Mumbai is a British colonial city which became one of the more important British Presidency towns.
The idea of a colonial city is that all activity is centered on the fort.
In Mumbai, as in the models of most colonial cities, the European and wealthy
population lived immediately around the fort. In Mumbai they lived and still
live to the south and east of the fort in Colaba, along Marine Drive and
westward into Malabar and Cumbala Hills, 
which were in close proximity
to the racetrack. Throughout all of these areas there is lots of green space
and room to move about. These areas were also developed right from the beginning
with planned streets, water supplies, and sewage and drainage facilities.
The native population, on the other hand, was left to settle and fill
in the gaps to the northwest of the fort area It was, and still is characterized
by overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and haphazard settlements. They then
developed bazaar areas near the fort for their commercial purposes.
Eventually the city became too large for the island and they had to reclaim land from the sea, much like many of the other port colonial cities.
Model of a Colonial Town. Click to enlarge.
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