Mumbai, a Global City

This portion of the map communicates the diversity of Mumbai as a result of an increasingly globalized world. Note the numerous different religious institutions in the area and the alternating between English and “Hinglish” for location names.

The forces of globalization work to dissolve cultural barriers and unite the distant corners of the world, and such is the effect that numerous transitions in power have had on Mumbai. If we observe the recent map of the city, the extent of diversity is realized – lingual variety is only the beginning. In the portion of the map to the left, the multitude of religious institutions and businesses, for instance, contribute to the global influence exerted on Mumbai as representations of foreign societies. In this small portion, temples, gurudwaras, mosques, and churches stand in relatively close proximity to one another as Hinduism, Sikhism [1], Islam (likely a trace of the Gujarat Sultanate), and Christianity (left over from the Europeans) coexist in one urban setting. In the secular dimension, companies such as the American Johnson & Johnson, British Firth Steels [2], and native Plastipeel Chemicals [3] exemplify the international economy that has come to be, and it is the mechanisms of the economy, in particular, that bore this very map.