Reclaiming local parks of Mumbai

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Being a new parent transforms one’s relationship with their city. The park is central to this change as it becomes an essential third space. These outings are not merely recreational, but also require active engagement with everything, from the grass to the play area and even the security guards.

And such interactions can lead to an abiding relationship with a city’s parks. Something similar happened to Mumbai resident Anca Florescu Abraham, 44, when she became a mother about a decade ago, and started frequenting local parks.An interior designer and landscape artist, Abraham, who lives in Khar West, soon realised there were some niggling pain points in parks, besides the fact that as public spaces they were untapped. Some parks were closed on certain days without prior notice, a few had rules like “no stepping on the grass”, and most had restrooms with dubious hygiene.

This led Abraham to launch Love Your Parks Mumbai (LYPMumbai) in 2018. “I started it out of a growing concern that Mumbai’s open spaces are both undervalued and underutilised. The idea was simple: if people don’t emotionally connect with their parks, they will not fight for them,” she explains.LYPMumbai nurtures relationships with parks through experiences such as nature walks, group singing sessions and fitness workshops.

A few weeks ago, they planned an event, Sing For Your Parks, with people across age groups participating in jam sessions at Jogger’s Park in Bandra West and Pushpa Narsee Park (PNP) in Juhu. They organised tree walks in Hanging Garden as well as the adjacent Kamala Nehru Park in March. Their end goal is to activate parks and “transform them from passive green spaces into active community hubs.”