Shifting Discourse about Transit-Oriented Development in Mumbai, India: From Intensifying Built-Up Area to Managing Population Density

The 2011 census report indicates a population of more than 12 million people in the city of Mumbai, India, over an area of 427 km². The Comprehensive Transportation Study of 2008 for the city and its region revealed that 51% of all trips (vehicular and nonmotorized) were made by walking and 78.2% of purely vehicular trips were made by public transportation. This high usage of public transportation and walking modes was a result of dense, mixed-use neighborhoods that traditionally agglomerated around suburban railway stations. Planning, implementation, and operations of mass transportation systems, however, are handled by agencies other than the city municipal corporation that plans land use and its regulation. Coordination between these agencies is typically a challenge and results in poor integration of transport and land use. High transit dependency and ridership have prompted city stakeholders to presume that Mumbai has naturally, over the years, adapted to transit stations; although this presumption is probably true, current realities indicate a worrisome trend. Regulations set out in the existing development plan greatly incentivize ownership of private vehicles, with excessive sops available to build parking structures, even close to railway stations. Suburbs are incentivized to proliferate in a bid to decongest the old city areas. Metro- and monorail alignments are under construction without consideration of integrating land use. This paper argues that current regulations incentivize vehicles and built densities around transit nodes. A dire need exists to rethink these regulations and develop a comprehensive transit-oriented development approach to managing high population densities around transit nodes.