Mumbai city

Vietnamese German University
Urban Development and Planning

----***----

Mumbai – the global city.
Focus in transportation factors.

Advisor: Prof. K.Kluegel

Student: Nguyen Dinh Khoa

Tag: Urbanization, global city, world city, Transportation, Regional planning, Mumbai city, Asian
city, megacity, population booming.

Hochiminh city, Jan, 5th 2012

Mumbai – A global city |

Contents
Abstracts .................................................................................................................................................................... 3
I. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 3
II. Mumbai’s Characteristics. .......................................................................................................................... 3
III. Urban transportation................................................................................................................................... 5
IV. Mumbai Global city. .................................................................................................................................... 6
V. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................ 7
References. ................................................................................................................................................................ 8
Tables and figures .................................................................................................................................................... 9

2 | Page


Abstracts

India is the second populous country in the world.1 The rapid growth of India’s urban population has
put many pressures on cities. It requires the incessantly improve of urban services to meet the demand of
population, especially in transportation sectors. Mumbai has recognized as the successful metropolitan
of India because of its achievements in solving these urban issues. This paper presents briefly about
Mumbai Global city with some its outstanding characteristics and achievements recently.

I. Introduction

Mumbai city, informally known as Bombay is the capital city of Maharashtra state in India. It is
located on the west coast of India with deep natural harbor. It is one of the five most important cities in
India.2 It has known as a financial capital of India and its miracle development in two last decades.

Since 1996 with the event of name changing and the new reform policies, it has had many efforts for
development infrastructures, transportation. Variety transport system has been built with the complex
types of transports and ownerships. Many involve projects has been well implemented such as low cost
transport, B.E.S.T buses (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport), railway upgradation, ect.
Mumbai citizens benefit directly from these project results which is not only improving the efficient of
urban transport but also making urban transportation more affordability especially for the poors.

II. Mumbai’s Characteristics.

Greater Mumbai, the focus of this paper, constitutes the core of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region
(MMR). MMR comprises of 6 Municipal Corporations, 13 Municipal Councils and about 1000 villages.
Greater Mumbai, with a population of 12.478 million people (Indian census 2011), occupies 603.00 sq.
km. This makes Mumbai is the fourth most populous city in the world.3 It is the most populous city in
India, and, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million.4 But a large number
of Mumbai populations are non-native. Mumbai is considered as ―a migrants' city‖5 with more than

1
Overview of the world's nations and their population. Retrieved 04-01-2012.

2
India major cities. Retrieved 04-01-2012.

3
City mayor statistics, January 2007. Retrieved 04-01-2012.

4
Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011, Page 1 of 13. Retrieved 04-01-2012.

5
No doubt, Mumbai is a migrants' city. February 03, 2010 15:14 IST. Retrieved 04-01-2012.

3 | Page


43%6 its population is migrants. The international migrants constitute about one per cent of the total
migrants.7 These figures show clearly the city’s attraction.

Insert Figure 1: Maps of India about here.

Since the liberalization of India, in 1991, Mumbai has observed outstanding development in the
economic and financial sector. Mumbai’s population is just about 1 per cent of the total population in
India8 but has a per capita income nearly three times that of India. It is also the richest city in India9 and
in the top 30 richest cities in the world.10 It has contributed immense to the India's income about $209
billion11. The city accounts for 6 percent of India’s economy contributing about 10 percent of factory
employment, 40 percent of income tax revenues and 40 percent of foreign trade in the country and 70
per cent of capital transactions to India's economy.12

Because of geographical advantages with deep harbor and long coast, Mumbai handles 70 per cent of
maritime trade in India.13 All shipping activities have been suspended at the two busiest ports, the
Mumbai Port and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port.

The city is also known as the Indian seat of entertainment as it is the home the Hindi-language film
industry which informally named Bollywood. It also is the largest film producer in India and one of the
largest centers of film production in the world. 14

6
Proportion of migrants in Mumbai has dropped: study. Retrieved 04-01-2012.

7
D. P. Singh. ―Migration and occupation in mumbai issues and implications.‖ Retrieved 04-01-2012.

8
India Census 2011. Retrieved 04-01-2012.

9
Mumbai beats Delhi in per capita income. Clara Lewis, TNN Mar 23, 2011, 04.18am. Retrieved 04-01-2012.

10
List of richest cities in the world.

11
India Census 2011. Retrieved 04-01-2012.

12
Mumbai city. Retrieved 04-01-2012.

13
10 worst oil spills that cost trillions in losses. August 11, 2010. Retrieved 04-01-2012.

