3,447
CITIZEN RESPONSES
Quotient 2026
Quotient 2026
We asked 3,447 citizens across Mumbai and its periphery to rate their own neighbourhood on Wellbeing, Inclusion, Sustainability, and Entrepreneurship & Expression. The numbers tell one story. The voices tell another.
When asked what matters most to them, citizens overwhelmingly chose Wellbeing and Sustainability. When asked to rate their localities on these, they gave the lowest scores. Two-thirds of citizens prioritise the two pillars where Mumbai is failing them most.
of citizens placed Wellbeing or Sustainability as their top priority. These are the two pillars where Mumbai's localities score lowest. The gap between what citizens care about and what they live with is the story.
Each pillar is measured through four indicators. The bottom five city-wide are all environmental or climate-related. The strongest single indicator is Belonging — citizens still feel "this is my place" in a city famous for being transactional.
The gap between Mumbai's strongest locality and weakest is almost half the entire WISE scale. Same city. Same survey. Same year.
Mumbai's most-photographed locality scores 1.45 on Wellbeing and 1.62 on Sustainability — among the lowest in the city. But on Inclusion, Dharavi scores 3.13, higher than Bandra Colony or Lower Parel. Citizens here rate their physical conditions among the worst in Mumbai, but they feel more belonging than residents of half the city's wealthy enclaves.
M/East ward, dominated by Govandi's sub-localities, makes up 16% of our sample. It scores WISE 1.62, against F/North's 3.06 — a gap of 1.44 points on a 4-point scale. On Safety alone, Govandi scores 1.43 vs F/North's 3.52 — citizens in Govandi rate their localities half as safe as citizens just kilometres away. This is the case for civic action.
Localities with higher WISE scores have higher hope (r = 0.76 across 27 localities). But not equally so. Hope tracks belonging, safety, and inclusion far more strongly than it tracks waste systems or green cover.
Mumbai's hopeful citizens aren't living in the cleanest localities. They're living in the most connected ones. Belonging, voice, and a sense of being heard create hope. Infrastructure doesn't, by itself.
Pearson correlation coefficient between
each pillar and the standalone Hope item
(n = 3,369; individual-level)
3,447 citizens told us what they love about their localities. These are some of them. Translations from Hindi/Marathi kept light.
Here everyone lives together, swinging together.
In Barkat Ali there is a mosque so whenever I feel anxious I go there.
It's windy and doesn't feel suffocating.
Hardworking. Humanity. People here help each other in difficult times.
Senior-friendly footpaths and better healthcare access.
I would make the area more eco-friendly and sustainable.
Cleanliness. Pollution-free area. Healthcare and good schooling. Safe streets at night.
Small changes can create a big impact in our locality.
Agar superpower hoti, toh mein mere area mein kisi ko bhi koi taklif hone nahin deta.
Mumbaikars who've lived in their locality for 20 years or more rate the locality lower on WISE than newer residents — but they feel stronger belonging. Long-term residents aren't nostalgic. They've seen it change, and they want better.
One in five citizens couldn't answer where to go for mental health support in their locality. For citizens above 60, that number rises to one in three. Awareness gaps tell us as much about a locality as service gaps do.
% OF RESPONDENTS WHO ANSWERED "DON'T KNOW" — AWARENESS GAPS DISTINCT FROM SERVICE GAPS
A WISE Mumbai isn't a slogan. It's a measurable claim. Here's what citizens are telling us to work on.
Six Govandi sub-localities sit at the very bottom of Mumbai's WISE ranking. The 1.44-point gap between Mumbai's strongest and weakest wards is the central inequity story this data tells.
Four of the five lowest-scored indicators across all of Mumbai are climate or environmental: heat, monsoon, waste, sustainable habits. This is where citizens most want action.
The data shows hope tracks Inclusion (belonging, safety, voice) far more strongly than infrastructure. Investments in community fabric are not soft work — they produce measurable hope.
One in five citizens — and one in three older citizens — don't know where to turn for mental health help. Awareness is itself a public service that's missing.
People who've lived 20+ years in their locality rate it most critically. They're the most attached and the most clear-eyed. They are the locality's institutional memory.
This is the second annual WISE Mumbai Pulse. With each cohort of fellows, the data grows sharper, the localities better mapped, the trends clearer. The goal: a citizen-led civic index Mumbai can rely on.
The WISE Locality Survey was administered by the youth fellows of Blue Ribbon Movement's Community Connect Fellowship 2026. Each fellow conducted interviews with citizens in their localities across Mumbai and its periphery (MMR), capturing 3,447 responses and counting.
The survey measured four pillars — Wellbeing, Inclusion, Sustainability, and Entrepreneurship & Expression.
The 16-item index shows strong internal reliability comparable to validated quality-of-life instruments. The full dataset (n=3,447) was retained for analysis; rows with uniform response patterns were flagged but kept after sensitivity testing confirmed they reflect real lived experiences in severely under-served localities.
This is a citizen-pulse survey, not a representative sample. Sample sizes vary across localities, and fellow-administration introduces a known correlation between fellow and locality (which means we cannot fully separate the two effects). Findings reported here are most reliable for the localities and wards with the largest sample sizes. Detailed methodology and the full dataset are available on request.