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Mumbai:  Cheek by Jowl in Bandra

10/10/2013

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PictureThe view from the apartment where I stayed in Bandra, a well-to-do district of Mumbai.
India is a notoriously chaotic place.  That chaos hit me head on upon arrival on my latest trip to the country.  

I arrived in Mumbai on a flight from Bahrain and soon discovered that my luggage had not arrived with me.  There was no information from the airline (Jet Airways) nor agents to help.  Large numbers of angry passengers, seemingly resigned to this sort of thing in India, stood in a long line near customs waiting to provide their details and sign a rather comically complicated, needlessly long form.  I was finally told that I would have my bags delivered the following morning.  In fact, it took seven days to be reunited with my things and I was promised (but never received) the whopping equivalent of US$20 in compensation.  

Adding to the stress of not having any of my things for a week, the place I'd arranged to stay for a month in Bandra (an inner suburb of Mumbai) rather suddenly informed me I would have to vacate.  There had been a change of plans (another tenant was moving in) and I was to leave.  No effort was made to help me find new lodging.  I was basically out on the street in Mumbai with no clothing.  Compounding the discomfort was a serious Dengue fever outbreak, along with the normal endemic malaria.

PictureHigh-class high rise towering behind two dilapidated, but very middle class, apartment blocks.
My anarchic entry into India somehow provides a fitting segue into a description of the upscale Mumbai district of Bandra.

Nowhere else on earth but India will you find such astounding contrasts: vertigo inspiring heights of wealth surrounded by harrowing depths of poverty, restaurants brimming with mouth-watering delicacies and starving children begging for crumbs, tree-lined avenues with luxury apartment high rises and crammed, steamy slums amid piles of garbage, with no water and almost no room to lie down. 

This is urban India.  It's an often startlingly ugly urban reality that many in the upper classes willfully ignore.   But an area such as Bandra is also a thrillingly lively place where the classes mix and where there is a sense of possibility infused into the complex urban jumble. 

Bandra is a wealthy area in Mumbai, part of the city's so-called Suburban District to the north of the city center (see maps below).  In many parts, it's a trendy residential zone that is also a center of upscale shops, fancy restaurants, cheaper markets and a lot more.  It includes many Christian churches and schools originating in the time that it was a Christian settlement.  Along the sea, it has a rather ramshackle, but popular, promenade (which is sadly marred by the refuse and human excrement deposited openly along its edges).  All in all, Bandra is an eye-opening amalgam that is always busy with life, but that somehow becomes most attractive at night. 

PictureA knife sharpener doing his rounds.
A surprising, and refreshing thing really, about Bandra is that although the classes are clearly segregated by neighborhood and the types of buildings in which they live, there is a rather comprehensive mix of people and businesses of all social strata here.  Unlike most wealthy areas in the world (some African cities being an exception), luxury apartment blocks will often be cheek-by jowl with crumbling wooden shacks that serve as all sorts of small businesses.  Bandra also has its share of older, decaying apartment buildings that although rather unpleasant to look at, must by the standards of slum dwellers look heavenly. 

A thought that plagued me throughout my stay was, how is it that the millions of forgotten poor continue to go along with a system that offers them so very little?  I can't escape the thought that a city like Mumbai is a powder keg that could explode at any time, particularly if there is a serious economic shock.  

There is no doubt that the difficult circumstances I faced impacted my experience this time around in India.  I want to make clear that in so many ways this is an unusually fascinating and exciting place.  There is a hum of energy in the air, a complexity to the streets that make them worthy of hours of exploration, a food culture on display that is one of the best in the world and, most importantly, many wonderfully welcoming and kind people. 

In my rather short stay of 9 days, I met academics, city planners and volunteers all involved in making Mumbai a better place to live.  I'm grateful for the time they gave me. 



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Lagos Biodiversity Short Take

