A critical Appraisal of Mumbai in the Urban Context

1. A CRITICAL APPRAISAL
MUMBAI: THE CITY OF DREAMS
SUKHNEET KAUR
1216512131
4/5 B.Arch., 7th Semester
URBAN DESIGN

2. A Critical Appraisal
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MUMBAI
THE CITY OF DREAMS
Introduction: What the city is all about?
Mumbai (/mʊmˈbaɪ/; also known as Bombay, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of
the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India and the ninth most populous
agglomeration in the world, with an estimated city population of 18.4 million. Along with the neighbouring
regions of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, it is one of the most populous urban regions in the world
and the second most populous metropolitan area in India, with a population of 20.7 million as of 2011.
Mumbai lies on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. In 2009, Mumbai was named
an alpha world city. It is also the wealthiest city in India, and has the highest GDP of any city in South, West
or Central Asia.
City site
The city of Mumbai occupies a peninsular site on Bombay Island, a landmass originally composed of seven
islets lying off the Konkan coast of western India. Since the 17th century the islets have been joined through
drainage and reclamation projects, as well as through the construction of causeways and breakwaters, to
form Bombay Island. East of the island are the sheltered waters of Mumbai (Bombay) Harbour. Bombay
Island consists of a low-lying plain, about one-fourth of which lies below sea level; the plain is flanked on
the east and west by two parallel ridges of low hills. Colaba Point, the headland formed on the extreme
south by the longer of those ridges, protects Mumbai Harbour from the open sea.
City layout
The older part of Mumbai is much built-up and devoid of vegetation, but the more affluent areas, such as
Malabar Hill, contain some greenery; there are a number of open playgrounds and parks.
In the course of urban expansion, some residential sections of Mumbai have fallen into a state of serious
disrepair, while in other areas clusters of makeshift houses (often illegal “squatter” settlements) have
arisen to accommodate the city’s expanding population.
Moreover, an alarming amount of air and water pollution has been generated by Mumbai’s many factories,
by the growing volume of vehicular traffic, and by nearby oil refineries.
The financial district is located in the southern part of the city, in the Fort area. Farther south (around
Colaba) and to the west along the Back Bay coast and on Malabar Hill are residential neighbourhoods. To
the north of the Fort is the principal business district, which gradually merges into a commercial-residential
area. Most of the older factories are located in that part of the city. Still farther north are more residential
areas, and beyond them are newer industrial zones as well as some squatter districts and other areas of
overcrowded and poorly maintained housing.
Housing is largely privately owned, though there is some public housing built by the government through
publicly funded corporations or by private cooperatives with public funds. Mumbai is extremely crowded,
and housing is scarce for anyone who is not wealthy.

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Other important facts
Founded: 1668
Location: Arabian Seacoast of Maharashtra, India, South Asia
Motto: Urbs Prima in Indis ("First City in India")
Ethnic Composition: Maratha- more than 50%; Gujarati- 18%; Marwari, Sindhi, Punjabi and others- 32%
Elevation: Sea-level
Latitude and Longitude: 18°58'N, 72°50E
Coastline: 36 km (23 mi), Bombay Island
Climate: Tropical monsoonal; warm temperatures all year, heavy rainfall in the summer months
Annual Mean Temperature: 27°C (81°F); January 24°C (76°F); May 30°C (86°F)
Average Annual Precipitation: 180 cm (71 in)
Government: Municipal corporation
Analysis on the basis of principles of Urban Design
Function
Linkages
Mumbai is a very well connected city to other parts of the country as well as world.
 Highways
Mumbai is approachable by land only from the north (National Highway 8) and east, where National
Highways 3 and 4 converge and cross over from the mainland to Thane on Salsette Island. This route then
continues southward into the city, where a single main road continues to Colaba Point, and the
southernmost tip of Mumbai Island. Bridges, such as the Thana Creek Bridge, link Mumbai to the suburbs
of Greater Mumbai on the mainland.
 Bus and Railway Services
Mumbai is an important rail centre. Trains with colourful names, such as the Frontier Mail and Deccan
Queen, set out from the city's two main stations, Victoria Terminus (now called Chhatrapati Sivaji Terminus)
and Mumbai Central, carrying passengers to distant parts of the country. The headquarters of India's
Western Railway and Central Railway are located in the city. The Maharashtra State Road Transport
Corporation and other State and private companies provide bus service to and from the city.
Figure 2 Housing scenario in Mumbai

