A tale of two cities : London & Mumbai - Similarities and Contrasts.
When I read a special supplement on London entitled, On a high, by the Economist of London (June 30th 2012), a few weeks before the London Olympics, I was struck by the similarities and the contrasts between the two cities,London and Mumbai.
The similarities : (a) London and Mumbai are trading and financial centres.
" London was invented by foreigners" says the Economist. The Romans established a colony on a bend on the Thames in 43 AD but was burned down by Boudicca, the leader of the Iceni tribe, after 17 years. However, it grew later attracting foreigners for trade as it offered safety from the feuding European continent. Voltaire observed in the 18th century that the Jew, the Mahometan, and the Christian trade among themselves as if they professed the same religion.
London is the centre of politics, administration, business and fun since the 11th century. It became great during the Victorian Age when industrial revolution and the empire boosted its economy. " Raw materials from the colonies were shipped into the docks and the manufactured goods shipped out." The banking system channeled savings into productive enterprises all over the world.
London's economic decline started after the war. The docks, the city's core industry, were destroyed by the container ships which were too big to reach the docks, and the militant unions. And its revival started with the deregulation of the City's financial services in 1986 which made it one of the world's great financial centres. This has once again attracted large number of foreigners who have brought funds and skills, and promoted employment.
Mumbai, as we all know, was conquered by the Portuguese, but later on, it was gifted to the King of England as a dowry. The British built the port, the court, colleges and university, hospitals, museum, joined the seven islands, invited traders and industrialists to build textile mills, allowed reclamation and created the famous Marine Drive, the Queen's necklace.
Mumbai's decline started when the textile mills lost their competitive edge due to government policies and the militant trade unions. Most of the mills were closed and some of them shifted to other states.The port too lost its importance due to the establishment of ports in the neighbouring states, and the new container port on the mainland opposite the city. However, it has retained its leading role as the financial centre of India with the Reserve Bank and many other commercial banks, and financial institutions such as Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE),National Stock Exchange ( NSE), Security & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and many mutual funds. It could become one of the leading financial centre of the world if India can create the same legal framework that London has.
( b) A rich mix of population :
London is a mini-world as it has attracted money and talent from all over the the world : the Koreans are in New Malden; the Portuguese in Stockwell; the Arabs in Bayswater; the Turks, Kurds and Turkish in Cypriots Haringey, Hackney, and Islington; the Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in Tower Hamlets and Newham; Indians in Southall and Wembley; the Jamaicans in Brixton, and the Nigerians in Peckham.
The report mentions that the Huguenots came in the 17th century, Jews at the end of the 19th, the West Indians in the 1950s and 1960s and the South Asians in the 1970s and 1980s. Now they come from everywhere.
Mumbai is a mini-India and one can see people from all over India in concentrated in certain areas of the city. Dadar, Worli and Parel areas have a large Maharashtrian population; Matunga has many people from South India ; Vile Parle and Ghatkopar residents are predominantly Gujaratis ; Chembur has many Sindhi housing societies ; Bandra is a big centre of Catholic population ; Crawford Market, Bhendi Bazar and Santa Cruz have Muslims in large numbers ; Malabar Hill and the surrounding areas are populated by Parsees; Goregaon and Mulund have great concentration of people of U.P. and Bihar; many Sikh families reside in Andheri, and Punjabis stay in Juhu and many other suburbs.
This population mix has given both the cities certain dynamism and some conflict as well.
Surveys in London have revealed that migrants are better employees, more highly skilled, work harder and are prepared to to do jobs that locals disdain. Almost the same can said about Mumbai as well. People from all over India have contributed immensely to many fields like industry, financial services, film, theatre, media, fashion and advertisement in Mumbai. Distribution of newspapers and milk, selling of vegetables and fruits, and many other services which are essential for a city are served by a large number of people from all corners of India.
No wonder, some times this generates some conflict. The report mentions the riots against Jews in London in the 13th century, against Flemish in the 14th century and against the Italians in the 15th century. The recent ones are the Notting Hill riots against the West Indians in 1958 and the latest riots in 2011. While there were no records about any earlier conflicts in Mumbai, recent agitations are well-known - against the South Indians in the early 'sixties and against people from U.P. and Bihar a couple years ago.
The report states that London's openness to the rest of the world had four broad effects - it has pushed up the real estate prices, made the city less equal but more productive and more efficient. Much the same thing can be said about Mumbai.
There is one more similarity. London subsidies the rest of the country to the tune of $ 23 billion. It has been said that almost 25 percent of the revenue of the government of India is collected from Mumbai - foreign trade, corporation tax etc. However, this figure may be inaccurate in view of the fact in the recent decades many new ports have reduced the volume of foreign trade through Mumbai port, and most of the companies have their production facilities elsewhere while paying corporation tax through their head offices in Mumbai. In spite of this, the fact remains that Mumbai Municipal Corporation is the richest municipal corporation in India and its revenue exceeds that of the some of the state governments of India.
