From this analysis it is clear that poverty in Bombay is in a sense far more extreme than the poverty faced by poor people in New York City. However the effects of poverty in either case cannot be ignored. Problems caused by poverty are serious and steps have to be taken in order to reduce their levels, which in turn will decrease some of the negative effects that poverty brings along.
This then raises an interesting question related to cities in general. Do cities make the people or do people make the cities? With respect to poverty it must be said that it is a little bit of both. People for the most part move to large cities such as New York and Bombay in order to improve their standard of living. However a large majority of these people find themselves far away from their dream, and living in poor conditions. Does the blame then fall on the city for the shattered dreams and poor conditions of these people? If one answers yes to the question, then he or she is only half right. Yes, to a certain extent the city is to blame for not being able to provide the infrastructure needed to support huge migrant and immigrant populations. But the more important question that comes out of that statement is this: Why is the city infrastructure not able to support these people? The answer to that lies in the fact that the more wealth a city creates, the more attractive it becomes to the people, and more people end up moving to that city, thus creating a greater strain on the city?s infrastructure. Hence a sort of a chain reaction is set up. In other words it is the people that make a city, as much as if not more than the city that makes the people.
Bibliography
References:
?An Outline History of Mumbai (Bombay)?, by Dr. Ardeshir B. Damania
http://www.mumbainet.com/cityinfo/history.htm
?History and Politics of New York?
Concise Columbia Encyclopedia
?Alternative Solutions For Worlds Largest Concentration of Poor People?
http://tveducation.tripod.com/
?One-quarter of New York City’s population lives below the poverty threshold? by Fred Mazelis
http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/oct1999/nyc-o19.shtml