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 Airways
Mumbai's Sahar International Airport (recently renamed the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International
Airport), on Salsette Island, handles almost two-thirds of India's international air traffic. The airport is
served by most major international carriers. Domestic flights use Santa Cruz Airport (also renamed
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Airport), which shares the same runways but operates from separate
terminals.
 Waterways
Mumbai's deep-water harbour and harbour facilities make it the largest port in western India, handling
some 40 percent of India's total maritime trade. Catamaran and hovercraft services carry passengers from
Mumbai to Goa, a major tourist destination.
Comfort
The city offers a lot of comfort to its citizens in terms of the infrastructure that it has to offer to them like
good education, healthcare, amazing public transport, recreational facilities etc. but the weather is kind of
nagging in few months of the year.
The humidity is actually that bothers the people of Mumbai. The predominant character of the climate is
Warm and humid. The humidity is often very high in the months when the temperature is at its peak.
Due to the moderating influence of the sea, the temperature in Bombay undergoes little seasonal
fluctuation. May is the warmest month of the year, when the temperature averages 32o C (90o F), although
temperatures as high as 40o C (105o F) can be reached occasionally. January is the coldest month, and
averages 24o C (75o F), although a temperature as low as 18o C (64o F) is not unknown.
Also Mumbai witnesses floods during its wet months which creates a lot of troublesome for the residents.
Security
The Mumbai Police Force, some 40,000 strong, is administered by the state government. Its head, the
Police Commissioner, answers to the home secretary of Maharashtra State.
Although Mumbai is a relatively safe city, it is renowned for its underworld. The dons, the leading figures
of the Mumbai mafia, have become legendary figures in the city. Recently, organized crime has expanded
its activities from smuggling, the black market, and drugs to infiltrate political and business circles.
Kidnapping of wealthy citizens for ransom is becoming an increasingly common occurrence.
City security services include a Fire Brigade and ambulance service, as well as police.
While the incident of 26/11 exposed the vulnerability of Mumbai as a coastal city, a considerable amount of
effort has been put in by both the State Government as well as the Central Government to make India’s prime
city more secure.
There is an urgent need for a concept that integrates technology with the existing security process and
local security machinery such as police, to offer a proactive system that aids in prevention, protection,
detection, containment of threats, along with reporting and effective response module.Comfort
Diversity
Mumbai have always had a strong ethnic component in their urban social pattern. The segregation is
attributed to the ethnic variables, caste, religion and language. The Hindu laws and treatises specified
residential locations for different castes. This was the first cause of separation in residential

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neighbourhoods. Religious tensions have always existed in Mumbai. The culture of Muslims is very
different from the Hindus. Areas dominated by Muslims are common in Mumbai as other cities.
The city is truly cosmopolitan, and representatives of almost every religion and region of the world can be
found there. Although half the population is Hindu and the state is predominantly a Marathi state,
significant religious groups include Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, and Jews.
Well noted buildings of these diversified cultures stand in Mumbai and these groups function with great
harmony in the city.
Further there is also sheer numbers of people and rapid population growth have contributed to some
serious social and environmental problems. One of which is Dharavi (largest slums in Asia) and many other
huge slums growing like parasites very close to the city heart giving a contrast in the ways of living of two
very socially distant classes in the same sphere.

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An estimated 42 percent of the city's inhabitants live in slum conditions. Some areas of Mumbai city have
population densities of around 46,000 per square kilometre—among the highest in the world.
Order
Coherence
Over the period of time the city of Mumbai has very much kept intact its quality of being ethnic as well as
modern, logical and consistent. In spite of the growth and advancement of city on urban grounds its key
was to stay true and loyal to the important set of guidelines and urban ethics that were once set.
For instance the decades following Independence in 1947 saw massive expansion of the city and its
suburbs. In the late 1960s, Nariman Point and Cuffe Parade were reclaimed and developed. Though they
were the posh arears, they were continued to be administered by same Municipal Administration and on
the same grounds and guidelines.
And since the city is governed on similar viewpoints there is authenticity in the system and its proceedings,
making the system very logical.
Clarity
The whole city is planned keeping multi-nucleus approach for the development. It was so with the vision
of keeping all the areas developed simultaneously. Also the land use was adopted to be mixed in many
parts.
The radial growing pattern of land use of the city and the supporting transport systems raised the problem
of the “Ineffective Land Use Pattern” for the sustainable development of the city. The radial development
of land use pattern results into the loss the green land section of the city.
There was practically no clarity in the growth pattern of the city and the evolving land uses after a period
of time when the implementation of the policies took place.
Continuity
Since the growth of the city was multi nuclei there was no continuous pattern of urbanisation along a
physical axis of consideration. That is for example if we consider five adjacent areas on grounds of their
urban growth in Mumbai, there will be no relativity or continuity like the area in the interior of the city is
most developed and the one at the periphery is least developed. The areas will have their individual growth
pattern.
This accounts for loss of compatibility and continuity between two areas of the city.
Although if we consider the things in another way we note that the city of Mumbai has been growing
continuously over the past 100s of years without any hindrances.
Mumbai has grown evidently with the advancement in technologies and changing rulers with changing
eras.
Identity
Focus
When we think about Mumbai on the whole we tend to notice its ethnic architecture at one hand and at
the same time the modern architecture on the other hand as the focal points in the city.

