A Polished Urban Fabric

The ratio of area for streets and blocks in this map is unrealistically high.

The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity took the liberty to portray Bombay as a far more low-density city than it was at the time, creating an image of Bombay that was more similar to cities of the west. We see this in unrealistically wide streets, and many merged blocks. Other maps from a similar time show smaller blocks and many narrow, winding streets. Bombay was experiencing rapid population growth at the time: "In 1864, there were 816,562 living there. By 1991, the population of the whole of Bombay was 9,900,000"[1] and slums were growing as grwoth outpaced planning. This cartographer has included all major arteries, creating a simpler and more readable map, but in doing so, has also misrepresented the high-density, complex urban fabric of the city.

The cartographer’s use of colour reinforces this image. Upon a base of yellow and blue, he has also used red, pink, and green. Pink depicts shoals by the coastline, and red is used sparingly to highlight important public utilities such as the automobile association and general post office. However, he is liberal in his use of green, to highlight access to nature in the city. This is a common choice in map-making: portray urban greenery in green, but it is worth noting that the cartographer used quite a bright green against pale yellow and blue, catching the viewers’ attention, and that this is one of the few colours used. 

Golf course and race track emphasised in this map

Finally, the cartographer uses large drawings – as aforementioned, the highest level of symbology – to depict the golf course and race track, destinations for luxurious activities. The opera house is also labelled. These facilities service British traditions that were introduced to cities such as Bombay to allow colonialists continued access while overseas. More than being British traditions, they are distinctly upper-class activities. The cartographer's choice to highlight thse landmarks finishes off the polished image that this tidy map portrays.

Citation
[1] "Bombay: History of a City." The British Library. Accessed 21 Nov 2016.