1/4/2010

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Much of West Africa was historically lush, tropical forest.  Population growth and poverty have come together to bring about a transformation.  The place is largely deforested today and Nigeria, in my experience, exhibits environmental degradation at its worst.  Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria, a rapidly growing megalopolis of 16 million with only sporadically functioning (or totally absent) electricity, water or sewage systems, condenses the worst of Africa (but some nice surprises, as well) into its slightly under 1000 sq. km. 
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Twilight on one of the main drags in Ikeja, a well-to-do section of Lagos.
I arrived at Lagos' steamy international airport late at night and jostled with the mob at the luggage belt to extract my bags.  I was covered in sweat and eager to get to my hotel and a cool shower, but the hotel pick-up I'd arranged in advance was not there.  Thank goodness I had asked my friend Collins to come as a backup.  In the unlit darkness in front of the airport we met and then rather frantically started negotiating a taxi ride, pushing around a luggage cart in a parking lot lit only by passing car headlights.  In the madness, my green nose noticed something:  it was moist tropical air with no smell of vegetation.  The scents I detected were those of exhaust fumes and charcoal fires. 
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The next morning I had my first walk in Ikeja, the neighborhood of Lagos in which I based myself.  Even in the morning, the sun was unremittingly strong and a person with a bit of common sense would have stayed indoors.  But when in Rome...  So I decided to do as the Nigerians do and just get out there and do it.  It's not that they like the heat and sun, but they have no choice but to get out there and make a living.  In all my travel experiences I have to say it's hard to recall a situation as uncomfortable.  The almost completel lack of trees meant few reprieves from the blistering sun, which penetrated the asphalt and dirt and then radiated out to cause an intense heat island effect.  Bushes and trees being absent, there was nothing in place to filter the dust and black exhaust billowing from the back of most cars and trucks.  For a guy who tends to love every place he goes, Lagos was a forlorn exception.  If first impressions were any indication, this would not be a particularly pleasant 3 weeks. 
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The expressway bridge connected mainland Lagos to Lagos Island. Mountains of colorful garbage fill the harbor below.
I was very lucky to have a number of friends in Lagos (and Nigeria, in general), who made my stay here a wonderful experience.  It might be wise for me to make clear that this blog posting is meant to give my views of the natural environment of Lagos and is in no way a broad condemnation of this fascinating and vibrant city.  But on the environmental front, Lagos is quite a spectacle.  The harbor of the city was clearly at one time surrounded by vast wetlands, presumably filled with wildlife.  The city has grown over much of the shoreline - including slums that extend out into the water on stilts - and immense shoals of garbage fill areas of the water front, as you see under the bridge in the picture above.  But even amid the garbage, where there is water and a little space to grow, shoots of green emerge.  You can see some of this at the back of the same picture. 
Picture
My driver's neck in view, on the back of an 'okada' going to Victoria Island.
In the wealthiest parts of the city, such as Victoria Island, which I am approaching on the back of a 'okada' or motorcycle taxi above, there are some trees and greenery.  The climate is really perfect for fostering lush vegetation but poor planning and competition for limited space has done away with most of it.  There are signs of hope, however.  Along the major highways, and in the areas between interchanges, makeshift huts have been cleared and grass and trees have been planted.  The current state governor, Babatunde Fashola, is given much credit by Lagosians I met with making positive changes...including the revolutionary bus system that was introduced in the last couple of years.  Most of Lagos' transport is in private hands, comprising a very comprehensive network of small buses (really vans) and motorcyles.  But these forms of transport are often expensive, uncomfortable and dangerous.  It cost considerably more to take the cheapest form of public transport from where I was staying to the "downtown" than it would to cover a similar distance in New York or Tokyo.  People in Lagos spend a huge part of the incomes getting to and from work.  But the new bus system, which has dedicated lanes along several main roads and highways, is fast, clean, safe and reasonably priced.  It doesn't have enough routes yet to get everywhere in the city, but i found it to be a very comfortable way to get around.  There are even special (more expensive) buses with air-conditioning.   
Picture
An Indian bus (Ashok-Leyland) on the new bus service line in Lagos.
It's encouraging to see some things changing for the better in Lagos, and the long-suffering Nigerians somehow maintain their optimism.  I can imagine a city with streets lined with beautiful trees, a canopy of green sheltering the pedestrians from the burning sun, and parks in the vacant land between urban settlements.  This city of elegant and intelligent people deserves a lush, tropically green environment, like you might find in Honolulu or Singapore.  Nature is resilient and I believe Lagos will get there in a decade or two. 
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Here I sit in my customary morning position at my hotel, having my oatmeal with powdered milk, and plantains. Although Lagos is in the humid tropics, fresh fruit is not readily found.
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Santa Cruz de Tenerife Biodiversity Short Take

5/6/2009

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With a spring-like climate year round, and a setting of rare natural beauty, Santa Cruz de Tenerife was a unexpectedly pleasant discovery for me.  I came to visit my friend Hiromi Hayashi, a Japanese food journalist who I co-wrote a book with in 1991.  She lives in Santa Cruz de Tenerife half the year - just off the pedestrian street you see above.  In no way did I expect to find the lavish attention on greenery in city planning.  Not only are most streets lined with trees, bushes and flowers, but even some buildings spill green off their sides, as you see below. 
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In the crowded center, with its narrow streets, a transformation has come about...there are trees, quality paving stones, planters everywhere, and benches for people to enjoy their beautiful city.  My impression is that much of the beautification and greening has occurred in the last decade or so.  This is Spain at its best. 
Picture
A picture of Hiromi on the edge of a plaza near her home.
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    After nearly two decades of corporate duty, I decided to follow my heart and do what I love: make cities greener and healthier places.  Over the coming years I will be traveling to cities all over the world, reporting on what I see and learning about how even resource-poor places can improve urban lives through urban greening and greener lifestyles.  I've started the CitiNature project to channel my energies and drive initiatives supporting equal access to green amenities for everyone.
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