1. Mumbai, a global city (case study)
Modernity and inequalities in South Asia

2. A Map of India & Mumbai

3. I – Mumbai, An Indian Megalopolis
1. Exceptional urban growth...
Former colonial center
City limits of Mumbai expanding
New township of Navi Mumbai (1970's)
Spontaneous urban sprawl
Migratory flows linked to rural flight
2. … that generates disfunctioning and inequalities.
Major slums
Saturated railroads and highways
Protected natural spaces endangered by urban pressure

4. Introduction 20 million inhabitants
Economic and financial capital of India
Most powerful metropolis in the nation
Symbol of modernity and India’s emergence
Current economic development linked to its integration in globalization has led to deep transformations in the organization of its territory.

5. Key Questions
How can an emerging city be qualified? In what way does Mumbai’s spatial organization reflect these characteristics?
To what extent does Mumbai symbolize the economic dynamics of modern day India as well as the limits to this development?

6. 1. Exceptional Urban Growth
Already densely populated during the colonial era
1 million inhabitants in the early 20th century (2nd city behind Calcutta)
Urban explosion began in the 2nd half of the last century.
More than 20 million inhabitants in its urban area and around 13 million within the city limits, making it the 1st Indian agglomeration (1.6% of the country’s population) and the 5th largest city in the world today (between NYC & Sao Paolo).

7. This urban explosion is a consequence of:
Demographic explosion resulting from India’s demographic transition
began in the 1920’s and increased in the 1950’s.
Natural growth rate more moderate since the early 21st c. (birth rate = 2.5 children per woman)
Massive rural flight  which accompanied the demographic transition and industrialization of the country. Migrations are still estimated at 4,000 new arrivals per week.
→In 50 years, Mumbai has become one of the most important megalopolises on the planet. Its exceptional growth causes many urban problems.

8. 2. From City to Urban region: demographic growth and urban sprawl.
Strong urban extension and increase in population density.
Density = > 100,000 inhabitants per km²
City limits of Mumbai are completely saturated
Limited in the west and the south by the sea
Spreading has occured inland especially northward between natural zones and along communication axes
In the North, population growth has reached a record level of 300 % per year in the 1990’s
in the East, the new city of Navin Mumbai designed in the 1970’s already counts up to 3 million inhabitants and occupies 350 km²

9. 65 km from north to south
surface area of over 600 km²
average density over 20,000 inhabitant/km².
=> with the uncontrollably brutal and massive increase of the population, the urban zone has spread out over a vast area (despite its geographical constraints) contributing to huge population density.

10. 3. Challenges of growth: urbanizing poverty
Challenges to the population & city authorities
Worsened by the poverty of a large portion of the inhabitants - 41% below poverty line in 2011
Other issues:
Control Urban Growth :
building new homes/neighborhoods w/out building permits and without respecting urban planning
Areas negatively impacted:
agricultural areas & protected natural areas (e.g. Sanjay Gandhi Park and coastline)
Spatial development of the city has been largely unregulated

11. Urban Services Satisfy housing needs:
Half the population lives in slums, e.g. Dharavi, largest in Asia, 1 million inhabitants covering a surface area of 175 hectares
Develop utility infrastructure (water, electricity, gas):
Many neighborhoods (esp. Illegal but not only) are not connected to utilities
Electricity and water services are often faulty
Sanitation systems nonexistant

12. Dharavi, Mumbai

13. “hutments”

14. 14 million people live in Mumbai.
Nearly half live in “hutments.”

15. Dharavi is about one square mile, half the size of Center City.

16. One family out of 12 lives in 10 m² (“about half the size of an American car parking space.”)

17. 16 public toilets per 3000 people. (75¢ per month per family.)
Open sewers in the middle of the street.
One water tap per 100 people.

