The initiatives of Mumbai's Transformation

We have spent the first couple of days learning about the Mumbai Transformation. The goal of the strategy, first set out in a McKinsey report in 2003, is to transform Mumbai into a world-class city. You can download a copy of the report from this page.

There are a wide variety of projects, and the government maintains a web site to provide on-line progress reporting. You can visit the site here.

On Monday, we toured sites for housing improvement. The first site involved the challenge of replacing 16,000+ structures of rent control housing. Most of these buildings, constructed before 1940, have suffered disinvestment under rent controls.

The second major housing challenge involves the slums. A large portion of the metro population lives in squatter housing, located mostly on public lands. The government has determined that all of the residents of Mumbai living in these squatter villages as of 1995 will be given housing. The challenge is to create cross-subsidy schemes to enable developers to build these units.

Within the squatter settlements, a thriving informal economy also operates. The economic development challenge involves moving this informal economy into the mainstream. You can see some pictures from these site visits starting on this page.

We also learned about the impressive cable stay bridge being constructed here in Mumbai. The Bandra Worli Sea Link Project is an ambitius prject to relieve the severe traffic congestion in the oldest section of Mumbai. You can learn more about the project here.