How Mumbai grew—and became crowded

M umbai abhors a vacuum. Empty space is wasted space, an opportunity lost to use it to its maximum potential. It needs to be immediately occupied and, if possible, monetized. Thus, a plot of land soon becomes a slum, a balcony, built originally to provide a sense of openness, is enclosed to make a room bigger, even the tiny space under a staircase becomes a small tailoring shop. The terrace of a building, thus, holds immense possibilities.

Behind this conundrum lies centuries of history of how Mumbai grew and developed, and the perpetual hunt for space in a city with a limited landmass but unlimited dreams. The circumstances of how the community on top of Queen’s Mansion came to perch there and how the residents of the Patan Mandal buildings still live in their buildings all these decade