Marine Drive is a 3-kilometre-long boulevard

Boulevard

A Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...

 in South Mumbai

South Mumbai

South Mumbai , sometimes incorrectly referred to by English Media as "SoBo" , the southern-most precinct of the city of Mumbai, India, comprises the city's main business localities and its adjoining areas...

 in the city of Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

. It is a 'C'-shaped six-lane concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 road along the coast, which is a natural bay

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

. The road links Nariman Point

Nariman Point

Nariman Point is Mumbai's premier business district and country's first central business district. It was named after Khursheed Framji Nariman, a Parsi visionary. The area is situated on land reclaimed from the sea. It had the distinction of having the highest commercial real estate rental space...

 to Babulnath

Babulnath

Babulnath is an ancient Shiva temple in Mumbai, India. Shiva in the form of the Lord of the Babul tree is the main deity in this temple. The faithful climb up to the temple and obtain Darshan of the shivling and obtain blessings of the Lord. It is also possible to take an elevator up to the temple...

 and Malabar Hill

Malabar Hill

Malabar Hill, a hillock in southern Mumbai , India is an extremely upmarket residential area, most known for the Walkeshwar Temple which houses the Banganga Tank. Situated at a height of 50 metres Malabar Hill, a hillock in southern Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India is an extremely upmarket...

. Marine Drive is situated over reclaimed land facing west-south-west. The bay is part of the Arabian Sea

Arabian Sea

The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...

.

The Promenade

The official name for this road, though rarely used, is: Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose

Subhash Chandra Bose

Subhas Chandra Bose known by name Netaji was an Indian revolutionary who led an Indian national political and military force against Britain and the Western powers during World War II. Bose was one of the most prominent leaders in the Indian independence movement and is a legendary figure in...

 Road. It was earlier known as Sonapur to local Marathi people. The highlight of Marine drive is the beautiful promenade along the road where many of the citizens take in a breath of fresh air and view the setting sun

Sunset

Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon in the west as a result of Earth's rotation.The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment the trailing edge of the Sun's disk disappears below the horizon in the west...

. The promenade is lined with palm trees

Arecaceae

Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...

. At the northern end of Marine Drive is Chowpatty Beach

Girgaum Chowpatti

Girgaum Chaupati , commonly known as just Chaupati , is one of the most famous public beaches adjoining Marine Drive in the Girgaum area of Mumbai, India. The beach is famous for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations when hundreds of people from all over Mumbai come to immerse the idols of Lord Ganapati in...

. This is a popular beach famed for its Bhel puri (local fast food). Many restaurants also line this stretch of the road. Further down this road lies Walkeshwar

Walkeshwar

Walkeshwar is an affluent area in South Mumbai, India, at the north-western end of the Marine Drive loop, and is most famous for Walkeshwar Temple and Banganga Tank.-Etymology:...

, a wealthy neighbourhood of the city, also home to the Governor of Maharashtra.

Most of the buildings which were built by wealthy Parsis sport an art deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 look that was popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Miami in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 is the only city in the world that has more art deco buildings along the seafront than Mumbai.

Real estate prices along the esplanade

Esplanade

An esplanade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The original meaning of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide clear fields of fire for the fortress' guns...

 are among the highest in India, and fourth in the world at US$2100 per square feet . A lot of celebrities live here, making it one of India's premier residential community. Many hotels dot the drive, most prominent among them being the 5-star Oberoi (formerly the Oberoi Hilton Tower however reverted to the original name as of early 2008), The Intercontinental, Hotel Marine Plaza and a few other smaller hotels. Marine Drive is the preferred connecting road between the central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 located at Nariman Point

Nariman Point

Nariman Point is Mumbai's premier business district and country's first central business district. It was named after Khursheed Framji Nariman, a Parsi visionary. The area is situated on land reclaimed from the sea. It had the distinction of having the highest commercial real estate rental space...

 and the rest of the city.

Marine Drive is also known as the Queen's Necklace because if viewed at night from an elevated point anywhere along the drive, the street lights resemble a string of pearls,forming a necklace. It is also the world's largest viewing gallery and hence has been a host to a number of events that take place along the promenade.

Major events

Marine Drive has hosted the following major events in recent times.

• IAF
  Indian Air Force
  The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict...
  
  airshow, October 17, 2004
• Mumbai Marathon 9 February 2004 — an international marathon.
• International Fleet Review 19 February 2001 — The world's major navies took part in the IFR.
• French Festival 1988.