Uncovering The Myth of Urban Development in Mumbai

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Uncovering The Myth of Urban Development in
Mumbai Prof S. Parasuraman Tata Institute of
Social Sciences,Mumbai Source National
Geographic
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mumbai
mumbai

Financial / Commercial / Wealth of India, Slum
Capital of the World, City that never sleeps,
City Of Dreams, City on the Move, Most Commuter
Friendly City, The Paradise of Public Transport

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Myths of Urbanisation Increasing migration is
making Mumbai a populous city. Migrants are
adversely affecting the livability of the city by
squatting in slums impacting employability of
its inhabitants. Main causes for lack of space
- Migration, expansion, congestion. and
Increasing rate of Unemployment is attributed to
a higher rate of migration. Efficient
transport facility is Metro rail for faster
mobility and infrastructural development. Mumba
i has one of the best social infrastructure
health facilities, education etc.
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• The Myth Lack of space in Mumbai makes its
  challenging for mass, public, affordable housing
  within city limits
• 54 of Mumbais population lives in slums
  occupying merely 8 of its land area.
• 41 of Mumbais land is Built-up area while 52
  land is of coastal wetlands, forests, water
  bodies and agricultural plantations.
• Available space has been clandestinely opened up
  for commercial exploitation than for affordable
  housing -
• Prime city land in dead mills.
• Dock lands on eastern waterfront lying vacant
  (About 7.5)
• Salt pan lands unused due to land ceiling
  regulations (21)

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Unraveling the Migration Myth

• Migration accounted for 39 of population growth
  between 1991-2001, and natural increase 61
• Migration of people from North Indian States
  increased substantially between 1961 to 2001 and
  contribution of South Indian States declined.
• Change in the sex ratio of a population is an
  important indicator of who amongst those
  migrated, finally settled in the city. The
  increase of sex ratio of migrants was much more
  remarkable among migrant from within
  Maharashtra (that is 854 female per thousands
  males in 2001) as compared to migrants from other
  States (615 in 2001).

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Unraveling the Migration Myth - II

• The highest percentage of migrants originated
  from within Maharashtra (37.4 per cent) followed
  by Uttar Pradesh (24.3 percent) and Gujarat (9.6
  per cent).
• Migrants from four southern statesKarnataka,
  Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh were at 16
  percent.
• Migrants from southern India moved Hyderabad and
  Bangalore, and Gulf countries.
• Much of the migrant population is absorbed in
  Mumbais in urban agglomerations - Navi Mumbai,
  Thane, Kalyan, Mira-Bhayander sparing Mumbai from
  choking up.
• Rate of migration is much faster in these urban
  agglomerations than in Greater Mumbai.

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Growth Rate of Population of Greater Mumbai its
constituents
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• Unraveling the Transportation Myth
• Mumbai Suburban Railway systems are one of the
  most efficient transportation systems and also
  the deadliest. Railway accidents in Mumbai claim
  one life every 2.5 hours, which is probably the
  highest in the world.
• Transportation Systems like Metrorail or Monorail
  entails
• Displacement of people from their habitat and
  livelihoods rehabilitation is relatively
  ineffective (over 20,000 families displaced by
  MUTP project of MMRDA since 2000)
• Engulfing crucial urban space as requiring heavy
  column construction
• Economically draining to the State (Only London
  Metro together with Taiwan Hong Kong are able
  to sustain operating costs with revenues High
  priced tickets)
• Availability of commercial ready, safest,
  indigenous, low cost, load bearing, scalable
  technologies like Skybus or Rapid Bus Transit
  Systems are being ignored.

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Unraveling the Employment Myth

• Migrants are engaging in the production-related
  occupations 49 and are becoming indispensable
  to the citys economy by filling in cheap
  labour-oriented unskilled jobs.
• Non-migrants dominated white-collared
  professional technical jobs (6.8),
  administrative executive managerial jobs
  (15.2), clerical related (15.6) sales (12.4)
  in various service based industries.
• Employment in the informal sector grew at a
  faster rate than in the formal sector indicated
  by the pie diagram that follows -

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Low-end Services Sector Dominating

• Around 70 of total work force is engaged in
  tertiary sector of which the low end service
  sector (workers from construction, hotel
  transportation, retail sector etc.) dominating
  over the high end service sector (IT, Banking).

SourceDarshini Mahadevia(2005), Industrial
Classification for male workers
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Inequities in Social Infrastructure (Education,
Health, Open spaces)

• Peak density of people in Mumbai (Persons/sq km
  area) reaches to 101,099 one of the highest in
  the world.
• Even though literacy rate is high in Mumbai (Male
  82 and female -72) compared to National
  average, higher education levels are poor.
• Only 14 per cent of people in Mumbai hold College
  or University Degree.
• 74 of the educated people in Mumbai have no
  vocational training 95 have had no technical
  education.

Source Flickr
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Inequities in Social Infrastructure (Education,
Health, Open spaces)

• 56 per cent of the slum population does not have
  adequate access to toilets in their houses.
• Institutional birth in Mumbai-88.
• Children under 2 years who are fully immunized is
  70 in Mumbai.
• About 40 of children under 3 years are
  underweight in Mumbai.
• Health nutrition indicators of population
  living in slums compare well with Bihar, UP.

Source Flickr
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Inequities in Social Infrastructure (Education,
Health, Open spaces)

• Tribal areas of Thane and Raigad districts have
  high levels of infant and childhood mortality,
  malnutrition, illiteracy
• Intense resource extraction from these areas
  deprived generations of tribal people from access
  to livelihoods, water, health care, education

Source Flickr
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Cities operate in accordance to a logic of their
own

• they emerge because concentration of resources,
  industries, and people have efficiencies of a
  certain kind.
• Urban bias of government policies and the
  environmental and equity consequences of unguided
  urban growth cannot be ignored
• placing artificial restrictions such as blocking
  the inflow of particular groups of people and the
  services/skills they provide can only impede
  urban economic development
• Mumbais economic success rests on a substructure
  that is driven by the energies and skills of
  complex associations of migrant and local people.

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Outsiders as Villains

• There is increase in engineered violence
  triggered by artificial constructions of the
  outsider-villain and the insider-victim.
• Often the most disempowered sections of society
  can be cast and punished as scheming villains and
  such tactics continue to be unhesitatingly used.
• Mumbai has always been the destination of
  migration from both within Maharashtra and from
  other parts of the country. Its reputation for
  being a centre of opportunity has resulted in it
  becoming arguably the most cosmopolitan city in
  India
• A label that it proudly boasts when inviting
  foreign investment and when it competes for a
  position in global city networks. Yet, it is this
  very same migration induced cosmopolitanism that
  is being attacked when outsiders are told that
  they are no longer welcome in the city.

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Reclaiming Human Values of Tolerance and
Providing Space for Dignified Existence

• One of the greatest danger is the intolerance
  that is inherent in sectarian violence and which
  goes against the grain of our traditions of
  compassion, warmth and multicultural symbiosis.
• Never has the need been more urgent for a true
  return to these age-old values of tolerance and
  letting people live with dignity.

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Everybody has to have patience here. This is
like no other place in the world. This is
Mumbai ! Steve Webb