MUMBAI

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MUMBAI

UNIQUE MUMBAI

BURNING TOPICS

Introduction
by[Article Author]

Like a city on steroids, Mumbai is rapidly becoming one of the worlds biggest megacities. A city full of paradoxes, Mumbai is a microcosm of India in many ways.But its all happening on a narrow peninsula with an infrastructure on the verge of complete collapse. Known as the financial capital of India, Bombay is the largest city in India.From a muddy group of islands inhibited by few fishermen, it has come a long way during last three centuries. Bombay is a man made city, largely reclaimed from the sea. It was mainly developed by the european Colonists for trade, which it perpetuates even today. The scattered huts gave way to huge Edifices in high Victoria style buildings, docks, industries, roads, railways. Industry and trade prospered and fortunes were made in thisCity of Gold. Every day thousands of people Arrive in the city hoping to find their pot of gold to realise their dreams.

Mumbai has historically been Indias commercial capital, contributing significant tax revenues to both Maharashtra and the Centre. However, over the past decade, Mumbai has been declining rapidly on the dimensions of both economic growth and quality of life. Though several very valid recommendations and reports already exist on Mumbai, what is really needed is for Mumbai to undergo a change in mind-set: from thinking of incremental improvement and debottlenecking, it must begin to think of making step jumps towards achieving world-class status. The situation, at present, is such that most policy makers and agencies governing the city refuse to even believe that Mumbai, with its seemingly insurmountable problems, can transform itself into a world-class city in a 10-15 year time frame.

Cluster Redevelopment- Proposed Bhendi bazar Area after Redevelopment

Slum redevelopment Schemes

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Urban Context
byName Style

Mumbai occupies a long, narrow peninsula in the Arabian Sea on the west coast of India. The region on the whole is low-lying but not flat. The climate is hot and humid and the monsoon brings heavy rain averaging about 2000 mm per annum. Mumbai City is an island of 69 km2. The original seven small islands were combined, partly through silting and partly through land reclamation. Most of the employment centres and a few highdensity residential areas are located on the island strip of 24 km2. As the island became more commercialised, the residential developments of the British and wealthy Indians moved from the southern parts of the city along the sea coast as extended suburbs, while the housing of the working classes grew northwards. The second component of the city includes the suburban area of Salsette Island north of Mahim Creek, which began to grow at a faster rate after independence due to congestion on the main Island City. These two together form the Greater Mumbai area of 437.71 km2, administered by theMunicipal Corporation of Bombay. For purposes of revenue and general administration, Greater Mumbai is considered as one district. The Island City is connected to the region by northsouth rail and road arteries. Suburban development requires northsouth movements of millions of daily commuters to workplaces in the Island City on suburban trains that are highly overcrowded. The city has been divided into six zones and 24 wards to facilitate the administration of the Municipal Corporation.

After 1975, the influence of the city was extended into the Bombay Metropolitan Region (BMR).

In order to relieve the burden on the main city and to deflect city growth to the region, the government accepted the proposal to set up a self-contained twin city across the harbour which is more or less independent of Mumbai. THE PHYSICAL CITY Expansion of the City to the Eastern Mainland to overcome congestion. Birth of new city- Navi Mumbai. The Grain and texture of the City started changing form fine grain even texture to coarse grain uneven texture. Low rise high density is transforming into high rise high density.

The BMR region, covering an area of 4,355 km2 was formally delineated after the enactment of Bombay Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (BMRDA now MMRDA) Act in 1974. The Bombay Metropolitan Region includes Greater Mumbai, Thane Municipal Corporation, Kalyan Municipal Corporation, Virar-Bhayandar, Bhiwandi (standard urban area VI), New Mumbai, (administered by the City Industrial Development Corporation, CIDCO) and the rest of the BMR (under smaller municipal councils, semi-urban areas and villages).

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Demographics
by[Article Author]

The population of Greater Mumbai has increased more than twelve times in the last century. Until 1950, most of the growth remained within the Island City but this significantly reduced after 1971 due to congestion. After independence, with the influx of refugees, both the eastern and western suburbs started growing rapidly. Since 1981, the suburban district of Mumbai has become the largest district in the State of Maharashtra in terms of population. The population has led to densities as high as 48,215 persons per km2 in Mumbai and 16,082 per km2 in suburban Mumbai (Census, 2001). The population growth has further spilled over in the BMR region and the region has been continuously growing for the last fifty years. Migration from within the state and from the various parts of the country into the city has played a significant role in its population growth. Greater Mumbai is expected to accommodate 129 million people by 2011 (BMRDA, 1994). According to the Census 2001 for Maharashtra, the average size of households declined from 5.1 members to 4.8 in 1991. During last 30 years the sex ratio (the number of females per thousand males) of Mumbai has increased from 670 in 1971 to 774 in 2001. Suburban districts have also shown improvements from 769 in 1971 to 826 in 2001. The population of Mumbai is marked by its social heterogeneity cutting across racial, religious, regional and linguistic lines. Each community initially had its niche in the occupational structure. These include the Gujrati merchants, the influential Parsis, Jain traders, Muslim retailers, and the native Maharashtrians who worked in offices and industries. Migrants from the southern and northern states of India generally worked either in the construction or in the service sector, while the Sindhi refugees from West Pakistan entered the commerce sector. The Mumbai textile workers have always been considered the leaders of the industrial working class in India. The various religious and caste communities remained largely encapsulated and, in spite of being juxtaposed in Mumbais cosmopolitan setting, continued to maintain lifestyles,

