than the existing development
scenarios. It is clear that tourism has the potential to generate unlimited alternate economic and social
developments, apparent from other fields such as mineral extraction (which is now limited) and education
(limited; job opportunities and employment few).

Concerns
There is clearly a need to acknowledge and enhance the Goan identity. The approach could either adopt
an image which highlights Goa Dourada2, Goa Indica3 or a combination of both.
For example, in the hotel industry, there are two kinds of visible approaches taken to address this issue:
1. Establishments which do not consider the Goan identity at all and are more concerned with
opportunities for investment
2. Establishments which are conscious of the Goan identity and wish to sell a particular preconceived
image of Goa
Tourism includes the production of tangible goods and an intangible component (the experiential aspect
of the tourism product), the latter cannot be reduced to the former. Both together add to the production of
the tourists experiences that are anticipated outcomes of the tourist gaze (Urry, 1990) and search for
signs and symbols that validate the experience as authentic (Culler, 1980).
A common phenomenon is that of hotels and guest houses coming up in heritage houses, an adaptive reuse of sorts, observed in the old residential quarters of Fontainhas, Panjim leading to a produced
culture. Along one particular street, a combination of stalls, shops, restaurants and an art gallery along
with the heritage house hotel creates a holistic tourist experience. Hotels are no longer restricted to
single multi-storey blocks. This is a case of creating an image even if it is not there and does not exist,
where the consumer of the commodity, particularly tourists, does not know what to expect.
Each state in India has something unique to sell to consumers: a commodity confined to the state
boundaries which is not found anywhere else. Kerala promotes ecotourism initiatives, ecologically
sustained tourism which focuses on the local culture and backwater explorations in Kollam. Rajasthan
draws in visitors to experience nights in the desert surrounded by sand along with exploration of an
assortment of havelis. Jaipurs old city has a standardized streetscape which features the vivid use of the
2

Goa Dourada or Golden Goa refers to the Portuguese colonial construction of Goa wherein Goa was a European
enclave attached to the Indian subcontinent.
3
Goa Indica refers to the anti-colonial reconstruction of Goa which looks at the Indian contribution to Goan society.

colour pink, fixed sizes of shop signboards, and covered colonnaded arcades with uniform box-shaped cutouts. Himachal Pradesh is the destination for film shooting units owing to its natural landscape and vivid
topographic features.
The Goan government is selling Goas image with a title that reads Rome of the East. This is
synonymous to looking at and experiencing something not found anywhere else in the world except in
Goa. In Goa, the festivals of Christmas (December) and Carnival (February) are celebrated and promoted by
the tourism industry in Goa. These festivals are packaged and sold to tourists and visitors creating a
thriving tourist market. The commodity being sold is no longer physical, but social. It has become a
space where something unique to the state is being projected simply because it is not found anywhere
else. Christmas is celebrated and is prevalent in Goa despite it being a festival celebrated among the
Catholic minority. This image is reinforced and is sold through typologies in order to generate an authentic
Goan experience. The Portuguese Goan image is made out here which most people are able to adapt to
and associate with easily.

Enquiry
Construction of the tourism destination and the role of urban design in shaping the spatial and social
experience
1. What is the tourism destination? What are the aspects which determine tourism destination
and how does one define such an area/ region?
A tourism destination is conceptualized as space which is constructed out of interactions, and the
simultaneous coexistence of social interrelations and interactions at all spatial scales from the most
local to the most global (Massey, 1992). A tourism destination is essentially a cognitive map along
with its material groundwork. It is the space carved out and defined by the interactions between the
tourists and the destination society (locals).
With reference to Trichur, activities within the tourism destination are preconceived and attention
grabbing, requiring uncritical participation of the tourist. The tourism industry reproduces and
reinforces the dominant understanding of history, nature and culture.
The production of the tourism experience means the re-organization of spatial relations in order to
produce the predetermined touristic experience, within a particular location and place. The physical
transformation of the place and the incorporation of members of the local society in ways that
enhance the touristic experience lead to the creation of a space for exclusionary territorial behaviour
(Harvey, 1993). This space may range from a privately owned and operated resort to a public
recreational area geared to produce the touristic experience.
There is a need for combination of time and space and culture and nature for analysis of a tourism
destination. It is the only method to delineate the specificity of the tourism destination and the
commodity produced and exchanged within it. In the process of exploring tourism, the method
simultaneously asserts that the spatial relations are constituted by and are integral to the constitution
of history of the social formation.