Now, the contrasts :
Both London and Mumbai have almost the same problems - Transport, Housing and Administration. While London is making efforts to solve these problems, Mumbai seem to groping in the dark - the darkness of corruption and inefficiency.
(a) Transport : The report states that London had the best transport system 100 years ago, but now it is inadequate.The London Underground and the London Overground have improved in recent years with the funds from the government after they were handed over to the mayor.
London's roads are also clogged with cars. To reduce the traffic in central London, a congestion tax has been imposed. This has reduced traffic by 20 percent. Some roads have been reserved for pedestrians, pavements have been widened and the traffic-lights have been changed in favour of pedestrians. Increased public transport, introduction of cycles and bikes on rent for the city are being is being discussed. There has been an increase in the charges for digging up the roads for utilities. Almost 40 percent of the traffic lights can sense the length of traffic and adjust the timing accordingly which allows 12 percent more traffic to flow.
In Mumbai, the suburban railways have been able to improve the system to a certain extent with funds from the World Bank and the Central government. Similarly, the BEST has increased its fleet. However, this has not given much relief to the passengers or the pedestrians. Millions of people in Mumbai use train and bus transport, and they have to streamlined to provide a rapid and smooth transport system. The rapid bus system should be implemented. Pedestrians should be provided with footpath unhindered by hawkers, and hawkers should be provided with hawking zones in every ward. An autonomous transport authority should be created to coordinate all modes of transport and to deal with all issues pertaining to the movements of goods and people.
(b) Housing : " High house prices make life difficult for Londoners and threaten the city's prosperity", the report observes. This is true of Mumbai as well. Foreign money is financing new housing development in London while in Mumbai it is the big money from all sources, and in both the cities, money in housing is for investment, not for stay. The builders and the politicians have ganged up against the people to raise prices of housing in Mumbai. The scarcity of land has aided this price rise. The builders had sabotaged the bridge/ tunnel to mainland three decades ago for this purpose. This issue is still pending due to vested interest of the builders' lobby.
The biggest constraint for housing development in London is the Green Belt all around the city to the extent of 50 miles. This has raised the cost of housing and forced the workers to travel further. The report suggests that a mile off from the Green Belt would release 25,000 hectares, one-sixth of London area for housing. The report proposes discouraging people from buying a second house and increasing taxes to bring down housing prices.
Mumbai has more intractable problems in the housing sector. There are cessed buildings some of which fall down regularly during the monsoon. The development of cluster of buildings demolishing old dilapidated structures have not taken off. Then there is a large population in slums which are ruled by slumlords with political support. Many cities in the world including Singapore have been able to remove slums and build houses for the poor, but our elected representatives both, in the Municipal Corporation and the state legislature, are unable to do much about it. They do not look for solutions but only for votes and power.Slum redevelopment schemes are mired in corruption and controversies. This issue requires to be entrusted to an autonomous body with proper mandate to solve the problem on the basis of the experience of the other cities in the world and needs of the poor.
These two issues take us to the most important ingredient of successful city, and that is, city administration.
(c) City Administration :
The Economist credits the institution of elected Mayor for the improvements that London has seen in recent years : " Institutional, as well as intellectual, change helped. In 2000 London got an elected Mayor - the first time the whole sprawling city had a single official to think about its well-being." The first Mayor, Ken Livingstone, introduced congestion charge, and the second, Boris Johnson, created cycle bank to encourage people to abandon their cars.
Mumbai too needs change, not merely in its institutions but also in its attitude, to solve its civic problems. The citizens of Mumbai are denied even the basic civic facilities - uninterrupted water supply, uniform power tariff, smooth roads, daily collection and disposal of garbage etc.
Mumbai too could have an elected Mayor provided we have politicians with vision. It is difficult to find such individuals among our politicians. Some years ago Mumbai had an institution called, ' Mayor-in-Council' but it failed to make any mark.
Most of the power in BMC is wielded by the Municipal Commissioner (MC) and the Standing Committee (SC) and this power structure has not provided proper civic amenities to the citizens of Mumbai.This structure must be reinforced with some expertise in good governance and accountability. For this purpose, MC & SC should be assisted by an expert committee on civic issues selected by a panel consisting of the Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and The Chief Justice of the High Court. To strengthen the financial integrity, an autonomous audit body to be appointed by CAG ( Comptroller & Auditor General of India) which has to present its report to BMC, the state government and the citizens of the city. Elected representatives should be made accountable.
The concerned citizens and NGOs of Mumbai should agitate to bring about these changes in the administrative set-up to ensure accountability and good governance. With this, Mumbai could rival London. There would be more similarities than contrasts. It would not be just a tale of two cities but a tale of Mumbai being one of the great cities of the world.
August 21, 2012.
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