18. Transportation Manage road circulation :
high population density + insufficient transport = congested traffic
Traffic jams paralyze the city,
trains are overloaded (commuter trains carry 5 million passengers daily),
accidents are frequent

19. Reduce pollution Environmental damage more and more common
Most polluted city in India
industrial activities,
road traffic,
insufficient waste treatment (sewage systems)

20. Urban Poverty Urban growth concerns mostly poor populations
Revenue = < $1000 pp/yr = 3x national average
Poverty omnipresent in the city
⅔ of the active population works in the informal sector,
literacy rates are very low in some neighborhoods
=> Mumbai is therefore an Indian megalopolis: urban explosion, uncontrolled urban sprawl, urban dysfunction and widespread poverty are the most visible characteristics.
Dhobi Ghat, an open air laundromat in Mumbai, India. Dennis Jarvis (CC BY-SA 2.0).

21. II – MUMBAI, A METROPOLIS OF THE FUTURE: FROM A GLORIOUS PAST TO A RADIANT FUTURE?
1. Colonial heritage: Mumbai, the gateway to the Indies
 Portuguese found a trading post in 1534
British crown takes over in 1661, rent the islands to the British East India Company which takes advantage of its port on the west coast of India
U.S. Civil War ( ) turns Bombay into the first coton producer in the world
Suez Canal opening in 1869, making Bombay one of the most important ports of Asia
In 1888, Bombay becomes the main port of entry into India and the industrial, textile and trading center of the country.
Changes of the city are spectacular: economic growth takes off and the colonial power constructs grand building projects to give testimony to the dynamism and wealth of the city
=> Mumbai boasts a tradition in trade and industry from the colonial period. The city is the most important economic center of the country by the end of the 19th c.

22. 2. A powerful and influential metropolis integrated in globalization
Economic capital of India
Represents 5% of GDP
10% industrial jobs
textile (in decline however), chemistry, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, automobile, electric and electronic equipment, metallurgy…
Production activities of TNCs like cosmetic products from the group Garnier
40% of tax revenue
Almost 20% added value by processing industries
Largest & most diversified economic base in the country
Economic activity greatly benefits from the opening of the country towards globalization

23. Economic Activities
Higher Service Sector make up an increasing larger proportion of the city’s economy
banks and financial services
Media
Commercial services
Industrial services
Headquarters of large Indian companies (e.g. Tata), foreign company offices (e.g. Jaguar & Land Rover),
Major centre for out-sourced work – companies there work for foreign companies.
Financial decision centers (e.g. the Central Indian Bank, Reserve Bank of India),
Stock markets (e.g. Bombay Stock Exchange, 1st world stock exchange for the number of companies listed, 5th for the volume of electronic transactions; National Stock Exchange of India)

24. Other Economic Sectors
Media Center
Bollywood studios (1st movie producers worldwide, before Hollywood) exported around the world (North Africa, Middle East, Near East, Subsaharan Africa and countries of the Indian diaspora, e.g. the U.K. and the U.S.)
Higher education and research institutions:, Indian Institute of Technology of Bombay, Tata Institute for fundamental research

25. Transportation Infrastructure
Port of Mumbai, still gateway of India
8 km long port
Modern infrastructures
Largest in country
Mumbai Airport (Chhatrapati Shivaji) hub for Air India, Jet Airway and Indian Airlines
Largest connecting flight platform in India
25% domestic travel
40% international traffic
60% of customs taxes arrive in Mumbai
40% of Indian international transit
=> Mumbai enjoys rare and diversified urban functions which make it a world class metropolis. It therefore maintains its tradition as a center of economic prosperity and communication node.

26. 3. Urban development policy: Mumbai, a window on modern India
numerous urban development projects underway to meet the needs of urban growth and to modernize the city “Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority” (MMRDA) has planned or completed:
Construction of a twin city on the continent from Thane in the late 1970’s : Navi Mumbai.
Built to propose a new axis of development
Has not met the initial objectives
lacking in public infrastructure (hospitals & schools)
Acts as a Commuter town

27. Special Economic Zone (SEZs)
Santacruz north of the city
Near the international airport
Tries to attract foreign firms by offering fiscal advantages, eliminating customs duties
Specialized in electronics and IT
Production is aimed at export

28. Mumbai Vision Project Aims to embellish the city
Render it more attractive to foreign companies and international senior management recruits
Reduce slums
resolve traffic congestion problems
Deal with insufficient energy supply which inhibits functioning
Creation of integrated townships most often peripheral but more and more vertical
"fly-over" highways or “sky walks”  gigantic aerial pedestrian walkways
Enables inhabitants to live above the problems until they can be resolved
Bandra Kurla Complex south of the city: former industrial zones have been reconverted into high standing residences, shopping centers, CBD
New subway and gigantic sealink bridge built

29. Recap part 2
=> The city is split between two extremes: its ambition to become a global city under the Shanghai model on the one hand and the challenge to manage the poverty of its slums on the other. =>Searching to become an example of modernity and Indian dynamism, Mumbai is undergoing a process of economic transformation and gentrification.

