“In the last 200 years the population of our planet has grown exponentially, at a rate of 1.9% per year. If continued at this rate, with the population doubling every 40 years, by 2600 we should all be literally standing shoulder to shoulder” by Stephen hawking.

In today's world, with the ever improving science and technology, we still face issues in regard to area. There isn’t enough space for everyone, advancements in the fields of science and technology have brought into light various processes that can add space to busy, overcrowded cities, and give the cities some space to breathe.

Such was the case for the overcrowded city of medieval Bombay. Bombay being one of the princely states was expectedly crowded, but it rapidly expanded in the 19th century its population going up from 644,405 in 1872 to nearly 1,500,000 in 1941. With the growth of trade in cotton and opium, large communities came to Bombay to settle down for work. The establishment of cotton mills also led to a surge of new population, by 1921, there were 85 cotton mills with about 146,000 workers.

With the rapid and unplanned expansion of the city, there was a housing and water supply crisis by the mid 1850’s. More than 70% of the working class lived in thickly populated chawl’s. These chawl housing structures were very dangerous, and unsanitary. People had to keep their windows shut due to the close proximity the filthy gutters, Buffalo stables, etc. People of depressed classes found it even harder to find housing and had to create shelter out of odd materials.  All in all there was a scarcity of land, one of the ways that the city of Bombay has developed is through land reclamation projects.

The seven islands of Bombay were joined into one landmass over a period of time mainly through various land reclamation projects. The earliest project was commenced by the Bombay governor William Hornby in 1784, building of a great sea wall which prevented the flooding of the low-lying areas in Bombay. Since then there have been several land reclamation projects, headed by both the government and private businesses. In the early twentieth century, every nook and cranny of available land was built over as new areas were being continuously reclaimed from sea. One famous land reclamation project is the Marine Drive, undertaken by the Bombay Port Trust from 1914 to 1918, which used excavated earth to create a 22-acre Ballard Estate.

Even-though the process of land reclamation can cause significant problems such as flooding risks, by restoring land, and reclaiming virgin land from the sea there is opportunity to benefit the community. Decongestion improves the living quality of people, and allowing more necessary space for vital infrastructures such as schools and hospitals. Land reclamation can also focus on reclaiming damaged land, there are many benefits to reclaiming damaged land, for example - improving the quality of water and restoring habitats. I strongly believe that the long term effects of land reclamation outweighs the short affects, the need for land reclamation is increasing as our population is increasing, making land reclamation a necessary solution that I support.

Where as land reclamation is a process in which land is either restored or virgin land is made from the sea coasts, Georges-Eugène Baron Haussmann solved the congestion of Paris in another way. The government system of Paris was overthrown when Napoleon III appointed himself the emperor of France. Napoleon III saw that medieval Paris was in need of help, the congestion and frequent outbreaks of disease were enough cause for Napoleon III to appoint Haussmann to modernise and beautify Paris.

The need for the rebuilding of Paris was grave, the population had doubled to over one million from 1800 to 1850, the majority of Paris was still in its medieval style, with short, unplanned narrow streets, which were easy to barricade. “The French capital was overcrowded, dingy, dirty and riddled with disease.”,“regular outbreaks of cholera and typhoid that killed tens of thousands” These consequences of the congestion were grave, as it was not just the issue of space anymore but it was the issue of living quality. From the compromised water supply system, to the dangerous buildings, everything was in need of a solution. Haussmann had a plan to modernise the capital of France, and beautify Paris. He wanted to fix the sewer system, build wide boulevards, reorganise symmetrical road system and implement parks.

And he did. In the matter of two decades Georges-Eugène Haussmann had cut through the swath and chaotic labyrinth of slum streets and knocked down 12,000 buildings. Below the ground Haussmann had oversaw the installation of the cities now complex sewage system. The pre-Haussmann sewer, the Bruneseau’s underground system had intermixed the sanitary and unsanitary water. Haussmann commissioned aqueducts to bring fresh water to the city, minimising the outbreaks of cholera. The now broad avenues would be hard to barricade, and allowed fast access to troops, the green space of the city had expanded greatly, to about two thousand heta acres and Haussmann has planted about six thousand trees throughout the 17 years of his work.

The work of Haussmann is still a very controversial topic, “To his republican compatriots, Haussmann was an arrogant, autocratic vandal who ripped the historic heart out of Paris, driving his boulevards through the city's slums to help the French army crush popular uprisings”, The social impact that the Haussmannization of Paris had was tremendous, over 350,000 people were displaced, communities such as the working class were flushed out of the suburbs, but the Haussmannization of Paris employed many workers, and also helped improve the cleanliness of the city and reduce the amount of disease outbreaks. The city of Paris has become a tourist attraction post the Haussmannization. “Paris tourism statistics have seen a record number of visitors, surpassing 40 million in 2018. France is the most visited country in the world. In 2016, tourism contributed a total of 198.3 billion euros to GDP in France, while tourism employment created 2.8 billion jobs, both directly and indirectly.”

The Haussmannization of Paris, even though is still a very controversial topic, with many critics believing that Haussmann had destroyed Paris, and had removed it’s medieval charm, the Haussumanization of Paris has seen greater long term affects than the short term affects. The social impacts proved temporary, even though many people had been displaced over time, there were many new job opportunities that arised due to the change brought by Haussumanization of Paris, along with that disease outbreaks have come to a minimum, killing less people each year as the city had become more sanitary. Paris is now a tourist attraction, known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and it was all mainly due to the work of Haussmann, hence I believe that the noble work of Gorge Haussmann was necessary and also important, since in the long term, the community of Paris has benefitted tremendously.