In Mumbai, home to 23 million and among the world’s most densely populated cities, windows of new high-rise apartment blocks, old low-rise residential buildings and shantytown shacks portray the disparity in living conditions and incomes in the Indian city.

Rents for a place to live range from more than $2,000 to less than $5 a month.

The cost to buy a 269 square foot one-bedroom apartment in this building is around 9,293 Indian rupees per square feet or 2,500,000 Indian rupees. The rent for an apartment in the same building is around 10,000 Indian rupees per month.

Activists have long complained that despite a surplus of luxury homes lying unsold, Mumbai and other cities have a severe shortage of affordable housing.

Roughly half of Mumbai's households earn less than Rs 20,000 a month, putting even the average price of government-built affordable homes in the city - just under $24,000 - out of reach.