Urban - Mumbai Case Study

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Characteristics

  • Mega city on the West Coast of India and India's finance centre 
  • Captial of India with a population of 20million - grown from 4million in 1947 more than 8million was from internal migration
  • Population density of 22,000 per sq km
  • Major centre for out-sourced work
  • Economic strength is a problem: to attract companies and investment, India's tax rates are low meaning companies and high-income earners pay little tax.
    • This causes low revenue from which to provide public services - water, sanitation and public health. Most low-income earners cannot afford charges for these services = no private investment = development of slums.
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Causes

  • Receives around 1000 new migrants a day
  • Services - banking, insurance, IT and call services. Mumbai's universities produce well-educated, English-speaking graduates who are employed by large western companies (e.g. BT) who contact them to provide services - outsourcing. India's wage rate is low e.g. a high salary = $5000 a year
  • Manufacturing - half of Mumbai's factory workers work in the textiles industry, producing cotton textiles for export. Other booming industries: food processing steel, engineering, cement and computer software. 
  • Construction - demand for housing, factories and offices = boom in construction industry
  • Entertainment - Mumbai as the world's largest film industry - Bollywood 
  • Leisure and business services - e.g. hotels and restaurants.
  • A rapid amount of people are drawn in from the countryside due to work being so varied from highly skilled jobs tot 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 the British rule and even more rapidly when British rule had left 1947
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Impacts

  • This economic development and rapid urbanisation...
    • Provides 33% of India's entire tax revenue
    • Means 40% of international flights to India land there
    • Demand for property has driven rents in exclusive parts of the city higher than those in London or New York
    • Has headquarters of India TNCs like Tata Steel and Mukesh Ambani Oil
    • Causes India's middle-class numbers over 300 million people and their tastes/preferred lifestyles are decided in Mumbai
  • There are many problems that rapid urbanisation cause...
    • Problems with health - pollution from within the shanty towns and heavy industry
    • Widespread poverty and unemployment in a large percentage of the population - high birth rate due to more people means there is not enough employment.
    • Poor education = lack of skills = unemployed. Too many people mean than schools and public services cannot deal with the amount.
    • Little land so land value is expensive, people can't afford homes = they live in illegal shanty towns (cramped)
    • Poor transportation links = incredibly cramped due to so many people living in the city and over 3500 people die on Mumbai's suburban railway each year.
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More Impacts

  • The influx of people from the surrounding countryside has caused the city to increase in size. It was originally developed on a peninsula surrounded by sea and this is now a restriction on further urban growth.
  • The price of the land in the CBD has rocketed and the price of living is very high.
    • However, many people still flock to the city search of a better life. Many of these migrants are unskilled and unable to find work to pay for accommodation leading to slums.
  • Even for skilled workers, finding housing is difficult as it is expensive and in short supply. The suburbs consist of poorly built, cheap housing which is a significant distance away from the CBD.
    • Public transport systems are massively overcrowded making the issue worse
  • The port began to become inadequate and overcrowded 50 years ago and is now desperately overcrowded and almost impossible to expand.
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Dharavi, the slum

  • One million people live illegally in Dharavi in Mumbai
  • Asia's second largest shanty town
  • Situated between two main railways links
  • Provides cheap accommodation for low-skilled workers, many have electricity 
  • Small workshops = cheap pottery, plastic toys, clothes etc...
  • Average incomes are low as Mumbai is very expensive they cannot afford to move out
  • Many people are forced to work the informal sector (self-employed work that has little security e.g. street trading) 
  • However, 80% of Mumbai's waste is recycled in Dharavi -the recycling industry is worth $1.5million a year and employs 10,00 people.
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Problems in Dharavi

Sanitation Issues

  • Estimated that there is only 1 toilet per 1400 residents in Dharavi 
    • Therefore residents resort to the using the river for defecation leading to the spread of contagious disease within slum + severely limited the areas drinking water supply.

Locational Issues

  • Dharavi lies just north of central Mumbai = restricting city growth
  • Also lies across routes which bring people from northern suburbs into the city
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The $2.7bn Redevelopment

Housing clearance

  • Housing in Dharavi is planned to be removed in stages and replaced with 7 story homes which will accommodate more people with modern facilities like water, toilets and electricity.
  • Evicted people will be rehoused in temporary accommodation as those who can prove that they have been residents of Dharavi since 1995 will be granted free housing.
  • Remaining vacancies will be sold or let to open market.

Infrastructure Improvements

  • All the new buildings in Dharavi will have modern infrastructures such as water and electricity.
  • Road systems will be improved along with the drainage system.
  • Schools and new industrial estates will be built to provide education and work to inhabitants.
  • 2.8million m2 of new construction will occur, serving 57,000 existing families.
  • Additional 3.7 million m2 of residential and commercial space will be put up for sale 
  • Total of over 5 million m2 of development will occur.
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Solutions

Quality of life has deteriorated, slums have multiplied, congestion, pollution and water problems have problems have increased so the solution is called "Vision Mumbai"

6 Main Targets:

1. Increase housing availability to reduce the number of people living slums and make housing more affordable (aiming to build + 1million low-cost homes and slum populations to fall to 10-12% of their 2000 level)

2. Raise adequate financing and reduce administrative expenditure 

3. Improve transport infrastructure, provide more train carriages and buses; increase the number of freeways and expressways and the amount the parking space.

4.Make governance more efficient and responsive

5. Boost economic growth 8-10% per year e.g. by focusing on services and making Mumbai a "consumption centre"

6. Upgrade other infrastructure (safety, environment, water, sanitation, education and healthcare)

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Making Vision Mumbai Work

  • Dharavi and other slums will be removed 
  • Land which is worth $10billion to be sold and developed 
  • Private developers will be able to buy the kand for less than it's worth and in return, for every square foot of new housing they build for the poor, they are allowed 30% more for commercial development 
  • "Quick wins" include clearing, restoring and maintain 325 open and green spaces, building an extra 300 public toilets and widen and beautify road networks.
  • By 2007, 200,000 people had been moved and 45,000 homes have been demolished in Mumbai's slums.
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