In 1864, the planners for Mumbai city, intended Mumbai to be “Urbs Prima in Indis” (The First City in India). But Mumbai has not lived up to this expectation.
One of Mumbai’s famous sons Rudyard Kipling in his poem “To the City of Bombay” calls his place of birth “Mother of Cities”. Mumbai today for many stands as the “mother of several ills” of urban living.
Every Mumbaikar wakes up to deal with the daily ordeal of an over-burdened transportation infrastructure. The fast-paced Mumbai life finds itself in the slow lane.
In 1864, the planners for Mumbai city, intended Mumbai to be “Urbs Prima in Indis” (The First City in India). But Mumbai has not lived up to this expectation.
Mumbai of yesteryears had a global appeal. Two Danish engineers Holck-Larsen and Soren Kristian Toubro made Mumbai their home and gave birth to a world-beating engineering conglomerate L&T. The year was 1948.
Mumbai in its decrepit state is still attracting the brightest of Indian minds to its shores. IIT Bombay attracts about 2/3rd of the top 100 rankers. Mumbai also needs to find a way to retain the talents it moulds. The doyen of India’s IT industry TCS was born in Mumbai but has grown outside its borders. Ola, with its origins in Mumbai, sought to strike its roots and blossom in Bangalore.
In Mumbai, land supply has been artificially kept low erroneously to limit migration. Rent Control Act and the peculiar geography of the city bounded on three sides by water, has further exacerbated land markets. In the words of Paul Samuelson, "Nothing destroys a city faster than rent control – except bombing". Mumbai today has third world real estate at first world prices.
Mumbai needs to work around its strengths to rebuild and reinvent itself. Mumbai is home to Asia’s oldest stock exchange having its origins in 1878 and continues to be the ‘First City’ in the area of finance as it towers above all Indian cities but is dwarfed by its international peers.
In 2007, a committee was constituted by Government of India to draw a roadmap in making Mumbai an International Finance Centre (IFC). The committee found Mumbai to be falling short when compared to the competing global centres.
The report said, “It is particularly important to build transportation infrastructure in the form of a metro to augment the suburban railways, along with intra-city and coastal expressways that link the island to the mainland, so that the mainland becomes a viable alternative for residential and business decision making.”
Today, a total of 130-kilometre of seven metro lines constructed and becoming operational in phases will make commuting problems a distant memory in the Mumbai of 2025. Long gone will be days where one was forced to break a sweat before reaching his/her workplace as the city will offer air-conditioned public transportation and seamless travel to commuters. A 26 km trans-harbour link will make the Mumbai Metropolitan Region one landmass interconnected by bridges and metro lines. The coastal road will make driving a breeze compared to today’s bumper-to-bumper traffic. All destinations will not be more than 60 minutes away. The city will come closer than never before.
A tourist-friendly Film City and National Park will be widely enjoyed by tourists and residents alike. The rejuvenated lungs of the city will breathe fresh life into the Mumbai of 2025. They will offer residents and tourists alike an opportunity to let loose from the hustle and bustle of the city. The eastern waterfront will be transformed into an abode for leisure and recreation. Mumbai’s eastern waterfront is taking its first steps to rejuvenate this strategic stretch of land. The refurbished grand fish market at Sassoon docks which will become a part of every tourist’s itinerary. India’s only Opera House is now open and together with the NCPA provides an avenue to indulge for those with refined tastes.
The physical infrastructure will be comparable with the global best.
The writer is director – urban practice, Crisil Infrastructure Advisory
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