which differed relatively little from those practised in their respective regions of origin (Desai, 1995, pp-96).

The population of Inner Mumbai has risen comparatively little since 1961, with nearly all growth occurring first in Outer Mumbai and later in Thane. These two suburban areas now account for 90 percent of the larger metropolitan area population, double the 44 percent of 1961. Figure 3 illustrates the actual population, by district, of the larger metropolitan area from 1901 to 2011.

According to a sample survey of households in the BMR region in 1989, 46 per cent of households were migrants. The mother tongue of nearly 50 per cent households was Marathi followed by Gujrati (15 per cent), Hindi (9 per cent) and Urdu (6 per cent).

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Migration

Migration to Mumbai has always remained a matter of serious concern to researchers, planners and policy makers. Mumbai has a long history of migration and migration has remained the major force behind the citys very rapid population growth since its inception. It was the first Indian city to experience the economical, technological, and social changes associated with the growth of capitalism in India. During the first few decades of twentieth century, due to distressed situations and natural calamities many migrated to the city from far off states.

Economic diversification and development of city resulted into steady growth of employment opportunities in the city which in turn have attracted heavy influx of migrants and consequently a very rapid population growth in the city and nearby urban areas. The opening of oil mills and start of machine building and engineering units further opened up job opportunities for natives of less developed states and increased the volume of migration to the city. As such migration was the main force that led to the sudden spurt to citys population, when the city got overpopulated and peripheral areas were developed.

The Urban Economy

by[Article Author]

Mumbais contribution to the growth of the Indian economy has been significant as nearly 40 per cent of state domestic production originates in Mumbai. It is therefore called the commercial capital of India. With its port, manufacturing industry, (traditional and modern), government and financial institutions, trade and services, Mumbai represents one of the most diversified and vibrant economies in the country. The Draft Regional Plan for BMR, 1994 (BMRDA, 1994), has presented some of the trends in the changing economy of the city. The basic metals and engineering industry and the chemicals and pharmaceutical industry are important contributors besides many supportive ancillary enterprises. The port supports the industries dependent on imports of raw materials like crude oil. Mumbai airport handles the major share of Indias international passenger and cargo movements. The location of the headquarters of the Reserve Bank of India and the Mumbai stock exchange has attracted large numbers of financial institutions and banks.

Alarmed by, the environmental problems of the oppressive size of the city, the Bombay Metropolitan Regional Plan of 1975 proposed deterring any growth in employment levels in Mumbai through dispersal of industries. The State Government progressively decided to curb the location of new and expansion of existing industries and commercial establishments in the city. Informal sector employment is steadily growing and the Economic Census estimates its share was 44 per cent in 1990. In the context of liberalisation of economic policies, the revised regional Plan (1991-2011) recognised the potential of Mumbai to function as a global city and recommended the promotion of modern environmental

friendly industries and the revival and replacementof sick industries. The city offersopportunities for economic mobility: the percentage of population below the poverty line was much lower - only 8.5 per cent in 1998 than the national and state urban averages (Government of India, 2001).

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Governance

According to the Indian Constitution, land and housing, urban development and provision of civic infrastructure fall within the purview of state governments who are legally empowered to formulate and execute related policies. The central government however plays a significant role through the devolution of resources to state governments within the framework of National Five Year Plans. The state urban development department is in charge of the Town Planning Department, Urban Development Authority, urban water supply and sewerage. The Housing and Special Assistance Department is responsible for housing policy, land ceilings, rent control, slum upgrading and supervision of foreign aid projects. Statutory bodies in Mumbai include the Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC/GMMC), which enjoyed significant autonomy until the mid-eighties. It is the most affluent, and relatively most efficient local body in the country. Its range of services includes public transport, electricity, apart from other municipal services. It is responsible for the Master Plan of the city and enforcement of development control regulations. It is not directly involved in public housing or slum improvement. However, in a significant move towards decentralisation, the 74th Amendment to the Constitution of India has empowered urban local self-government by devolution of functions like urban planning, slum improvement and poverty alleviation as well as other responsibilities. The Mumbai (earlier Bombay) Metropolitan Development Authority (BMRDA/MMRDA) is responsible for regional planning and coordinating and supervising development efforts in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. World Bank Assistance for its Shelter Project in the mid-80s was channelled through the MMRDA and the Maharashtra Housing and Area DevelopmentAuthority (MHADA) which is the main agency supplying public housing. The Collector of Mumbai is a revenue executive responsible for land management aspects related to titles and deeds of ownership of land.