14
K. Jha; Subhash (2005). The Essential Guide to Bollywood. Roli Books. p. 1970. ISBN 8174363785.

4 | Page


III. Urban transportation

Talking about transportation in Mumbai, Mumbai’s transport system includes Public transportation
and Private vehicles. Public transport in Mumbai involves the transportation of millions of its citizens by
various vehicle types. It comprised of a suburban rail system and public bus system, as well as private
taxis and auto-rickshaws.15

According to the report of MMRDA (Mumbai metropolitan region development authority) 88% of
commuters in Mumbai use public transport mainly suburban trains or BEST buses as a means of
transport. Currently, 11 million people travel daily by Public Transport with modal share of Rail - 52%,
and Bus - 26%16

Insert Figure 2: Maps of Mumbai region and The Mumbai suburban rail network. About here

To adapt with the rapidly increasing of population and modernization the city transport, Mumbai has
decided to build the Metro system. The MMRDA planned the Mumbai Metro to be a 146.5km17 rail-
based mass rapid transit system. The Metro is going to operate in May 2012. It will integrate with other
transports to make Mumbai a comprehensive transportation system.

Mumbai has India’s most extensive suburban rail net-work, carrying more than 5 million passengers a
day—58 percent of total public transport passengers in the region (vs. 42% by bus) and 80 percent of
total passenger km (vs. 20% by bus)18. That is the reason M umbai has the best integration of rail and
road public

Mumbai has the largest organized bus transport network among major Indian cities19. But the train
network is always overloaded especially in the peak hours with over three times the passengers. About
4700 passengers travel in a 9-car rake during peak hours, as against its rated carrying capacity of only
1,70020

15
Rickshaw is a three-wheeled cabin cycle for private use and as a vehicle for hire.

16
Mumbai urban transport project. Retrieved 04-01-2012.

17
Mumbai Metro, India. Retrieved 06-01-2012.

18
Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport 2003; Indian Railways 2002

19
Public Transport System in Mumbai, India. May 20, 2009. Retrieved 06-01-2012.

20
Mumbai public transportation projects. MMDRA. Retrieved 06-01-2012.

5 | Page


The most preferred transport in Mumbai is B.E.S.T bus. The BEST bus routes are spread city widely
and also to neighboring cities. It also have the well connection, integration with other transports form
rail, train and airline. As of 2011, the BEST runs a total of 4,680 buses21, ferrying 4.8 million passengers
over 365 routes22. Recently, BEST has introduced air- conditioned buses and low floor buses that are
equipped with facilities to accommodate the disabled.

The affordability is one outstanding feature of the Mumbai’s transportation system. BEST bus which
operates public buses in Mumbai, is also an electric utility and they subsidizes bus fares from electricity
revenues. As of January 2009, the minimum fare is Rs 3.50 (US 0.07$) for ordinary bus, Rs5
(US0.09$) for limited bus and Rs 22 (US 0.42 $)23 for AC bus it very cheap to compare with other
countries in the same level such as Vietnam (US 0.2$).

IV. Mumbai Global city.

In 2010, in the ranking of GaWC world cities, Mumbai was listed in the category of Alpha world
city24- the same category with Washington, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Madrid, etc.

Most of the foreign banks and financial institutions have set up offices in its expanse in Mumbai. It
also comprises of the headquarters of esteemed Indian financial institutions like Bombay Stock
Exchange, Reserve Bank of India, National Stock Exchange, etc. It leads Mumbai to become financial,
commercial hub of India and south west Asia region.

Because of numerous institutions and international corporations have their headquarters in Mumbai.
This City not only attracts migrants from all over India but also foreign experts and workers all over the
world. The city offers countless employment opportunities and is known for its interesting and high
standard of living. Therefore, more and more foreigners come to Mumbai for studying and working.

