Site/Program Mapping

Having chosen my site, I began to take a look at how the program I have been leaning towards will fit with the location. As a reminder, I had first looked at the market/souq type, geared specifically towards the migrant workers' needs and economic means. A quick study of the locations of laborer housing and existing souqs was a primary generator for choosing my current site.

In conjunction with the souq type, I also was leaning towards a public social (potentially religious) space. As my site is directly adjacent to a parking lot that is used by workers for weekend cricket tournaments, I was leaning heavily towards the addition of a mosque rather than a public activity space (these choices were delineated in Methodology 3).

Thus, the below map of mosque locations overlaid on the previous mappings to understand whether this addition might be suitable for the location:

While this had initially been intended as a more site specific map, I found it interesting that the mosque locations favored the trend line I had identified in my first mapping. I included a 5-minute/quarter-mile walking radius in light green (as well as a circle with a radius half that for summer) to get an idea of how these mosques might work within their neighborhoods. There are very few mosques in the southeastern half of the city, in some parts of the city averaging less than one mosque per super-block. The nearest one to my site is within what is the equivalent of a gated community, so I question how easy it would be for workers to gain access to. Thus, I think a mosque is an appropriate programmatic addition to this project.