Urbanisation in Mumbai

URBANISATION IN MUMBAI:

General:

• One of the fastest growing populations- 5 million people in 1970, 16 million in 1995 and then 25 million by 2015.
• Largest city in India, 4th largest in the world @ 13 million.
• Commercial capital of India and global financial hub
• Main seaport in Arabian sea since Suez Canal opened
• Jawarharlal Nehru Port= 60% sea borne trade
• Greater Mumbai had a pop of 12,478,477 in 2011= 4.7% larger than in 2001 (11,914,398).
• Pop growing by 480 people per day
• Population of Mumbai and metropolitan area= 25.8m by 2025.

LOCATION AND GEOGRAPHY:

• Western coast of India- Ulhas river meets Arabian sea
• City was once 7 islands consolidated in 1845 to one land mass- ‘Hornby Vellard large scale land reclamation project’
• Consists of 2 district regions:

• Mumbai city
• Mumbai Suburban
• Surrounding area= metropolitan area

• Underlying geology= Black Deccan Basalt= good foundations
• Currently 43 skyscrapers and 129 towers
• In 2012, ‘Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’ approved 78 skyscrapers
• Seismic activity= 6.5 on Richter

• Large areas of slum and informal housing= vulnerable

• Tropical climate= dry season of 7 months (October- April) and south-west monsoon brings heavy rainfall (June-September)
• Climate exacerbates the challenge of living in slums
• Greater Mumbai occupies 438km2 but metropolitan area is 10x larger at 4355km2

• Area include outlying townships= million cities on their own

HISTORY:

• The earliest function was fishing- the islands were ruled by successive indigenous dynasties until they were offered to the expanding Portuguese Empire in 1535.
• They came into possession of British East India company in 1668 and the company’s headquarters established here in 1687.
• In mid-18th century, it began to grow in a major trading town- focus on cotton and textiles
• During American Civil War, the city became world’s chief cotton trading market

GROWTH:

• Consolidating megacity- growing rapidly due to:

• Rural-urban migration
• Natural increase

• Urbanisation= occurs as pop increases by in-migration
• Suburbanisation= wealthy people move from centre to edge.
• The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation= attempting to plan its growth- focussed on:

• Waste management
• Improving water supply

FUNCTIONS:

In 2012, Mumbai was ranked 70th in the world for competitiveness. Major functions include:

• Finance:

• Commercial capital of India
• Attracted key financial institutions:

• Reserve Bank of India
• Bombay Stock Exchange
• National Stock Exchange of India
• Securities and Exchange Board of India

These attract corporate headquarters of Indian companies and TNCs such as

• Tata= $71bn revenue
• Essar= $20bn revenue
• Reliance Industries= $59bn revenue

• This function has witnessed an economic boom since the liberalisation of 1991, finance boom of the mid 90’s and the IT, export, service and outsourcing boom in 2000’s.

• Government:

• Mumbai is administered by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
• The city is the centre of government for Maharashtra State- state and central government employees make up a large percentage of the city’s workforce.

• Manufacturing:

• Initially focussed on textiles and precious metals- silver and goldsmiths.
• Textiles industry was so big that Mumbai was referred to as ‘Manchester of the East’
• These mills ceased to be profitable and fell into a state of disrepair- new industries have been established in the city over the past 20 years, redeveloping former mills and other brownfield sites i.e. the former Mafatlal Mill= Marathon Futurex (IT and financial business centre).
• Availability of venture capital= start-up companies in aerospace, optical engineering, medical research, IT, renewable energy and power.
• There are smaller, less high tech businesses in poorer districts of the city-in Dharavi there is an increasingly large recycling industry- has an estimated 15,000 single room factories.

• Transport:

• Accounts for 40% of Indias foreign trade
• The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport = the main aviation hub in the city and the second busiest airport in India= 30.74 million passengers and 656,369 tonnes of cargo during 2011-12
• Capacity of the airport is being increased to handle 40 million passengers annually.
• The Jawaharlal Nehru Port, handling 60% of containerised cargo, was commissioned in 1989= hub port for the city and Arabian Sea.
• Mumbai Port= one of the worlds best natural harbours- still deals with commercial cargo but diversified into a destination for cruise ships and pleasure craft
• Mumbai is the headquarters of 2 Indian railway zones 

• The central railway
• The western railway

The city is therefore well connected to most parts of India by long distance trains.

• Science and Research:

• Indias scientific and nuclear institues are based here, including

• Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
• Indian Rare Earths Ltd
• Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
• Department of Atomic Energy

• Media:

• Indias major TV and satellite are headquartered in Mumbai
• The Hindu-language film industry in Mumbai=Bollywood- largest film producer in India and one of the largest centres of food production in the world.
• Main studios are based in Goregaon= film city- home to Marathi film industry.

RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION:

• Rapid growth is driven by rural-urban migration- fast pop growth in rural areas results in depressed wages and scarcity of goods.
• Higher productivity leads to higher wages and improving quality of life in urban areas- the greater the perceived contrast in life chances between rural and urban areas, the greater the speed of urban pop growth= why cities in poor countries grow faster.
• Natural increase= high in urban areas (receive high numbers of migrants of child-bearing age)- Mumbais growth was fastest when the city was less well developed

• Between 1971 and 1981, pop grew by 38.1%
• Between 2001 and 2011, pop grew by 4.7%

• Further pull factors= clusters of similar businesses= act as a magnet for employees (i.e. leather goods in Dharavi)

• Public services are easier to fund in densely populated areas- cities have better health care and educational outcomes- increases productivity and outcomes which increase productivity and incomes.

• These attract more migrants

• Cities fund art and culture, have an openness to science and education and ethnic diversity- creative people are attracted to cities and associated with economic dynamism.

Push Factors:

• Economic:

• The Green Revolution (government programme to improve agriculture)

• reduced farm work in rural areas as more machinery is used- only large farms can afford chemicals/ machinery
• Small farms cannot compete and people have sold- farm jobs have become harder to find and those that remain= poorly paid, with only casual hours.

• Population growth in rural Maharastra has been rapid:

• In India, the tradition= for fathers land to be divided up between sons= people farming plots of land which are too small to feed more children- malnutrition and overcrowding.
• Due to the lack of land, people have farmed in unsustainable areas= soil erosion

• Social:

• Educational and health standards are much lower in rural- hard to get teachers/ doctors to work in impoverished countryside- want to work in towns where conditions are better
• Young people see farming as hard work

Pull Factors:

• Social:

• Job prospects in Mumbai=

• Textiles
• Shipping an freight

• Investment by Mumbai Metropolitan Authority, the Indian Government and international agencies e.g. UN in public works (improving water supplies)

• Pull Factors- Economic:

• Mumbai has good schools/unis/ hospitals
• ‘The Gateway to India’ = the sea ports became industrialised

IMPACTS:

• Contrasting Levels of Development (2 speed world):

• Pop density of 20,925 per km2
• Fast growing megacities display highly contrasting levels of development:

• Clusters (financial services) offer high incomes and rewards to owners/key employees.
• Fast rates of urbanisation caused by rural-urban migration= widespread poverty and unemployment, poor public health and poor civil/educational standards.
• Available land at a premium, Mumbai residents reside in cramped, expensive housing= far from workplaces, requiring long commutes.

• More successful= live in wealthy gated housing.

• The geography exaggerates this; the city is built on an archipelago= enlarged and consolidated by land reclamation- extends out into the Arabian Sea.

• Transport links are limited– people who work in the city need to live near it. Result=

• Tiny living spaces of 4.5m2 per person, compared to 34m2 in Shanghai.
• Prices are high: flats cost $1m-3m, average price of 1,000 square foot= £250,000
• Proportion of people living in slums has risen to 60%, compared to 20% in Rio de Janeiro and Dehli. Remaining people live in dilapidated rented housing.
• Government have tough regulations on new building- designed to deter migration but have prevented the building of affordable housing- most of the on brownfield land is at the top-end of the market.

HOUSING

-The Elite:

• The elite live in bungalows in southern Mumbai close to CBD.
• Top jobs in business/ government and incomes are very high.
• Land prices= as high as MEDCs
• Homes are built with gardens, sewage, water airy rooms etc.
• Servants are employed
• Educated at high standard at private schools.

-The Middle Class:

• Live in flats – some modern with mod coms and 2/3 bedrooms.
• The closer to the CBD the more expensive= avoids traffic
• Educated to degree level and work in offices in CBD or factories in Mumbai.

-The Poor:

• Can be separated into 2 groups:

• Formal, low paid jobs:

• Live in Chawls (4-5 storey block of flats built to house textile workers in 19th century
• They are now overcrowded and in a bad state- some people live in slums still

• Informal live in slums or pavements

SOLUTIONS: REDEVELOPMENT:

• Needs better transport and high rise buildings- increase supply of flats at lower prices and allow residents to live further from their workplace. There are some projects being delivered including:

• An over-head metro line (north) and a short stretch of monorail (running north to south) opened in 2014.

• Slums can be developed through sanitation and site service development;

• The successful community toilet programme in city are being extended- involves BMC building toilets, run by NGOs and local communities. Users pay small fee= sustainable.
• May have been demolished and re-built at a higher density.