Asia | Urbanisation

Indian cities are utterly unprepared for what is about to hit them

The urban population is set to double by 2050

A construction worker watches as waves crash at the seafront in Mumbai, India
When it rains, it poursPhotograph: Reuters
|MUMBAI

THE BRITISH, under whose colonial rule Bombay grew from a collection of mosquito-infested islands into a metropolis, called their creation “Urbs Prima in Indis”—the first city in India. So it remains. Home to corporate headquarters, the country’s biggest port, and the film and television industries, Mumbai—as it has been called since 1995—is the richest, densest and most liberal city in the country. It is urban India at its most intense.

Explore more

From the August 3rd 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Asia

Protesters wear Taiwan People's Party former chairman Ko Wen-je's masks to protest against the perceived judicial injustice

Taiwan’s political drama is paralysing its government

Domestic dysfunction plays right into China’s hands

A man wears a Australian flag and a cork hat on Australia Day

An angry culture war surrounds Australia Day

Conservatives claim that wokeness is destroying the national holiday


Stills from Gayrat Dustov's video tirade on social media

The fate of a ranting driver raises doubts about the “new” Uzbekistan

It seems free speech is not so guaranteed after all


Indian politicians are becoming obsessed with doling out cash

Handouts are transforming the role of the state—perhaps for the worse

How to end the nightmare of Asia’s choked roads

The middle classes love cars but hate traffic

Can Donald Trump maintain Joe Biden’s network of Asian alliances?

Discipline and creativity will help, but so will China’s actions