Mumbai Case Study

Setting the scene…• Mumbai is a mega city on the west coast of India• It’s is the capital of India and is the biggest city with

12,350,000 people • In 1947 Mumbai’s population was 4 million• An increase of more than 8 million people have occurred

due to internal migration - more than half of that increase occurring between 1960-1970

• The population density is estimated to be about 22,000 persons per square kilometre

• It’s India’s finance centre (due to the ports), a major port and industrial area and a centre of culture due to “Bollywood”

• Mumbai was originally a series of fishing villages that became a port and this is what helped encourage it’s early development

Setting the scene…• Until the 1980’s, the economy was based mainly on textile

manufacturing and shipping with there still being a major port there today.

• There’s been an increase in IT and financial services recently

• Mumbai is a major centre for out-sourced work – companies there work for foreign companies.

• Mumbai is a major media centre for India and is one of the largest in the world.

A Map of India & Mumbai

Causes of urban growth…

• A rapid amount of people are drawn in from the countryside due to work being so varied from highly skilled jobs to practical work and people believe they will have better life chances in the city

• Travellers from Europe used the ports that became known as “The gateway to India”. The area around the port became industrialised as a result and became used for importing and exporting goods.

• A variety of services grew around the port and this led the city to grow during British rule, and even more rapidly when British rule had left in 1947.

• Banking, finance and insurance that were associated with the ports allowed Mumbai to become a major source of finance. This enabled Mumbai’s economy to grow and is allowing it to become a world city

Problems caused by urban growth…

• Problems with health occur due to pollution from within the shanty towns and heavy industry causes air pollution that also contributes to poor health

• Widespread poverty and unemployment due to so many moving to the area and the high birth-rate means there isn’t enough employment

• Poor education leads to people being unemployed as they haven’t the skills and knowledge needed and too many people mean that schools and public services can’t deal with the amount of people

• Land value in Mumbai is expensive due to there being little land so it makes it impossible for those living in shanty towns to afford homes. This results with people living in illegal shanty towns that increase the health problems due to them being so cramped

• Asia’s second largest slum is Dharavi and is home to 800,000 people which has cheap, poorly made housing

• Poor transport links as they are so busy and cramped with commuters as there are so many living within the city

• Pollution increases due to those living in the shanty towns

• In 1970 a plan was introduced to move the port, markets and industrial functions out of the old city to Navi Bombay on the east. The idea was to also move workers too. The plan was partially successful but the problem in Dharavi had to be sorted.

• More than 600,000 live in Dharavi (next to the CBD), and the idea was to move the housing and people will be re-housed into temporary accommodation.

• The two storey homes will be replaced by seven storey so that it can house more people. Those who can prove they have been living in Dharavi since 1995 will receive free accommodation

• The new buildings will have to have infrastructure including roads, water, drainage, schools, industrial estate etc.

Solutions…

• However, the project can not go ahead unless the majority of the registered residents in the shanty town agree. However, the unregistered people will have their views ignored

• Governments and developers have used underhand tactics to make people sign the agreements.

• There are fears amongst the people that the government won’t actually build alternative accommodation but instead will be replaced with higher value developments for businesses and companies to allow the city to continue to expand.

Solutions (cont.)…