A REVIEW OF SLUM HOUSING POLICIES IN MUMBAI

Mumbai (Bombay) is India's main industrial and commercial centre, Acco rding to the United Nations it is the seventh largest city in the worl d with the fifth fastest rate of population growth, Over half the popu lation, however, live in conditions of abject poverty, crammed into ov ercrowded slums and hutments located in unhealthy marginal environment s. There are many complex reasons for Mumbai's housing crisis, includi ng strong population in-migration and growth. Former urban development policies favoured capital-intensive industries and the rapid growth o f a low-wage informal sector. Subsidised transport systems allowed poo r people to live and work in the city. Mumbai's poor housing is also a reflection of a poor and inappropriate urban planning system, a lack of public investment and restrictions in the land and rental housing m arket. The failure of the city authorities to cope with the urban poor is highlighted by a review of the main housing policies implemented i n the city. These range from slum clearance and the construction of hi gh-rise apartment blocks to a range of self-help strategies and curren t privatised market-led schemes. Trapped between dwindling public inve stment and new powerful market-led forces, it is contended that the fu ture of housing the poor in Mumbai looks bleak. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd. All rights reserved.