In 2018, almost 10 years after the process was initiated in 2009, the development plan of Mumbai was sanctioned. The first draft of the plan, which sought to significantly reform urban planning in Mumbai, was scrapped in 2015. However, contrary to the widespread assumption that the first draft was rejected due to public opposition, this paper argues that a key factor behind the scrapping was to reform one of the central regulations of the 1991 Development Plan of Mumbai, Regulation 33, which provides development rights incentives and planning relaxations to property developers in Mumbai. Through an analysis of Mumbai’s development plan process, this paper offers a glimpse into the divergent values and interests of powerful groups, and how these interests are coordinated and reconciled in the city. The process reveals the extent to which real-estate capital shapes urban space and common sense of urban planning in Mumbai.
