Mumbai Megacities

Question 1

Factors that have affected the variation in quality of life within Mumbai?

Answer 1

Geography

Natural populations increase and migration

Question 2

Mumbai’s geographical situation

Answer 2

Naturally deep harbour - accessible to large modern container ships
Located on west coast facing towards important regional markets in Middle East and international markets in Europe through Suez Canal
Docks handle 25% of all India’s international trade
Very well connected to rest of India through country’s extensive road and railways networks - ease of travel to and from Mumbai
Suburban railways carry over 2.5 billion people each year

Question 3

How has industrial history affected Mumbai?

Answer 3

19th century - imported cotton from India and a railways was built from the cotton growing areas of Mumbai’s port
Develop textiles factories in Mumbai and very important to growth - led to huge number of migration to work in the factories
Demand fell and thus led to industrial decline of textiles but industrial and commercial activities then started to book - world’s most important financial centres as globalisation connected economies together around the world ; TNCs moved HQs to Mumbai (engineering, IT - geriatric and quaternary sectors grew as well as entertainment Bollywood industry) - cultural significance

Question 4

Site problems due to RUM?

Answer 4

Population grew very rapidly therefore could only expand up its long narrow peninsula creating very overcrowded insanitary and unsafe conditions for its inhabitants
1970 - proposal to develop a new suburb on mainland called Navi Mumbai leading to rapid population increase there

Question 5

Environmental factors

Answer 5

Sanjay Gandhi National park is the “lungs of Mumbai” and helps reduce air pollution in this highly congested mega city - park is home to tigers

Question 6

Development of City centre

Answer 6

CBD located at southern tip and many TNC headquarters such as Walt Disney and Microsoft India
Old textiles mills have been redeveloped and housing next to CBD is very expensive (with retail developments)
Port area is economically active (slum housing)

Question 7

Inner suburbs

Answer 7

Characterised by squatter and slum settlements such as Dharavi - developed to house workers in old textiles mill

Question 8

Outer suburbs

Answer 8

Industrial sectors have also developed along railway lines - allow commuters ease of travel into Mumbai
New Mumbai originally placed in a low density suburb where lower land prices would create better quality of life - grew rapidly, industries relocated due to cheaper land, more space for expansion and because of the availability of workers with the skills they needed

Question 9

Urban rural fringe

Answer 9

Vast conurbation - merged into a single urban area ; population of 2a million
Rural areas found in river estuary and marshland - unable to build on it (flood frequently) and hills to North of Mumbai

Question 10

Mumbai population growth

Answer 10

After 1970 most growth not in old island centre but in suburbs

Question 11

Reasons for Mumbai population growth?

Answer 11

Rates of natural increase
National and international migration
Boom of Mumbai’s population has been mostly fuelled by RUM
In conurbation - half natural/half migration
Old city - natural and counter urbanisation occurring
Suburban - 3/4 migration and only 1/4 natural increase

Question 12

What is population density of Mumbai?

Answer 12

20692 people/km2 - highest in the world

Question 13

Impact of high density

Answer 13

Living spaces become very congested and expensive - move to areas where it is cheaper to live in (suburbanisation) and suburbs develop out of inner city along railway lines and major roads
FEATURE OF MEGACITIES - slum squatter settlements close to expensive housing (where people can work)

Question 14

Push factors from rural areas to Mumbai

Answer 14

1) Difficult rural conditions making it harder to make a living from farming - population increase has also meant lower farming wages
2) Few services in rural India and education and health care is often basic (few leisure or entertainment facilities)
3) New farming techniques in India mean fewer jobs in farming

Question 15

Pull factors to Mumbai

Answer 15

1) Rapid economic growth has created a huge range of jobs - tertiary to primary sector
2) Education opportunities are much better in Mumbai and larger range of health care options and lots to see and do
3) Wages in Mumbai are much higher than in countryside

Question 16

Rise of service sector in Mumbai

Answer 16

Initially manufacturing textile industry - then that declined but economic growth continued through switch to service sector
Finance and IT services employed highly skilled Mumbaikars and globalisation meant that foreign companies began to invest in Mumbai’s finance and IT industries bringing more international migrants to live and work in this dynamic city
Boom in service sector for low skilled Mumbaikars - taxi services/cleaners/hairdressers
Employment is the main pull factor to Mumbai - especially rural areas
Living conditions are definitely not equal yes but they come looking for jobs - that’s their main priority