Nowadays, Coming to Mumbai is much easier than ever because of two big airports with the
connection to most of airport in all over the world. The primary airport of Mumbai-Chhatrapati Shivaji
International Airport is India's and South Asia's largest and most important airline hub, the gate way to

21
BEST at its worst in Mulund, Gorai. Somit Sen. Aug 5, 2011. Retrieved 06-01-2012.

22
"Tram-Car Arrives". BEST Undertaking. Retrieved 06-01-2012.

23
Maureen Cropper, Soma Bhattacharya. Public Transport Subsidies and Affordability in Mumbai, India. November 2007

24
GaWC- world cities 2010. Retrieved 04-01-2012.

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India. In 2010, it was ranked the 30th busiest airport in the world in terms of cargo with 671,238 tones
handled and more than 29.9 million passengers. 25

One criterion of ranking Cities in the world considers numbers of millionaire and billionaire.
Although, India is low – middle income country but Mumbai still have numerous numbers of millionaire
and billionaire. It was ranked seventh in the list of "Top Ten Cities for Billionaires" and first in term of
billionaire average wealth by the Forbes magazine.26

V. Conclusion

Beside these achievements, Mumbai is still faced with many problems such as uncontrolled migrants,
urban fragmentation, gap of Rich – Poor, injustice in society, terrorist attacks, slum, etc. The city
definitely needs to have a longer vision in planning and management of these urban issues considering
the fact that Mumbai is the global city.

Even though, ―No city in India has evoked as much admiration as the city of Mumbai. It is regarded
as a city of challenges, opportunities, guts, hope, peaceful co-existence and above all, a city of
dreams.‖27

25
"Cargo Traffic 2010 FINAL from Airports Council International". Airports Council International. 2010-08-01. Retrieved
2011-09-06.

26
"In Pictures: The Top 10 Cities For Billionaires". Forbes. . Retrieved 2011-09-06..

27
Narendra Jadhav. ―Economic renewal of mumbai city: opportunities and constraints‖. May 2005.

7 | Page


References.

1. Overview of the world's nations and their population. Retrieved 04-01-2012.
2. India major cities. Retrieved 04-01-2012.
3. City mayor statistics, January 2007. Retrieved 04-01-2012.
4. Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011, Page 1 of 13. Retrieved 04-01-2012.
5. No doubt, Mumbai is a migrants' city. February 03, 2010 15:14 IST. Retrieved 04-01-2012.
6. Proportion of migrants in Mumbai has dropped: study. Retrieved 04-01-2012.
7. D. P. Singh. ―Migration and occupation in mumbai issues and implications.‖ Retrieved 04-01-
2012.
8. India Census 2011. Retrieved 04-01-2012.
9. Mumbai beats Delhi in per capita income. Clara Lewis, TNN Mar 23, 2011, 04.18am. Retrieved
04-01-2012.
10. List of richest cities in the world.
11. India Census 2011. Retrieved 04-01-2012.
12. Mumbai city. Retrieved 04-01-2012.
13. 10 worst oil spills that cost trillions in losses. August 11, 2010. Retrieved 04-01-2012.
14. K. Jha; Subhash (2005). The Essential Guide to Bollywood. Roli Books. p. 1970.
ISBN 8174363785.
15. Rickshaw is a three-wheeled cabin cycle for private use and as a vehicle for hire.
16. Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport 2003; Indian Railways 2002
17. GaWC- world cities 2010. Retrieved 04-01-2012.
18. "Cargo Traffic 2010 FINAL from Airports Council International". Airports Council
International. 2010-08-01. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
19. "In Pictures: The Top 10 Cities For Billionaires". Forbes. . Retrieved 2011-09-06..
20. Narendra Jadhav. ―Economic renewal of mumbai city: opportunities and constraints‖. May 2005.
21. http://www.mumbai77.com/Pictures/Gallery/albums/userpics/10001/Mumbai_Railway_Network
_Map.png. Retrieved Jan 04, 2012.

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Tables and figures

Figure 3: Maps of India28

28
Worldtravel maps. Retrieved Jan 04, 2012.

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Figure 4: Maps of Mumbai region and The Mumbai suburban rail network.29

29
http://www.mumbai77.com/Pictures/Gallery/albums/userpics/10001/Mumbai_Railway_Network_Map.png. Retrieved Jan 04,
2012.

10 | Page

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