6.3 - Sustainable urban management in London and Mumbai

Connecting urban sustainability and quality of life

A sustainable city meets people's needs while maintaining environmental resources and a viable economy over time. A cleaner street is useful, but a policy that makes work or housing inaccessible may create another quality-of-life problem.

The required management range covers waste disposal, transport, education, health, employment and housing. These areas interact: reliable transport improves access to schools and jobs; secure housing and sanitation support health; education helps people enter employment; managing waste reduces environmental hazards.

London is the developed-country case and Mumbai the emerging-country case under Pearson's HDI definitions for the UK and India. Their resources and institutions differ, while inequality and uneven access exist in both. A strategy must be judged against the specific problem, affected groups, costs, time and alternatives.

Distinguish a target, an action delivered and an outcome measured. A new bus route is an action; changed access, use or journey time is an outcome. A plan promising cleaner air is not evidence that the target has been reached.

London's transport, air and waste strategies

London's 2018 Environment Strategy links air quality, green infrastructure, energy, waste and climate resilience. Preventing waste, reusing materials and improving recycling can reduce demands on disposal sites and production resources. Separate collection and clear information help, but contamination, storage space and treatment capacity affect performance. A future recycling target is not an observed recycling rate.

Transport strategies include public transport, walking and cycling provision, and measures to reduce vehicle pollution. Good connections can improve access and reduce car dependence; their success depends on affordability, reliability and accessibility, including for disabled people and shift workers.

The Ultra Low Emission Zone, expanded across London boroughs in August 2023, charges vehicles that do not meet specified emissions standards. It encourages cleaner vehicles and can reduce traffic-related pollution, while costs fall unevenly on people who need to replace or use affected vehicles. It is an emissions policy, not a guarantee that congestion or all pollution disappears.

The March 2025 one-year report estimated outer-London roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations were up to 4.8% lower in the first year than expected without the expansion. This is a modelled comparison with a counterfactual, not simply the observed fall between two dates. Weather, wider vehicle changes and other policies also affect air trends, so the report's method matters.

Waste and transport choices can conflict or reinforce one another. Collection vehicles create emissions, while poorly coordinated collections can add traffic. Better routing, waste prevention and suitable treatment can reduce pressures together. Assess the entire system rather than a single visible intervention.

London's homes, skills and health

Housing programmes combine public funding, planning and providers to increase affordable supply. Better-located, suitable homes can reduce overcrowding, support health and make jobs easier to reach. Delivery is constrained by land, construction costs, finance and infrastructure, and new homes may take years after a project starts.

The GLA's Housing in London 2025 report records 13,354 affordable-home completions from all funding sources in 2024/25. These are gross completions, including acquisitions, rather than the net change after losses. They are also not all attributable to one mayoral programme. London's needs cannot be judged from a start or completion count alone: tenure, affordability, location and existing stock matter.

Education and employment management includes adult learning and skills programmes linked to employers. The Skills Roadmap for London seeks locally relevant and accessible provision, building on devolved adult education responsibilities from 2019. Training can address skills gaps, but childcare, cost, language, travel and discrimination can still prevent access to work. Course participation is not the same as sustained well-paid employment.

The Health Inequalities Strategy 2018–28, with a 2025–28 implementation plan, connects health with conditions such as housing, poverty, education and work. Healthcare services remain essential, while healthier homes, cleaner air and opportunities for activity can reduce pressures on health. Improving a city-wide average is insufficient if the gaps between communities remain large.

These are connected strategies: a resident may need affordable housing, accessible transport and childcare as well as a qualification. Coordination can improve benefits, but requires cooperation between boroughs, regional and national bodies, employers and communities.

Mumbai's infrastructure, services and livelihoods

Mumbai's Climate Action Plan 2022 links energy/buildings, mobility, waste, air quality, greening and water/flood management. Its framework recognises that vulnerable communities can experience disproportionate risk. Plans require finance, delivery and monitoring; they do not show that every proposed outcome has occurred.