Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 8-14
This apartment is one of hundreds of buildings
constructed in the 1960s in Bombay (Mumbai)
when the government was desperate to house mil-
lions of poor urban migrants. The quality of the
construction was poor so the apartments became
dilapidated very quickly . People in these structures
share cooking areas and toilets. Often, there is no
water or electricity and the toilets are blocked.
Photograph courtesy of B. A. Weightman
.
In Navi Mumbai, 50 percent of the housing is for the
poor. Tiny apartments house extended families in large
apartment blocks. Hurried building has resulted in poor-
quality structures, which now appear no better than in-
ner city
chawls
(slums). However, middle-class housing
shows sensitivity to both space and privacy needs. This
reveals the class bias on the part of the designers. T Today, ,
half the residents of Navi Mumbai live in slums, and the
city is ringed with squatter settlements. Nevertheless, in
the 2000s it has become a center for computer-related in-
dustries. Some call it “Silicon City .”
Indian cities are notoriously crowded, dilapidated,
and polluted. Kolkata (Calcutta) is regarded by many
as a lost cause. New Delhi is one of the world' is most
congested and polluted cities. With 16.5 million,
Mumbai adds 300 migrant families every day . Many
end up as rag-pickers in Dharavi, Asia' s largest slum;
others join the city' s throng of 120,000 prostitutes
(Figure 8-15).
Government decentralization with developments in
interior cities and rural areas has not stemmed this tide
of migrants to larger urban centers. Thousands sleep in
the streets, yet millions—the wealthy , the middle class,
and the poverty-ridden—do manage to survive in often-
appalling conditions (Figure 8-16).
Figure 8-15
New middle and upper-class apartment buildings
are quickly surrounded by squatter settlements in
major cities. The apartment dwellers try to ignore
these surroundings.
© INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/
AFP/Getty Images, Inc.
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