Mumbai - megacity growth

Question 1

location and geography

Answer 1

• Konkan coast in west India
• Consists of 7 islands
• total area is 603.4 km2
• two distinct regions: Mumbai City district and Mumbai Suburban district
• Low lying plain flanked by two hills
• tropical climate

Question 2

history

Answer 2

• fishing colonies
• Colonised in 1534 by the Portugese
• Became a part of the British company in 1661
• Mid 18th century = major trading town

Question 3

population size and growth

Answer 3

• India’s 2nd largest city after Delhi
• World’s 7th largest city
• Metro area population as of 2023 is 21,297,000
• 1.6% increase from 2022
• Population density = 20,694 per km2
• TFR of 2 children per woman (roughly an extra million babies being born per year)
• Dharavi most populated with a population density of 277,136/km2 and considered one of the world’s largest slums
• Increased due to natural growth and migration

Question 4

migration

Answer 4

• About 1000 people move to Mumbai everyday
• Mainly from surrounding states
• 43% Mumbai’s population are immigrants
• 853 woman per 1000 men

Question 5

pull factors to mumbai

Answer 5

• Education
• Healthcare
• Access to water, sewage system, electricity etc
• Better jobs with higher wages
• Connections to friends and family already there

Question 6

push factors away from countryside

Answer 6

• Natural hazards (eg drought) makes farming harder
• Only large farms can afford machinery and chemicals so the smaller ones can’t compete
• Farming is hard work and low pay
• Lower education and health standards
• Less access to services

Question 7

problems - individual

Answer 7

• Less access to hygiene - on average 500 people share one toilet in the slums
• 77% house holds suffer from poor water quality
• Poor health - doctors deal with about 4000 cases of diphtheria and typhoid per day in Dharavi
• Unemployment
• Crime
• Lack of legal rights on slum land
• Poor quality of work

Question 8

problems - society

Answer 8

• Growth of illegal slums
• Unemployment
• Crime
• Air pollution - dangerously high levels of nitrous oxides and soot particles which cause respiration problems
  -Waste - 7500 metric tonnes of waste per day and no comprehensive city based system of collection
• Traffic congestion - more than 22 mil vehicles registered in Mumbai
• Pressure on natural environment

Question 9

benefits

Answer 9

• Higher income
• Increased economic growth
• More scope for innovation
• Increased manufacturing output
• Per capita carbon footprint more efficient - more likely to use public transport, stay in one apartment which is easier to heat then separate homes etc
• Cultural diversity
• Higher demand for goods and services

Question 10

solutions

Answer 10

• Plans to redevelop slums of Dharavi
• 20 mil sq ft of office space and another 20 mil of housing space
• Decrease rent prices
• The slums in an ideal place in centre of the city
• Problems is that the people who already have a community there and don’t want to move
• Recycling plastic - 80% plastic recycled
• The Slum Rehabilitation Authority has been implementing multiple plans to rebuild slums