Think Big | Planning the heterogeneous city: the Mumbai development plan 2014-34

Christine Lutringer, Political scientist, lecturer/researcher, EPFL
Luca Pattaroni, Doctor of sociology, lecturer/researcher, EPFL

Planning the heterogeneous city: controversy arenas of the Mumbai plan 2014-34

This conference will examine the revision and temporary suspension of the Mumbai Development Plan 2014-2034 (MDP 2034) following the mobilisation of civil society and strong criticism from experts. This event is highly representative of tensions around the development and regulation of contemporary cities, both in the south and in the north.

This study will, on the one hand, question the disjunctive categories still prevalent
in urban planning tools and, on the other hand, suggest avenues for taking into account
the heterogeneity of contemporary cities. The remarks will illustrate the spatial
and functional combinations that characterise Mumbai, in particular with regard to the meeting places between “nature” and “urban”. The city has historically formed and expanded as a result of the absorption of villages
and forests. Several of these natural spaces are still preserved and inhabited. The product
of this “incremental development” is a city of “unequal” urbanisation where different types of urban fabric coexist and mutually influence each other.

What is the nature of the urban development projected by the MDP 2034 in the spaces of natural and cultural diversity
that characterise Mumbai? How have the processes of democratic engagement
and public participation in the MDP influenced the development plan for these spaces? What is the influence of ecological issues? These questions will lead to the exploration of public arenas, the controversies and participative dynamics raised by the MDP 2034. In the end, it will be a matter of questioning the challenges posed by the heterogeneity of contemporary cities to urban planning.