Urban Growth Strategies : Mumbai Lessons

What should be a city's Vision Plan? How should a Region and City development plan be prepared? What is the impact of iliberalization' and policies like the establishment of Special Economic Zones? Can a sustainable development model be evolved in a city? Should slums be redeveloped or remodelled? Are low-cost shelter projects economically feasible for implementation in metropolitan cities? How can street vendors and hawkers be resettled in an equitable manner? Is rain harvesting practicable and implementable in large cities? How can urban floods be contained in cities closer to the sea coast? What are the optimum public transportation policies that can be evolved in metropolitan cities with multiple modes of mass transport? Are new airports, Metro rail/Monorail projects and Skywalks, absolutely essential in cities like Mumbai and can they be developed by building on existing resources without astronomical investments? How to make our cities livable? The author has answered these questions by drawing lessons from the Mumbai experience. In his 42 years' association with the city as an urban development specialist, the Author has studied the issues that confront the city and suggested many solutions. His emphasis has always been to build on the existing infrastructure and make it go a long way through innovation, better design and planning, and shedding the iblinds' of world class city shackles that Indian politicians, bureaucrats and technocrats have bound themselves with in recent years! Some of these optimal solutions, such as the double-decker coaches for the suburban rail service; water transport to the mainland from Mumbai instead of the trans-harbor bridge, have struck positive chords in the minds of many thinking individuals. The time to plan our future cities is now.