Question 17

Dharavi industries

Answer 17

Biggest slum in Asia
Population density of 11 times higher than the rest of Mumbai
Thus spread of disease very high - no sewage system unsanitary water supply
Small scale businesses wort £350 million per year - all this economic activity result of second generation migrants being unable to afford rents outside slum areas where accommodation is very cheap

Question 18

Infrastructure benefits

Answer 18

Although slum depwellers in Mumbai earn £10 a month - media companies realised than a special low-cost satellite dish from 1 million people can be very profitable therefore they benefit from the infrastructure benefits too
Huge population creates a large market of people requiring services - creates jobs
Large number of people create profitable markers
Large numbers of poor people also create attractive opportunities for bigger companies who need low skilled workers

Question 19

Challenges of living in Mumbai

Answer 19

Traffic congestion
Living with squatter settlements
Problems with water supply
Finding an affordable housing
Limited services
Bad working conditions

Question 20

Problems with rapid expansion

Answer 20

Infrastructure and services cannot cope therefore many housing without basic services and rapid population growth also causes challenge with ensuring adequate water/electrical supplies
Toor rapid for local government for organise waste disposal - use small scale businesses to dispose of waste products resulting in major pollution problems for Mithi River in Mumbai - dumping of 800 million tonnes of untreated sewage and industrial waste

Question 21

Problems with traffic congestion

Answer 21

Private car ownership increase - huge strain of Mumbai’s railway system and trains have to be frequent and on time to cope with such high demand of 8 million people per day

Question 22

Problems with housing

Answer 22

Space is very limited - even with expansion rapid population growth has resulted in more congestion and thus increase in land prices and rents are very high
Produced two types of slum housing
Chawls - tenement buildings which are very overcrowded and are unsafe (danger of collapsing)
Squatter settlements- people put up makeshift huts on private/government land usually not suitable for building on because it is too hilly/near railway lines
Poorest people live on the streets - not a temporary situation and some local bosses demand a rent for people living on their payment (not free) - 20000 homeless in Mumbai

Question 23

Problems with living in slums

Answer 23

Not official settlements therefore government do not provide actual infrastructure - resulting in :
1) Problems with water supply - water is rationed and there are stand pipes instead of water pipes (only accessible for 2 hours)
2) Problems with sanitation - no sewer system connecting toilets in each house so that waste can be safely removed and over 500 people share each public latrine in Dharavi
3) Not enough clean water each day for washing - people wash clothes in same streams/rivers where sewage and waste products go
Land taken up by slums has become more valuable therefore owners want to clear slums and create permanent housing with infrastructure
People also believe slum housing encourages more migration to Mumbai because migrants know they will be able to find somewhere to live even if they are very poor

Question 24

Problems with working conditions

Answer 24

Majority of employment is in informal sector
Exploited for long hours with cheap pay because Pe so many are willing to do any sort of work
No protection for workers
No ventilation breathing in toxic fumes
Work is dangerous - Mumbai’s ports men dismantle ships without safety equipment