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Unity
Mumbai was ruled by many rulers of different cultures and origins as their capital and the city had
commercial importance from those decades and further it has turned to be “Business centre” for
developing modern India. Being the commercial centre of India has ultimately forced the Mumbai to be a
centre for every important happening and event in the country. While this transformation, the haphazard
development of the city radial in all directions created immense pressure on the provision of infrastructure.
Character
There has been a huge influence of different cultures of the rulers at different eras on the urban character
of the city Mumbai. The architecture is a mixture of florid Gothic Revival styles—characteristic of
the United States and Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries—and contemporary designs. Many residential
and commercial buildings constructed in the Gothic Victorian style during the period of British rule still
stand today—most notably the Chhatrapati Sivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus), the city’s main
train station and headquarters of India’s Central Railway Company. The older administrative and
commercial buildings are intermingled with skyscrapers and multi-storeyed concrete-block buildings.
In addition to the buildings mentioned above these are few other buildings which exhibit the influence of
different cultures in the city of Mumbai.
Speciality
Mumbai is the city which has a rich cultural, amazing and diverse cityscape, wonderful people and what
not. The city also has a high industrial value. It has a number of esteemed institutes that everybody is
eyeing on.
Few things that specific to Mumbai are:
Festivals: While many religious festivals are celebrated by people in Mumbai, a few of these are
essentially public and social occasions, where everyone can participate.
 Organized festivals & events
i. Mumbai Festival (Jan) Sample the vibrant culture of the city. The festival covers theatre,
sports, fashion, food, and shopping.
ii. Banganga Festival (Jan) the musical festival is organized by Maharashtra Tourism
(MTDC) annually at Banganga Tank on Malabar Hill.

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iii. Elephanta Festival (March) Organized by Maharashtra Tourism, the festival of music and
dance at Elephanta Caves has in the past festivals have seen performances by renowned
artists like Alarmel Valli, Sanjeev Abhyankar, and Ananda Shankar and
traditional Koli dances as well as traditional food. 7PM-10PM (Ferries start at 4PM), Rs 300
per day (includes to and from journey by ferry from Gateway of India to Elephanta Island)
iv. Mumbai Wine Fest (Feb) Wine connoisseurs across the city gather to sample wines, enjoy
the culinary delights while soaking in the cultural extravaganza put up at Kala Ghoda.
 Religious festivals
i. Holi
ii. Janmashtami
iii. Ramadan-Id
iv. Ganesh Chaturthi
v. Mt. Mary's Feast
vi. Navratri
vii. Diwali
viii. Christmas
Bollywood
There is a huge influence of Bollywood the Indian cinema industry on the city. It being the hub of film
making in India attracts a huge chunk of population who aspire to be a part of the industry.
It is like you are in the land of Bollywood. Expect whistles and clapping by crowd in admiration of their
celebrities on the screen. Most of the cinema halls run both 'popular and new' Bollywood as well as
Hollywood movies and some even screen ones in regional languages. Some of the cinema halls in Mumbai
are Eros opposite Churchgate, Metro on M.G.Road, Regal in Colaba, Sterling next to CST Station, and New
Excelsior in Fort.
Food
Mumbai is a city known for its many lip-smacking dishes. Be it vegetarian or non-vegetarian, the dishes in
Mumbai boast of rich taste, fieriness and impressive flavors. The cuisine of Mumbai covers a large
assortment of interesting, authentic dishes and zesty seafood dishes.
The staple foods consumed by the residents of Mumbai include rice, aromatic fish curries, Indian bread
(chapatis and rotis), vegetable curries, pulses and desserts. Coconuts, cashew nuts, peanuts and peanut oil
are some of the major ingredients used in many of Mumbai's traditional dishes.
Mumbai houses many restaurants where people can enjoy some amazing food. The city is known for its
delectable chaats at the various food stalls in the busy streets of Mumbai.
Here, the stalls are crowded with people who relish tangy fast-food and local snacks.
Industries
Several major Indian companies are headquartered in Mumbai. The three largest private companies in
India, Reliance Industries, Tata Group and Aditya Birla Group, are based in Mumbai.
Mumbai is home to some of India's largest consumer packaged goods companies like Hindustan
Unilever, Procter & Gamble,Nivea, Colgate-Palmolive,Godrej Consumer Products and many more.