The Office of the Collector is responsible for issuing identity cards to slum dwellers, the collection of service charges from them, and the granting of entitlements to government lands and removal of unauthorised structures from public land. By a notification in 1995, the Government of Maharashtra (GOM) appointed a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) under the provisions of Maharashtra Slum Areas Act, 1971. As per the Maharashtra Regional and town Planning (Amendment) Act, 1995, the Authority has been granted a status of the Planning Authority for Redevelopment Schemes. The Authority is responsible for reviewing the slum situation, formulating schemes for rehabilitation of slum areas and implementing the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme. Private builders and developers play a very significant role not only in developing land and providing housing but also in slum rehabilitation. The period after the national emergency in 1976 saw the emergence of a supportive role of NGOs. The large-scale demolition of squatter settlements heightened the activism around the issue of tenure. There are more than 100 NGOs in Mumbai aimed at mobilising the urban poor to press their rights to housing. Mumbai has an impressive number of high profile nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) like SPARC and YUVA (Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action), which are involved in a broad spectrum of activities in poor neighbourhoods and have been strong in policy advocacy. NGOs have acted as strong pressure groups against evictions of squatters and pavement

dwellers and for provision of better services in slums. Apart from builders associations the Practicing Engineers, Architects and Planners Association (PEATA), forms another vocal and important pressure group specially for relaxation of development control norms and for repealing of Urban Land Ceiling Act as many architects, planners and engineers are involved in slum redevelopment schemes.

The State Government encourages formal community organisations. Many such CBOs have aligned to form the National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF). The role of politicians and political parties is important as access to strategic resources, at least for disadvantaged lower-class groups, is through political rather than other channels. Slums in Mumbai need water,electricity, schools, testimonials to good character, and the like. These are obtained largely through political pressure and contacts. The system is such that politicians need support and bargain for it through promises of patronage and favours. The Republican Party and the Shiv Sena are in part generated by this system of mutually sustaining payoffs .

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Environment

Mumbai- the name conjures up images of high skyscrapers, wide roads, the sea-kissed Marine Drive, a land of opportunity and enterprise. Pollution, population and lack of space have always been traditionally described as the ultimate problems of Mumbai while relegating the acute problem of environmental degradation into oblivion. However, this slowly-ticking time bomb burst into the face of Mumbai in the form of the deluge on July 26, 2005. Unlike what half the city would like to believe, 26/7 is not a sudden indicator of the environmental mess the city has got itself into. Leopard attacks in a bustling city, landslides, abnormally high temperatures in summers, erratic rainfall have long since warned the city of the impending doom. But we have chosen to ignore it all because it is more convenient to do so. The environmental problems of Mumbai have emerged due to the creation of the city itself. The city originally comprised of seven major islands and other smaller masses of land. On its acquisition by the British in 1665, the seven islands were fused together to form the city of Mumbai. The British recognized its potential as a port and developed the city through extensive land reclamation. Thus, several small rivers and their tributaries that ran through the length of Mumbai were filled in. This depleted the areas of dissipation for the water, which is very important factor for an island city like Mumbai. Modern experts and politicians would like to blame the British for destroying the natural environment of Mumbai; however, sanction of hazardous policies and projects like the Bandra- Worli sea-link in the past two or three decades have done more harm to Mumbai than the 150 years of British regime. The problem is that the authorities have failed to foresee the consequences of tampering with the environment. They have consistently ignored the warnings and pleas of environmentalists. Infrastructure projects are sanctioned in the name of development of the city, hardly emphasizing on the environmental impact assessment.

