Commercial Geography of A Metropolitan City: Spatial Structure of Retailing in Bombay (Foreword by Prof. B. Arunachalam)

The study examines the nature of temporal and spatial growth of retailing trade in Greater Bombay, in mutual relation to the demographic and functional growth of the city in general and in relation to commercial activity in particular. It examines and evaluates the nature and intensity of spatial organisation of the retail trading activity of Greater Bombay to analyse the spatial differentiation and specialization of retailing function and to search for an explanation, as related to the wholesaling function, and other specific urban parameters such as commuting pattern and residential functions. The author has also tried to identify the intra-urban retailing hierarchy, if any, and its spatial characteristics, and examine the relationship obtaining between retailing function and socio-economic correlates of the consuming population and to draw valid empirical inferences of urban retailing characteristics that can be tested in similar Indian urban situation leading to worthwhile generations