NEE Case Study - Mumbai, India

What is the rate of population increase in Mumbai?

Increases by a rate of 1 person per minute.

What is the population of Mumbai?

Estimated around 25 million.

Why is the birth rate in Mumbai falling?

Rise in education - people are more focused on getting good jobs

Increasing knowledge and use of contraception

Why is the general population of Mumbai increasing?

Migration. Pull factors include:

Better facilities such as hospitals, schools, etc

More opportunity for higher paying jobs.

How is education an example of opportunity caused by urban growth?

Education: The Maharashtra government is duty-bound to provide compulsory, free education for every 6-14 year old child. According to the 2011 census, Mumbai literacy rates are high at 89.7% compared to the national average of 74%.

How is economic development an example of opportunity caused by urban growth?

Economic development: The rapidly growing population of Mumbai has created a demand for goods and services, which has created employment opportunities.

Even in Dharavi, Mumbai's biggest slum, its estimated 16000 small factories are employing over a million people people in the city’s recycling process.

How is healthcare an example of opportunity caused by urban growth?

Healthcare: The city has more hospitals than any other urban area in India. Mumbai's biggest public medical centre has grown from 50 beds in 1950 to over 1400 beds today.

Improving the urban poor in Mumbai - Dharavi: what is the new redevelopment project?

Residency is being developed for families who have lived in Dharavi since 2000 by Mumbai’s rehabilitation authroity. They’re proposing new 300 square foot, 14 story apartments in a block of flats. (Estimated 2 billion in costs.)

Improving the urban poor in Mumbai - Dharavi: What are incremental housing strategies?

A way of developing informal slums into permanent residential areas. Families are given the right to the land on which their home is built on. They can work with architects to either redesign their homes or plan for new one.

Improving the urban poor in Mumbai - Dharavi: What is the Mumbai slum sanitation project?

With rapid growth in the city, theres a lot of stress on the sewage systems. It is estimated the 1 in 20 people are forced to use the street as a toilet. This project has so far built 300 community blocks, housing, and over 5100 toilets.

Describe the location of Mumbai

It’s the capital of the Maharashtra state and the wealthiest city in India. It’s located on the peninsula between the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. It’s found on the western coast of the Maharashtra state in Western India.

How is Mumbai split?

Into two distinct regions: Mumbai city district and the Mumbai Suburban district. The surrounding area is the metropolitan area of Mumbai.

Why is Mumbai important regionally?

It provides the public transport systems including rail, buses, ferries, taxis. The Mumbai Suburban railway system carries more than 6.99 million commuters on a daily basis - it’s the highest passenger density of any urban railway system in the world.

Why is Mumbai important nationally?

Mumbai is he financial, commercial and entertainment capital of India. It’s home to bollywood - the infiormal name for India's Hindi film and television industry and it is also home to many important financial institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India.

Its a transport hub with transport links to all of the major industrial cities in India, and air transport links to many world cities.

Why is Mumbai important internationally?

As it accounts for 40% of India’s foreign trade (and approx 60% of all of India’s sea trade). Its home to the international airport - the second busiest airport in India which handles approx 40 million passengers a year.

How has rural-urban migration been a cause of urban growth in Mumbai?

Over a quarter of Mumbai's population has migrated from India's farmland in search of jobs.People in rural areas are being ‘pushed aways from from rural areas due to under employment, low income and degredation of farmland and scarcity of goods. They’re being pulled to Mumbai in the hope of higher wages.

What are some social opportunities of Mumbai?

Its easier to supply basic services (eg water) to the population as they are all concentrated in one place. Therefore, its also easier to access education and healthcare.

Furthermore, even in poorer residential areas, there is still a high community spirit and support. People can easily interact with eachother, creating community networks where local people help eachother.

How is urban growth challenging Mumbai?

The main challenge is ensuring the population have adequate access to basic services and they can earn a reasonable living - creating an acceptable quality of life. A significant part of this challenge is to prevent the continued growth of urban slums and to make sure the poorest people in Mumbai gave suitable places to live.

How has urban growth created an opportunity for energy?

Mumbai's energy system is efficient, with a total generation capacity of around 38,000 MW. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind also contribute over 30% of the city’s power mix.

How is air pollution a challenge of urban growth?

Congestion greatly increases levels of fuel consumption. Average speed of vehicles during peak hours can drop to 8km/h. This also slows economic activity.

A study found Mumbai is the worlds fifth most congested city in 2021.

What are access basic services like in Mumbai?

Many have limited access to the basic services (eg. clean water, sanitation systems, energy). A recent study in a slum in Mumbai discovered 95% of households have lower access to clean water than the minimum amount recommended by the World health organisation (WHO).

how has urban growth created challenges in providing energy?

Strained its old power grid, causing frequent blackouts and making it difficult to provide electricity to the city's large and growing population. This has led to unsafe, illegal connections in informal settlements and has increased overall demand due to more businesses, homes, and air conditioning use.

WHat proportion of the population live in overcrowded slums?

40%

What are some environmental issues in Mumbai?

Dealing with increasing volumes of human and industrial waste. Mumbai generates 11,000 tonnes of waster every day - lots of which ends up in the rubbish dump in the northern corner of the city - this is incredibly difficult and expensive to dispose of.

Due to lack of sanitation systems, streams and rivers are also often used to dispose of waste.

What is unemployment and crime like in Mumbai?

Theres a growing demand for skilled labour. This has meant the opportunities for unskilled and untrained workers are increasingly limited, and they get paid very little money. This can lead to rising crime rates as more people turn to illegal activities to survive.

Describe the current state of Dharavi (living conditions)

It’s home to over a million people crammed into less than a square mile. Housing mainly consists of makeshift huts which are often overcrowded and of very poor quality - many houses have asbestos roofs and no planning to fit fire regulations.

The water pipes are right next to the open sewers, so water supplies often become contaminated as they crack and take in the sewage.

There are limited toilets so at least 500 people share one public toilet between then.

WHy do people want to redevelop Dharavi?

Its situated in a very valuable location as its close to Mumbai’s central business district and suburban rail lines. It’s viewed as an eyesore in the middle of the central business district.

Define peninsula

A piece of land almost completely surrounded by water.

Define land reclamation

Gaining land from the sea

Define transport hub

Connecting point for transport links

Define in-migration

When someone moves to a different part of the country they already lived in.

What are downsides to the new redevelopment schemes?

The housing being offered will be densely populated and this wont be good for community cohesion and social interaction. Furthermore, the residents would prefer smaller improvements to the existing slum instead of it being completely demolished.

Why is Mumbai important locally?

Its coastline supports a robust fishing industry with places like sasson dock being important for local livelihoods and fresh seafood supply. It provides livelihoods for nearly 150,000 people including fishermen, traders, and workers, making it a crucial aspect of the local community.

How has the birth rate in Mumbai changed?

It dropped by 11% in 2022 compared to 2018.

What is water pollution like in Mumbai?

Over 16% of monitored water sources in Mumbai are classified as polluted, with 3% being ‘heavily polluted’. Around 800 million litres of untreated sewage enter water bodies daily, overwhelming the city’s sewage treatment capacity.

What has been implemented to try and reduce water pollution?

A ban on single-use plastics to reduce waste clogging drains and waterways which has lead to a 25% decrease in plastic entering the city's drainage systems

Why is mumbai an area of increasing urbanisation?

Surrounded by sea so became a port where produce was able to be transport so became the ‘gateway to iindia.'

The port drew people to area for work.

Over time, it has developed a good university and lots of jobs in the textiles industry and engineering.