Blueprint and reality: Navi Mumbai, the city of the 21st century

Navi Mumbai, perhaps world's largest new town, was born with a specific purpose: to decongest Mumbai (previously Bombay) and become an alternative haven for the multitudes that throng Mumbai from different parts of India. Much has been written about this new town and its gigantic task. At different stages of growth, scholars and citizens have tried to assess the success rate of this metro-scale alternative. Not a chance-erected-chance-directed city, the concept originated as an outcome of intense brainstorming by highest-level think tank of Maharashtra state, which laid down the fundamental principles of metropolitan planning in India, and put it into practice. These pioneering principles found nourishment in the socialistic/liberal leaning of the rulers of post-independence era.Three decades have passed since its inception. Meanwhile, a big event of our times, the globalisation phenomenon, has swept the world.Looking back to evaluate the achievements of the city, this paper posits that success and failure of Navi Mumbai (previously New Bombay) cannot be evaluated in isolation from the ambient regional/metropolitan principles and practices and inherent trends. The paper posits that since the globalisation phenomenon has reached the Indian shores in 1991, there has been a gradual dissolution of the fundamental socio-politico-economic values and principles associated with the post-independence era. In Maharashtra, there has been a perceptible reversal in the regional/metropolitan planning principles and industrial policies in comparison to the trend that was set in the early 1960s. For Navi Mumbai, it has meant the dissolution of its very cause of existence. Many of its stated objectives are perhaps not relevant any more.The paper postulates that both Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, in different degrees, are showing signs typical of a city with global aspirations. In a reversal of previous principles of decentralisation, a host of policies and initiatives are trying to restore Mumbai to its primate glory of the past, the ground realities notwithstanding. Contrary to the aspirations of the bygone era, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai are no longer complementary cities; they are competitors eyeing the global market. The success/failure of Navi Mumbai can be understood better in the context of this changed atmosphere, against fresh parameters.