Situation géographique de Mumbai

Over the past few years Mumbai, also known as Bombay, became one of the most important and influent place in India and more broadly in the world. However this situation is contrasting by the inequalities that the city has to deal with.

Mumbai city is located on the west side of the Indian peninsula in Maharashtra state. The agglomeration is established on Salsette Island and, around the mouth of Ulhas River. The city’s natural harbor provides a focal point for the sea routes crossing the Arabian Sea. Thanks to this costal situation, Mumbai became the main western gateway of the country.

Mumbai’s geographical situation is suitable for an important industrial activity, which represents more than 25% of the country’s one. In addition it performs in many fields such as: chemistry, mechanic (for machines and vehicles), electricity and food (mainly fishing). Moreover, in parallel economy, Dharavi slum is a full industrial area estimated at 400 millions of euros.

Finally, Mumbai is an important crossroads. Most of the trade performed by Mumbai is about importation of raw materials for energies and exportation of many low price manufactured products. In fact most of the exportations are products of factories from the industrial relocation which made the city a commercial hub. Moreover, the city has an efficient aerial network providing 40% of internationals flights to and from India.

However, Mumbai is not only integrated in the globalization by trades but also with a concentration of services. Tertiary activity is a major sector because the city contains many headquarters of big, national and international, companies and it’s the principal financial place by the attendance of national bank and the stock. Moreover the city is the main educational and study place of the country. Finally Bollywood studios situated near the international airport makes Mumbai the capital of the entertainment.

Furthermore, Mumbai is one of Indian’s dominant urban centers and, thus, it is one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the world. In fact, inhabitants have experienced a very strong growth over the past few decades; 3 million inhabitants in 1955, 12 million in 1990 and nearly the double today. This increase is caused by two major factors: rural migration and natural growth. Some records have been reached such as: density with 50 000 inhabitants per square km; it’s 3 times more than New York. In addition the city spread increasingly to 60km far from the center and this fast expansion generates transport issues.

This thriving city is modern by, its population, its economy, its situation and its influence in the world, however Mumbai is still a poor city marked by strong inequalities.

Although Mumbai seams a rich city at the first sight because of its monument or its wealthy residential district, the city is still the place where we find the largest slums. In a city of 21 million inhabitants more than 6 million live in a slum. It represents more than a quarter of the entire agglomeration. These districts don’t even have access to basic services like drinking water or transport. Moreover the space layout is not regularly divided. Along major highways and railways, there are large industrial areas. Then the wealthy neighborhoods occupy the city center and the coastal areas. Finally in sidelines of the city we find slums. Some of them are located just near the business center.

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