Instead of easing congestion in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai has become a sprawling bedroom community for its larger twin. Real estate speculation now outpaces much-needed infrastructure improvements.

“Navi Mumbai did not develop in the way it should have originally, especially its commercial and administrative heart,” says Mustansir Dalvi, a professor of architecture at the Sir J. J. College of Architecture in Mumbai. “It ended up as a suburb of Mumbai. And it’s only now that one can say that it’s weening itself off the mother city. And not fast enough.”