Centre For Education and Documentation

Centre For Education and Documentation - Urbanised Mumbai
CED-BCPT Collection

Issues and Themes on Bombay

A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

Note for Teachers

This E-Digest ( Web of Documents ) explores themes and issues facing Bombay particularly those affecting the marginalised. Teachers will find it a good source of ideas for project work by students. It also provides an overview of the contemporary literature on the subject. Most of this information is not in academic books, but in reports and articles. The teacher, hopefully will be able to evaluate the kind of reference and original work done by the student in these projects.

From the students' point of view, we see this as a opportunity for them to address issues that concern their immediate living and social environment. It assists students in thinking differently from what a middle class community usually thinks about their city, e.g. beautification of the city by growing more ornamental parks at roundabouts, establishing good eating joints in place of roadside shops, hawker free roads, making transportation smooth by demolishing illegal encroachments on roadsides etc. In the process of creating such eye pleasing structures and forms we conveniently forget about all those who contribute a lot in the development and in the formal as well as informal economy of the city directly or indirectly. We generally think that Bombay can survive without their underbelly, which is not true at factual level. Therefore, the urban poor have to be inducted in the process of city development in all its forms.

More than providing detailed information on specific issues or in-depth analysis, this e-digest aims to provide pointers and teasers that would encourage further reading by the students themselves.

Links to the original URL (Unique Resource Locator on the Internet) have been provided. Since many of these get out-dated, CED keeps a back-up of these documents of educational and public value in their website (www.doccentre.net), for use of scholars (members and distance associated) registered with the Centre.

Scholars may also use CED's library facilities at 3 Suleman Chambers, Behind Regal, where they may also use electronic facilities like access to Internet, CED's Extranet and other book, journals and reports for their projects.