Mumbais contribution to the growth of the Indian economy has been significant as nearly 40 per cent of state domestic

production originates in Mumbai. It is therefore called the commercial capital of India. With its port, manufacturing industry, (traditional and modern), government and financial institutions, trade and services, Mumbai represents one of the most diversified and vibrant economies in the country. While homelessness has always existed, its dynamics have changed drastically in recent decades. The past several decades were marked by a large change in the availability of affordable housing. Most single-room occupancy housing was lost as part of urban renewal strategies. Much of the affordable rental housing was converted to higher priced housing, cooperatives, and condominiums. people experiencing homelessness are people just like us. They desire financial stability and a secure home, but have confronted difficult circumstances without sufficient resources to overcome the situation and remain housed. That is the reality of homelessness today. Systemic issues have developed over time. People living in generational poverty do not have the resources and support to become educated and move out of poverty.
In the study, about 46 per cent of the people reported extreme poverty as the primary reason for homelessness. Most of these people have migrated in search of livelihoods, but urban centres offer only irregular, uncertain employment. Besides, urban areas come with an attendant set of problems: the cost of living is much higher than in rural areas; there are no community support systems; and they have to pay for everything, including water and toilets, which are free in rural areas. Some respondents said they could not afford to rent a house (the highest such incidences were reported from Chennai). The reasons cited were absence of low-cost housing in cities and the pressure to save and send money home. A United Nations Development Programme concept note prepared for a project on strategies for urban poverty reduction, being implemented since November 2003, stated that 95 per cent of legal urban space was used and kept for the benefit of the most privileged five per cent of the city population. Rampant corruption in the system ensures that this situation remains unchanged. The most recent example is in the city of Bangalore, which has woken up to a land scam by its development authority. The land meant for building affordable housing was sold to VIPs and politicians who faked eligibility (as reported in the television channel NDTV on May 20, 2008). Under Indian laws, homeless beggars are treated as criminals and booked under various beggary laws. The Bombay Beggary Prevention (1959) Act defines beggars as anyone soliciting alms and who have 'no visible means of subsistence', including those who sell small articles at traffic lights and other public places. When penalised, beggars or homeless persons have to face hearings at a special court and may be sent to an institution, or can bail themselves out by paying money.

Mass evictions were another phenomenon of major concern, he said, noting that about 90,000 dwellings had been demolished in Mumbai, India, between November 2004 and February 2005, rendering some 400,000 people homeless and without provision of resettlement. There was also a lack of legal provisions to enable communities to inhabit or own land, as well as a growing tendency to criminalize the homeless and the landless. The annual report contained recommendations concerning the need for States to apply diligently their human rights obligations and to control land speculation and land mafias and cartels operating across the world.

"Housing costs have risen significantly over the last decade, while the incomes of poor and middle-class Americans have stagnated" (Erickson169). These kinds of work arrangements typically offer lower wages, fewer benefits, and less job security. This transformation has led to an unprecedented incidence of chronic unemployment and underemployment.
The ambition to develop large Indian metropolises into global cities is rooted in the liberalization and opening up of the Indian economy to the international market, with a series of economic and administrative reforms launched gradually since 1985. In the urban sector, the new national strategies hinges on the concepts of decentralisation, deregulation and privatisation (or the promotion of public-private partnerships). These reforms have changed the context of development in the big cities and favoured their insertion into the larger global movement. This process has led to a major restructuring of their urban space, including slum clearance, which has also contributed to an aggravation of socio-spatial inequalities. These transformations will be exemplified by the case of Delhi. The impact of globalization in Delhi is particularly remarkable on the urban landscape and its rapid transformation, following an international model of modernization that tends to lead to a certain repetition and standardization of urban forms, including: the proliferation of high-rise buildings, shopping malls and business centres, large housing complexes, among which exclusive residential enclaves or even gated communities, the multiplication of freeway flyovers, as observed in other aspiring global cities