A few of the many pressing environmental issues being faced by Mumbai have been highlighted below: THE MANGROVES Mangroves are an integral part of the landscape of Mumbai. However, they are fast disappearing owing to rampant construction and lack of governmental will for their protection. They actually protect the land from the impact of the sea and by trapping silt they also maintain the integrity of Mumbai's shoreline. THE GREEN COVER In recent years, several extensive infrastructure projects have been sanctioned for the 'good' of the city. These include various road-widening projects, construction of new flyovers and link roads. THE LUNGS Mumbai is the only metropolitan city in the world which boasts of a national park in the middle of one of its busiest suburbs. However, the existence of this green space is being threatened by illegal construction activity, encroachment by slums and quarrying.Several companies carry out quarrying in the park which have led to the erosion of the land and have also affected the habitats of the animals. THE LAND According to international standards, the minimum amount of open space required per thousand persons is 4 acres; for Mumbai, it is merely 0.03 acres per 1000 people. An ideal way of correcting this anomaly was to prudently use the land available to us. 600 acres of mill land in Central Mumbai is the last chance for us to provide the city with any breathing space. BUILDER-BUREAUCRATPOLITICIAN NEXUS Till now, we have examined several aspects of the environmental problems faced by Mumbai. However, the common thread that runs through all these various problems is the lack of government will and apathy in enforcing eco-friendly rules for short-term windfalls. Each of the above problems is the collective result of the nexus between builders, bureaucrats and politicians who have time and again exploited the city's land and its people for selfish gains. This exploitation takes place in numerous forms.

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The Changing Urban Form of Mumbai

way, by absorbing more people vertically.

The habitats of Mumbai have traditionally been as diverse and heterogeneous as the citys migratory fl ows. Coastal fishing villages, vernacular urban structures, grand colonial monuments, contemporary bungalows, working-class barrack-like enclaves, and modern apartment blocks have jostled for space on this tiny island through the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries. However, in spite of this diversity, Mumbai is usually reduced to three broad urban archetypes: the historical city, the slum, and the high-rise. The historical city, dominated by a mash-up of different colonial styles inherited from the British and neighboring coastal cities like Surat, along with an even earlier imperial legacy epitomized by the fast-disappearing Portuguese churches and villages, has been explored in countless photographic and architectural accounts. They are part of a conservation story fi rmly entrenched in a past that is officially acknowledged as worthy of preservation but is rarely actually protected. Over and above that, from the 1960s in particular, the citys perception of its habitats has been reduced to a binary that of the slum and the high-rise apartment block. In fact, Mumbai is often visually represented by the image of low-rise squatter settlements strategically located in front of a multistoried luxury tower, which symbolizes the inequalities inherent to rapidly developing megacities. In Mumbai, the high-rise building, that ubiquitous symbol of modernization and the ultimate architectural affirmation of middleclass status, is typically presented as the answer to the organically developing, unplanned, low-rise, hyperdense, and slum settlements that are said to house 60 percent of the citys residents. Anywhere between five and thirty stories high, the height of high-rise buildings is relative to the status of their inhabitants. The high-rise, which is synonymous with the mechanization of habitats (symbolized by the elev tor), requires industrial construction methods and regulations. It emerges through globally standardized legal, economic, and technological protocols, which are also its biggest discursive weapon in as much as it audits space supposedly in the most effi cient

Reconnecting Forms and Processes The relationship between urban and economic development is not simple or onedimensional. This becomes very obvious when these typologies are celebrated instead of being rejected. Narrow pedestrian streets, low-rise structures, and livelystreet activity in villagelooking urban contexts are glorified by conservationists and sometimes reproduced artificially and perfected in an urban plan. Medieval European towns and villages have become role models for many new urbanists. Unfortunately, they usually end up as gated communities or cute-looking themed neighborhoods devoid of any economic substance. This is because, after all, the impulse and processes that produce new urbanism townships are those of the speculative city. Houses are produced in bulk and sold as commodities. Their value is that of their market price. They neither support much economic activity within nor generate much use value beyond that of being comfortable residential spaces.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE FORM OF THE CITY Factors Influencing Urban Form Many factors influence the form of cities. Traditional settlements were shaped by (Lozano,1990): a. the way in which nature and man-made features satisfy needs for protection and defense b.the way in which physical and economic landscape allows for communication with other regions c.the way in which the topography of a site suggests the construction of a human settlement d. the way in which climate leads to building solutions.These factors influence the cultural and spiritual form of the cities as well. Traditional cities have used physical forms to interpret cultural and religious beliefs (Lozano, 1990). For example, a hill top site was the utilitarian response to any important building - a fort or a religious building. These features contributed to a particular urban and social pattern. The physical form is a variable of the social and built pattern of the city. The built form is influenced by factors as (Alexander, 1987): a. land ownership b.existing land use c. planning regulations d. street patterns e. economic considerations f. political and historical events The physical expansion of the city is always bound and guided by land ownership, and natural and manmade obstacles. A city replaces existing land use. Thus, it is necessary to determine existing land use as a pre-condition to urban growth and form.

Source:

THE HIGH-RISE AND THE SLUM: SPECULATIVE URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN MUMBAI

The change of land use from rural to urban depends on the existing land use, and the ownership.