The increasing concentration of people in the Class I cities, especially the million-plus ones like Mumbai, has a direct bearing on city morphology and land use. Two facets characterized such city morphologies in the early fifties. The larger bazaar centered indigenous sector with a main market on the one side, and the civil lines or cantonment sector inhabited largely by the British during pre-independence period on the other side.
Since then, two other facets have been added. Firstly, the ever sprawling, colonies of the neo-rich with spacious bungalow type residences and the rather poor and fast deteriorating infrastructure and civic amenities, as the municipal corporations failed to cope up with the fast expansion and demand in the urban centers. Secondly, the squatter settlements mushrooming in every nook and corner where some vacant public land could be found over the vacant strips along the railway lines, streets, and streams.
Thus, the sheer pressure of residential accommodation has been bringing drastic changes in the city land usage pattern as is exemplified by the land use changes in prominent cities. A typical residential city, where the primary motivation of the migrants to move in was for education and employment has had to cope with the demands of the newcomers.
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Real Estate Sites in India especially in the key urban centers are now locked up in a competition for land among various players and in particular the real estate developers. In almost all the prominent cities, vacant lands are now rarely seen. Most of such lands are those that are locked up in some legal or family disputes. Land values in the prominent city centers have already moved up to astronomical heights and with the passage of time, more developments are expected.
