Mumbai: Housing Issues

1
Mumbai Housing Issues

• Location and background
• Mumbai - formerly known as Bombay, is the
  capital of the state of Maharashtra, and the most
  populous city of India, with an estimated
  population of about 13 million (as of 2006).
• Mumbai is located on Salsette Island, off the
  west coast of Maharashtra. Along with its
  neighbouring suburbs, it forms the world's 4th
  most populous metropolitan area with a population
  of about 20 million.

2
Mumbai Housing Issues

• Like other large cities in the developing world,
  Mumbai suffers from the same major urbanisation
  problems seen in many fast growing cities in
  developing countries - widespread poverty and
  poor public health, employment, civic and
  educational standards for a large section of the
  population. With available space at a premium,
  Mumbai residents often reside in cramped,
  relatively expensive housing, usually far from
  workplaces.
• Mumbai is classified as a metropolis of India,
  under the jurisdiction of the BrihanMumbai
  Municipal Corporation. It consists of two
  distinct regions the city and the suburbs,
  which also form two separate districts of
  Maharashtra. The city region is also commonly
  referred to as the Island City

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Housing Issues in Mumbai

• Using the aerial photo try to label the high and
  low quality districts

4
Housing Issues in Mumbai

• The current situation - problems and issues
• The current population has doubled over the past
  20 years
• Rural to urban migrants continue to cause much of
  this growth entering the city at the rate of
  300 families per day!
• About 55-60 of the population live in informal
  housing, shanty towns or hutments
• Most of the housing available is managed by the
  private sector, so the government cannot control
  the high price of property and rents
• The BMC (city authorities) only provide 40 to 50
  thousand units annually, this is not enough to
  house everyone legally
• In addition much of the formal housing of Mumbai
  is old and run down and requires restoration
• There is a lack of space for new developments
  only a total of 10 square km of vacant land
• Much of the squatter settlements are viewed as
  Illegal on BMC maps it is listed as vacant
  land. As such residents can be evicted without
  warning and their houses demolished to make way
  for new development
• Many of those in slums are the poorest residents
  of the city, and experience literacy, health and
  representation problems which makes it hard to
  improve their situation

5
Housing Issues in Mumbai

• The current situation - problems and issues
• The majority of residents in slums are not
  registered for tax. This means that the few
  residents registered for tax have to bear the
  costs for services for the rest of the
  population. As a result services such as water
  and electricity or waste collection are of
  reduced frequency or non-existent
• The BMC argue that slum dwellers do not wish to
  get involved directly with the city authorities
  and prefer to work with community based NGOs and
  self help groups
• Lack of education causes additional problems that
  make the housing issue worse such as disease and
  rubbish dumping

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Housing Issues in Mumbai

• The Way forward? Vision Mumbai
• Vision Mumbai is the name of a development plan
  proposed jointly by the BMC and McKinsey
  Development Consultants
• The first report was written and adopted in 2005
• Tasks
• Read the report summary on your handouts, and the
  news articles provided. Think carefully about the
  strengths and weaknesses of the scheme, and
  whether it will solve the cities housing problems
  as it claims! Add your notes to the summary grid
  you have been provided with.

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Housing Issues in Mumbai

• The Way forward? Self Help Initiatives
• Self help can take a number of forms
• 1) People acting on their own to improve their
  own housing
• 2) People banding together as a community to
  improve their housing and living conditions
  perhaps through a co-operative group
• 3) People joining or working with an NGO or
  charity scheme who act as negotiators with the
  city authorities to improve conditions
• Tasks
• Read the self help scheme summaries. Think
  carefully about the strengths and weaknesses of
  the schemes and add notes to your grids. Decide
  whether this would actually solve Mumbais
  housing issues.

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Housing Issues in Mumbai

• Access the Life in a slum web files or read the
  printouts that describe the lives of Dharavi
  residents, Mumbai's largest slum
• Tasks
• For each of the residents named
• 1) Identify their main needs in life
• 2) Identify the main problems they have
• 3) Suggest whether self help schemes or Vision
  Mumbai would be more likely to help each of them
  explain your choices