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The very purpose of Mumbai city must be questioned today as the city seems on a transformation spree again. With lakhs of migrants fleeing the city amidst the Covid-19 crises, what would the place be for the urban poor in the city in such a scenario? As cities evolve, their purpose changes and adapt to differing functions. The city in the process of evolution also carries relics of their bygone decades, as a part of their burden and identity, sometimes redundant, but reminders of their implicit purpose, holding vital clues to the origins of the spaces and its basis for existence. These issues lead to the same question — what is the purpose of a city? To create a city is far easier. The task is to keep an existing city going with inclusive and democratic spaces for all its residents. This requires imagination and political will. Determining the nature and future of an ever transforming urban phenomenon called Mumbai is a choice — one that rests with its people.
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Krishnan et al. (2020) studied this question.
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