2. What makes an authentic Goan experience in terms of built environment?

The changes that India is experiencing after the end of the Nehruvian planned economy and with the
opening up of the global market (Das, 2002), render Goas once defamed colonial heritage into a
remunerative asset of its fast-growing tourist economy (Henn, 2008).
In Mapusa, an urban artifact represents certain demarcated areas or objects or markers that
people use constantly or frequently acknowledge, or they are drawn towards it due to some
significance (mostly religious). It has been observed that due to economic and social changes,
there has been a change in caste and class status. This has lead to certain reinforcements of
territorial space especially those centred around religious and institutional spaces. There is a need
to identify and reinforce these signs, symbols and images e.g. local clubs, gathering spaces, spaces
where religious celebrations are conducted, traditional dance spaces used during Christmas, etc.
One typical preconceived notion of Goa includes a picturesque village scene complete with green
fields and a scattering of Portuguese Goan heritage houses. The typical typology is defined by
recognizing elements such as a flight of steps to the main entrance, raised plinths, a verandah and
balao space and private internal courtyard spaces. Such typologies having heritage value should
form an important part of the produced commodity. Bye laws and visions will need to incorporate
experiential qualities, both of old and new upcoming commercial types.
Besides producing the Goan image, symbolism, which is actually required, also needs to be
included. Various urban artifacts (mentioned above) are neither exclusive urban nor modern
phenomena, but are rooted in old traditions associated with religious monuments and deities
residing at particular localities within spatially defined communities.
These three factors help to establish the kind of built environment that could evolve as a result of
introducing tourism and construction of the tourism destination.
3. Does urban transformation focusing on produced culture and created space require urban
design attention?
Produced culture is the result of constructing a tourism destination which includes the production of
the commodity and its components (the experiential aspect of the tourism product), the latter cannot
be reduced to the former. The commodity along with the predictable patterns of consumption forms
an authentic experience.
Created space is second nature the transformed and socially concretized space arising from the
application of human labour (Lefebvre, 1976). The tourism destination is like any other socially
created space and has to be approached accordingly.
In Goa, there are clear cases of vernacular tourism which includes houses on rent, home-cooked
meals. With respect to religion/ caste, Catholics are found to run guest houses while Hindus set up
restaurants in their homes. The elite Goan Catholic houses such as the ones found at Gaunsawaddo in
Mapusa and Fontainhas in Panjim exhibit both residential as well as mixed uses. This is done (more in
the case of Panjim) keeping in mind that the created space complements the produced cultural
aspects within the tourist experience.
By examining emerging destination areas, as well as established tourism zones, the relationship
between tourists and the urban experience can be established. Urban design becomes an integrative
instrument in helping to construct the created space and production of the commodity. The approach

considers development of tourist infrastructure, introducing framework for eventual plans,

improvement in connectivity, and stress on visual character and identity of place.
4. How can urban design demonstrations and projects be formulated?
The nature of urban design intervention will look into construction of the tourism destination and the
role of urban design in shaping the spatial and social experience. This would involve:
The production of the tourism destination
Re-organization of spatial relations in order to produce the preconceived touristic experience
Design of strategic projects in order to delineate the specificity of the tourism destination and the
commodity produced and exchanged within it
Reinforcing the urban tissue and building typology along with religious/ institutional artifacts to
suit the characteristic functions (commercial and tourism)
Design of an urban system which is versatile at all levels

Limitations and Scales of Study

There are clear observations seen with respect to urban growth and development in Mapusa. The project
would intervene at two levels:
1. Patterns
Issues

Inferences

Urban Structure
Expansion (extension)
happening at the top of
Mapusa plateau and
beyond (since Mapusa
has a linear geomorphic
settlement
growth
pattern)
Transformation likely to
occur at the base near
existing and frequented
localities and facilities

Urban Tissue
Conversion of existing
heritage and residential
land use to commercial
use

Building Typology
Emergence of commercial
activities
(retail
and
office) along with tourism
related activities (hotels,
guest
houses,
restaurants, etc.)

Physical and social

infrastructure not in
place and/ or does not
reflect the current
urban pattern and way
of life

Buildings provided with

front and rear setback
with allowance to touch
side plot lines; change in
typology

Transformation
to
incorporate commercial,
residential and tourism
functions that can aid in
future growth of Mapusa

Establish pattern which

identifies
and
incorporates both old
and new fabric by
investing in both and
operation and usage of
the same by various
stakeholders

Guidelines for old and

new building typologies
with respect to interface,
heights, elevations, etc.

2. Activities
It has been observed that narrow streets are being made/ widened into roads/ thoroughfares,
accommodating commercial retail and/ or offices on either side. Also, residential plots are being
converted to parcels housing commercial and/ or tourism related activities. Commercial conversion is
good for economic growth within Mapusa. However, this phenomenon along with varying phases of
urbanization, is leading to formation of a different kind of place coming up in Mapusa, which needs to
be qualified.

References
Books
1. Fernandes, Dominic. 2012. Mapusa, Yesterday and Today: A Reminiscent Tour. Goa: Goa 1556
2. Lefebvre, Henri. 1995. The Production of Space. Translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith. Cambridge.
Blackwell
3. Trichur, Raghuraman S. 2013. Refiguring Goa: From Trading Post to Tourism Destination. Goa: Goa
1556
Published Working Papers/ Abstracts
1. Henn, Alexander. 2008. Crossroads of Religions: Shrines, Mobility and Urban Space in Goa.
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, September, Volume 32.3
Undergraduate Theses
1. Fernandez, Oriana. 2010. Notion and Understanding of the Urban Public Realm in Mapusa, Goa.
Panaji, Goa. Goa College of Architecture
2. Jalan, Raghav. 2013. Morphology of Agrarian Settlements: The Case of Morod Settlements of
Canacona-Quepem Region. Panaji, Goa. Goa College of Architecture
Post-Graduate Theses
1. Kandolkar, Vishvesh. 2007. To Reinforce the Characteristic Locii of Halasuru, Bangaluru. Ahmedabad.
CEPT University
2. Sankalpa, 2008. Organic (Jaivik/ Sajiva) Urbanism A Case of Patna. Ahmedabad. CEPT University