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Educational Institutes
Most of the colleges in Mumbai are affiliated to the University of Mumbai and are spread throughout the
city as well as the suburbs. At the undergraduate level, BA, BSc, and B Com are popular courses in these
colleges. Along with these conventional courses, many colleges also offer professional courses which
concentrate on a specialized field. Some of the esteemed colleges include IIT Bombay, St. Xavier's College,
Sir JJ College of Architecture, LS Raheja School of Architecture, the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC),
the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), and the National Center for Software Technology
(NCST), etc.
Health Care
The city of Mumbai has around 1,000 health care centers to serve its population. Most of these are private
hospitals and clinics with excellent doctors and medical staff, many of whom have been trained overseas.
There are, however, 17 municipal hospitals that provide care which is affordable to the city's poor. Major
health problems in the city include AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, chronic respiratory ailments, and gastro-
intestinal diseases related to poor sanitation and hygiene. Numerous pharmacies ("chemists") supply a
wide range of prescription and non-prescription drugs.
Media
Both the Times of India and the Indian Express, two national papers, have Mumbai editions. Other local
papers include Asian Age, the Free Press Journal, and the Economic Times. The List is a weekly guide to
what's going on in Mumbai. In addition to these English-language papers, newspapers are also published
in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, and Urdu (the language commonly spoken by India's Muslims).
All India Radio (AIR) and two local stations provide radio service to Mumbai. Several local TV stations
provide programming in Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi, and English. BBC World, CNN, Star TV, and other
international programming can be accessed by satellite cable.
Appeal
Scale
The urban scale of Mumbai city is nothing less to monumental scale. It is one of the most Important Urban
hubs not only in India but also the world.
For instance if we just consider the building articulation and consider the skyline of Mumbai showing all its
important buildings and skyscrapers in the Cuffe Parade area makes Mumbai look no less than any other
urban settlement around the globe.
Further be it the Human Resources, Education, healthcare, social and Physical Infrastructure,
Communication and Technology Mumbai city tends to leave no genre unturned.
The few urban issues that prevail in the city are to be dealt with great vision to make Mumbai at par.
Vitality: The contrast between the needs and availabilities.
During the initial post-independence years gap between the declared planned objective and the obtained
reality continued to increase in the arena of urban development in Mumbai. In black and white, need for
providing for the poor and improving the overall quality of life in the metropolis went on being projected
while the share in the built environment hardly reached the larger section of the population.
In all sectors of housing, transportation, recreation, ownership of land, health or education, segmentation
got pronounced leading to a visible dualism in the social and economic space of the metropolis. As

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mentioned earlier, however, the facade of democratisation of planning process and the planning methods
inter alia looked overtly appealing on moral grounds (Mahadevia, 1998).
With the introduction of the liberalisation policy in 1991, however, the gap between declared objectives
and actual projects started reducing. With an ideological support to increase efficiency in all spheres, urban
planning in Mumbai now drew up an agenda of technically managing the urban space primarily for lending
a global status to the city than to intervene for distributive justice.
Shift in the official planning strategy in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region can best be assessed by examining
some key elements of the Regional Development Plan published by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region 6
and Regional Development Authority in 1995 in the backdrop of the previous Plan of 1973-74.
In the area of urban land policy, the old plan recommended strict land-use zoning and bulk land acquisition
which, in reality, could not be adopted in a strict sense. Later mishandling of ULP also obstructed the
availability of land for housing the middle class and poor. The new plan also recommends market oriented
land and taxation policies. At the same time, it proposes zoning system not on the basis of land requirement
for development but by the development potential of an area.
Harmony
There are areas in the city which are in harmony in terms of its character, texture and articulation like but
there is a very distinguishable character of spaces right in the heart of the city in the CBD due to the social
distance between the classes who ones started to live together. The rich worked harder, lived lives there
way and have created there empire. But the lower class is so fixed with is way of living that he does not
want to grow past it. May be because of the higher standard of living of the upper class the things which
were important liabilities once have become expensive. In a long run these things ran out of the reach of
the middle class and poor and a gap got created. Today that gap is so evident that it has started to affect
the city’s urban character and its imagebility.
The total effort to harmonise the urban scape and articulation of the city on the whole is a total miss.

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Urban Issues in Mumbai
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 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.
• 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 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.
Some Solutions
• 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 800,000 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.
• However, the project cannot 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.

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Conclusion
Mumbai continued to grow and prosper in the 21st century, in large part because of advances in the
technology sector. By the second decade of the century the population of Greater Mumbai was
approaching 20 million. The city’s infrastructure was improved considerably with the construction of new
highways and bridges, expansion of port facilities, and the inauguration of new public-transit systems.
Overcrowding, traffic congestion, environmental pollution, and widespread poverty, however, remained
major ongoing problems.