30. Mumbai, India. Sarah Jamerson (CC BY-SA 2.0).

31. III – MUMBAI, A CITY OF CONTRASTS
1. a fragmented and segregated urban space
The Metropolis, a vast composite space formed by planned and developed territories, but also anarchical development of territories and intermediary zones made up of slums, semi-rural spaces and informal sector zones.
The urban space is therefore characterized by a very strong socio- spatial segregation. This is characterized by the proximity of populations and neighborhoods with a huge wealth and development gap.

32. The Rich South
Wealthy modern neighborhoods like Marine Drive and Tardeo
where the most expensive house on earth is located
the apartment of the Ambani family, wealthiest Indian –
Antilia House (27 floors, 9 elevators for a surface area of 37,000 m² and lodges a family of 6 as well as 500 domestic servants)

33. Wealthy Populations placing pressure on slum dwellers
The existence of a genuine middle class and a wealthy upper class (the city of Mumbai contains more millionnaires than the rest of the entire country) increases the pressure on the slum populations as they occupy property which is coveted by real estate developers.
Urban renovation operations thus cause a transformation of social geography by emphasizing spatial polarization:
certain neighbourhoods increase in value and lead impoverished people to inhabit the margins of the city along with activities considered less desireable
=> towards a dual city
=> whatever the case, the metropolitan area is very sharply marked by social-spatial segregation and inequalities.

34. Dharavi Redevelopment Project 2004
Positive sides
Two storey homes will be replaced by seven storey so they can house more people. Those who can prove they have been living in Dharavi since 2000 will receive free accommodation
The new buildings will have to have infrastructure including roads, water, drainage, schools
However, the project can not go ahead unless the majority of the registered residents in the shanty town agree
Negative sides
Unregistered people will have their views ignored
Governments and developers have used underhand tactics to make people sign the agreements.
There is fear 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.
2016: In-principle approval received from state government to go ahead with developing 4 sectors
Video: Mumbai’s Slums, the real scenes behind Slumdog Millionaire

35. 2. Ethnic and religious tensions in a cosmopolitan city.
Long tradition of immigration in Mumbai. Its unique culture results from the cohabitation of several different communities from all over India, in addition to a significant foreign population.
The cosmopolitan aspect of the city can occasionally lead to crises:
Riots between hindus and muslims in which resulted in 900 deaths
a series of 10 attacks targeting luxury hotels in the south of the city in December 2008 causing 200 victims increasing tensions between Hindus and Muslims
These attacks reflect both:
tensions between hindus and muslims since independence (and the great partition of the country in 1948 (India/Pakistan).
tensions linked to inequalities which have been exacerbated by the process of globalization at work in Mumbai and India
Related book based on Journalistic research: Beyond the Beautiful Forevers: life, death and hope in a Mumbai undercity by Katherine Boo
Video: Bombay Diaries Trailer

36. 3. Organization of Territory in Mumbai
The organization of territory is characterized by:
The concentration of business districts in the south:
banks and office buildings in the Fort neighbourhood (main CBD), benefitting from rail service from the two railway stations + sealinks
located next to wealthy and spatious neighbourhoods.
Former industrial neighbourhoods in the center and the suburban area to the north which continue to expand.
The old commercial area is located 5 km to the north.
Neighbourhoods like Girgaum and Byculla, are typical of these overpopulated working class areas which were created in the last century.

37. Industrial activities are concentrated in the North from the aeroport to Thane
The spatial organization of the metropolis can also be defined by a double opposition:
North/South : port and business districts located on the point of the isthmus/ suburbs located in the North and developing along railway lines (6 million commuters per day)
East/West : wealthiest neighbourhoods along the Western coastline, working class and poor neighborhoods in the East