Question 25

Quality of life factors

Answer 25

``` Level of air/water pollution Level of transport congestion Access to health care/education Crime levels Access to affordable housing Access to adequate sanitation Income ```

Question 26

Reasons for Mumbai’s underperforming quality of life

Answer 26

1) Government is inefficient and bureaucratic- long time for infrastructure improvements to be approved and housing areas have to wait a long time for adequate sanitation and waste disposal systems to be provided 2) Most of Mumbai’s property is rent controlled - limit on how high rents can be and this discouraged property owners from making improvements/redeveloping housing because they would get the same rents for the improved as they do currently 3) Corruption - meant that areas which were supposed to be developed with affordable housing (textile Mills) were actually just sold to expensive property developers so that only rich people could afford it

Question 27

Quality of life differences in Mumbai

Answer 27

Because of the challenges of living in slums - the quality of life for half of all Mumbaikars is much lower than for the other half living as they do with high density/unsafe housing without water/sewage infrastructure surrounded by polluted water

Question 28

Reasons for quality of life differences

Answer 28

Lack of government control over the city’s expansion To improve access to affordable housing - government would have to make sure affordable housing is built BUT they get much better prices from expensive property developers To improve working conditions for the informal economy - would have to impose new regulations and laws and make sure they were obeyed To improve access to services the city government would need to incentivise more companies to provide services in poorer areas of the city

Question 29

Examples of difficult political and economic decisions in reducing inequality of life

Answer 29

Traffic congestion is unpopular but building new transport infrastructure is very economically expensive Government gets no taxes from the informal economy - benefit everyone greatly if everyone was working in formal sector and thus they would be able to invest in better working conditions/pay/health and safety - politically very challenging because people would feel they were losing money

Question 30

What are sustainable cities?

Answer 30

Cities that provide good quality of life for all residents without using resources in a way that means future residents will have to accept a lower quality of life - public transport good/waste is recycled/access to good level of services/affordable housing

Question 31

Top down strategies

Answer 31

Big expensive infrastructure projects Abel to access multi billion pounds funds and tend to be imposed on the people by government

Question 32

Gorai Garbage Site colours project - TD

Answer 32

By 2007 - waste there was 27 metres deep and emitting very unpleasant smelling methane Waste was reshaped into a gentle hill and covered in layers of lining material to prevent leaching - planted with grasses to create a 19 hectare park + methane capture technology by decomposing waste to generate power - property prices increased Advantage - project had a very big budget and able to access large funds Disadvantage - sit has been polluting for 35 years and action should have been taken sooner

Question 33

Mumbai Monorail

Answer 33

Solution to public transport in 2005 - takes passengers off the roads and carries them quickly (can go up and down gradients) Construction deadline was not achieved and was very costly costing £310 million - tickets are cheap but passenger numbers are so low (only 15000 people are taking the trip each day) Advantage - Governments have the authority to make big decisions affecting lives of thousands of residents Disadvantage - attention grabbing prestige projects may not actually be the best solution for people’s needs

Question 34

What are bottom up strategies?

Answer 34

Organisations work with local residents to come up with community based solutions to quality of life challenges and often organisations involved are NGOs

Question 35

SPARC and community toilet blocks

Answer 35

Originally far too expensive and without running wate SPARC is an Indian NGO - connected toilet blocks to sewer and water supplies + very cheap Have electric lights making them safer to use at night and separate toilets for children - provided 800 community toilet blocks in past 5 years Advantage - able to respond directly to community needs and involve the community in providing solutions Disadvantage - should be government’s responsibility not the local communities

Question 36

Hamara foundation

Answer 36

200000 street children in Mumbai who have dropped out of school - often forced by the police to move from any shelters because some street children take drugs and steal Hamara foundation provides social work services for street children to help improve health education and job skills - provided vocational training in computing and hospitality/motor mechanics Advantage : able to concentrate funding on addressing a particular problem Disadvantage - only a very small number can be helped 327/200000

Question 37

Agora Microfinance India

Answer 37

Provides loads for people who want to improve their homes or invest in their existing business - micro finance for slum residents with education loans also available to take classes to improve their skills Advantage - a service that was previously impossible for the urban poor to access Disadvantage - interest rates are high reducing profits that people can make

Question 38

Improving quality of life in Dharavi

Answer 38

Located on land close to Bandra-Kurla complex which is a new business district and easy to access railway lines Government is keen to redevelop Dharavi through top down strategy of selling land to developers on the understanding that free housing is provided for slum residents who can prove they have lived in Dharavi since 2000 - this includes 1.1 million affordable housing units Water supplies and sanitation services will be provided for all residents Education and health care services will also be built into the new developments along with shopping malls

Question 39

Why do Dharavi residents oppose city plan to refurbish?

Answer 39

Dharavi residents strongly oppose the plan because they think it will be impossible for Dharavi’s many small businesses and micro-industries to continue in tower blocks - destroy the strong community of Dharavi and there would be more social problems such as crime Maybe allowing the people of Dharavi to have their own ownership rights to the land on which Dharavi is built - then involve them in finding ways to improve living conditions in each neighbourhood of Dharavi