What does a first glimpse of India’s metropolises look like from the sky, Comparisons with Singapore and Bangkok pose a significant challenge. First glimpse of how India’s metropolitan cities look from the sky, a big challenge in comparison with Singapore-Bangkok – ..

Whenever a foreign tourist or expatriate citizen steps into a country, the first impression he makes about that country and its culture is by looking down from the airplane window. Long before you’ve come face to face with a country’s food, economy or people, the first and strongest impression of a city is the sight of it upon landing.

India’s story on this front is a bit contradictory. On one hand, we have the world’s best and most modern airports, while on the other hand, the urban landscape visible from the aircraft window still remains a big challenge. Despite decades of strong economic growth, India’s major urban centers are lagging far behind global cities in projecting a well-planned and clean aerial image.

Mumbai’s slums and Delhi’s smog: What do passengers actually see when landing?

This discrepancy in urban planning is clearly visible when we visit different cities of India. When a plane comes down to land at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, passengers are looking at one of the most densely populated areas in the country. Here, densely populated informal settlements (slums), railway lines, warehouses and high-rise buildings come together right next to the Arabian Sea and beautiful mangroves, immediately highlighting the deep gulf between wealth and poverty.

At the same time, the view of the country’s capital Delhi is completely different from this. While landing in Delhi, one can see the never-ending expanse of highways, gleaming flyovers and satellite townships like Noida-Gurugram, but during the winter months, this entire view gets hidden behind a thick blanket of toxic smog and air pollution. Foreign guests feel the bad air of Delhi even before they step out of the airport.

Modern model of Bengaluru-Hyderabad and different style of Chennai-Kolkata

The landing experience in cities of South India is slightly better and more relaxed as compared to North and West India. When seen from the sky, Bengaluru is a beautiful collage of lakes, modern IT parks and greenery, where the tech industry’s giant campuses made of glass and steel shine differently. However, here too, the rapid and unplanned expansion of concrete towards the outskirts is clearly visible.

Hyderabad seems to be the most organized in this matter. Here the aircraft passes over rocky lands, lakes and planned townships. The city’s financial district and skyscrapers present a great global image, with slums near the airport being rarer than in Mumbai.

The coastal city of Chennai benefits greatly from its geographical location, where travelers are welcomed by blue ocean waves and sandy beaches. In contrast, Kolkata still tells the story of a mature and very old metropolis, where decades-old infrastructure and dense population structure along the banks of the Hooghly River are evident from above.

Comparison with Singapore, Bangkok and Colombo: Why do foreign cities leave a stronger impression?

When Indian travelers land in foreign cities like Singapore, Bangkok or Colombo, they notice a glaring gap in infrastructure. Singapore is considered to be the best example of urban discipline visible from the air. From above, only well-organized housing colonies, wide roads surrounded by trees and industrial areas located far away from residential areas are visible. There is no trace of slums there.

Colombo, despite being small, has a very relaxed and less crowded feel amidst the Indian Ocean and dense greenery. Meanwhile, Thailand’s capital Bangkok welcomes travelers with a spectacular and well-organized network of elevated expressways, rail corridors and canals despite traffic problems.

Mega-explosion of population: Is it fair to compare Singapore and Mumbai?

However, experts believe that it is not entirely practical to compare Indian cities with Singapore or Colombo. The biggest reason behind this is the unprecedented burden facing India due to rapid urbanization and population density.

The total population of Singapore is only 6 million and Colombo is even smaller, whereas the Mumbai Metropolitan Region alone has more than 2 crore people and the area of ​​Delhi is even larger. Every year millions of people migrate to these cities in search of employment and a better future.

System vs. Failure: Will this first image of our cities change?

Historically, Singapore had completely eradicated slums in the 1960s by implementing large-scale government housing schemes. In contrast, India’s administrative system has had to meet the civic amenities (waste management, public transport and water supply) needs of crores of people in a very short time. Due to exorbitant land prices and lack of affordable housing, informal settlements began to spring up wherever space was available.

The biggest question today is whether these economic centers of India, while handling the world’s largest urban population, will be able to provide clean air, better public transport and a well-organized urban landscape to the coming migrants and tourists in the future? Unless urban management is improved at the ground level, this first picture of our cities seen from the sky will remain blurry.