Urban India can boggle the mind of even the most seasoned planners. The country’s economic growth has put metropolitan areas at the center of aspirations, causing widespread migration from rural villages and towns. With little urban planning on which to base the massive population growth, Mumbai has mushroomed chaotically. Transport, housing, water, sanitation, healthcare and education fall short of residents’ most basic needs. Few master plans have moved from theory to action. And frustrated citizens have grown increasingly wary of political inaction. Yet one government program, the country’s ambitious Aardhaar initiative — which aims to provide every citizen with a unique identification number — has the potential to return planning to foundational basics on which to base equitable urban development. Read more or join the discussion.
Submitted by Carlin Carr — Mon, 05/06/2013 – 00:00
Mumbai’s unique geography as a peninsula city has styled its expansion in ways dissimilar to other cities. Rapid population growth in other metropolises explodes outwards in multiple directions, forming suburban pockets in unpredictable bursts. In Mumbai, the only possibility is north, making the push away from the central business area more vast with continued expansion. The result for those living in the northern suburbs and on the edge of the city is a longer and longer train commute on one of only two rail lines. Yet studies have found that despite this natural growth pattern, the poor actually continue to work closer to home than their wealthier counterparts, calling into question the importance of connectivity to the traditional economic center of the city. Read more or join the discussion.
Submitted by Carlin Carr — Mon, 04/29/2013 – 00:00
Mumbai is a city of migrants. Millions of residents have journeyed to the island city from all around the country, bringing a rich diversity of languages, religions, and customs. They come with hopes and dreams of having more than they did in their jobless villages, toiling invisibly in all corners of the city. Many of these migrants are the foundation on which the city is built — literally. Construction is the single largest employer of migrant laborers in India’s cities. Both men and women — the poorest of the poor — spend endless hours laying down bricks, carrying cement, chopping away at old roads to bring home a meager living for their families, most of who live right at the sites. Read more or join the discussion.
Submitted by Carlin Carr — Mon, 04/22/2013 – 00:00
India’s poor have few media outlets of their own. Their struggles for housing, human rights, basic services, equality, and dignity are told in snippets on the nightly news and in newspaper columns. Their dreams and demands are relayed in brush strokes, leaving aside the important details that humanize their existence. Yet a most unlikely group — women in India’s brothels — have pioneered a monthly newspaper that gives voice to the women and children in the red light districts of India, and sets an example for a democratic movement toward giving the power of expression to the disenfranchised. Read more or join the discussion.
Submitted by Carlin Carr — Mon, 04/15/2013 – 00:00
Millions of people across the globe die of tuberculosis each year. Tragically, nearly all of these cases could have been cured. The public health threat hits hardest in the developing world, where 98 percent of TB deaths occur. Perhaps most unfortunate is the fact that a cost-effective strategy, DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course), has been available for years, yet its promise remains unfulfilled. In Mumbai, the government has gone so far as to make treatments available for free. Yet TB continues to affect the city’s poor and vulnerable. Read more or join the discussion.
Submitted by Carlin Carr — Mon, 04/08/2013 – 00:00
The term Private Public Partnerships (PPP) in India is a dirty one. While partnerships present an opportunity for stakeholder collaboration that generate value by pooling of complementary expertise and resources, the practice in India has meant subcontracting of tasks and strategy by public sector to the private sector with little accountability or responsibilities on outcomes. The only driver of the partnership has been project finance and profits. This has been especially true in housing or slum redevelopment schemes from Dharavi in Mumbai to Katputali colony in Delhi driven by PPPs between city governments and large private developers. Maximizing the value of land while delivering maximum number of low-income housing are contradictory and misleading national policy objectives with fatal social outcomes. Read more.
Submitted by Rakhi Mehra — Fri, 04/05/2013 – 04:51
Event: Sankalp Forum
17 April 2013 
Mumbai, India
Sankalp Forum’s annual summit was the first platform for social enterprises in India, and rapidly became the world’s largest. It is a convergence of global knowledge, investment and dialog geared towards building a more inclusive ecosystem for high impact, pro-poor businesses. Each year, it brings several social enterprises to the forefront, and connects them to enablers, mentors and crucial networks. In 2013, the Summit joined forces with Villgro’s Unconvention to consolidate the social enterprise space in India. Now called the Sankalp Unconvention Summit, it will be able to offer more new initiatives and focus more strongly on regional deep-dive. Learn more.
As the city sleeps, a small army of “green soldiers” hits Mumbai’s streets. Wading through mounds of garbage outside apartment complexes, corporate parks, and retail outlets, the city’s rag pickers — often among the poorest residents — separate out recyclable materials that would otherwise unnecessarily add to the over-burdened city landfills. The rag pickers recycle waste to sell to scrap dealers, carrying out one of the simple and doable practices in dealing with the city’s alarming 9,200 metric tonnes of waste generated every day. Read more or join the discussion.
Submitted by Carlin Carr — Mon, 03/25/2013 – 00:00
The daily struggle for water consumes the lives of the poor. Women wait hours in line for water that is often of questionable quality, paying exorbitant rates — often much higher than richer urban dwellers. Contaminated water steals the lives of millions of children each year. Husbands miss valuable work days, and leftover savings is often spent on medical bills from waterborne illnesses. Read more or join the discussion.
Submitted by Carlin Carr — Mon, 03/18/2013 – 01:00
The Indian nation is determined to meet its goal on financial inclusion. How financially inclusive is the city of Mumbai?
As the financial capital of the country, Mumbai, with a population of 18.8 million, has more than 1,600 bank branches. But when it comes to the poor and informal sector workforce, let’s see how it fares.
Submitted by Rakhi Mehra — Tue, 03/12/2013 – 05:42