Question

Compare the growth of the city of London with that of Bombay

Answer 1

Similarities between life in Bombay and London:

a. Both London and Bombay were marked by high density of population due to migration of people.
b. Both faced crisis of housing, slums and increased pressure on public conveniences like water, sanitation etc.
c. Both the cities were marked by contrasts of affluence and extreme poverty.
d. Migrant population saw the growth of tenements owned by private landlords. In Bombay, these multi storeyed structures were called as chawls.
e. In these tenements and chawls , life was extremely tough. They were overcrowded, lacked proper ventilation and were unhygienic
f. In both the city of Bombay and London, the elite section of the society lived big spacious bungalows.
g. In London and both in the city of Bombay, entertainment, theatre became a source of recreation for people. Bombay, came to be regarded as Mayapuri because of its film industry which indeed attracted large number of people .

Differences between life in Bombay and London

a..Unlike London, Bombay did not grow as per any plan.
b. The growth Bombay was marked by racial pattern.
c. Bombay was ridden by caste system unlike London. In Bombay, the lower caste found difficult to find housing in chawls. In may chawls lower caste, Muslims were kept out and were not accommodated.
d. In London, there were concerns about fire hazard and social disorder among the workers , which compelled the administration to plan worker's housing schemes.
e. In Bombay city planning was more of the result fears about the spread of plague.