Mumbai

Mumbai, the sixth largest metropolitan region in the world and largest city in India, is a complex poly-nuclear agglomeration that exhibits a socio-spatial fabric characterised by a (con)fusion of First and Third World urban environments. Metropolitan complexity has developed over the past two centuries as the city has engaged with processes of transition from colonial to post-colonial, industrial to post-industrial, and from local–regional to national–international status. This paper identifies the key forces and processes underlying Mumbai’s development from a colonial port-city to a present-day mega-urban region, and assesses the economic, social and environmental challenges that confront the city as it strives to attain its goal of joining the roster of globally important cities in the early 21st century.