The main aim of this book is to present a comprehensive narrative about the process of urbanization in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region through its heritage sites and landscapes, using the previous studies commissioned by the MMR Heritage Conservation Society. It gives an insight into plural, and sometimes parallel, urban cultures that existed, and some that still continue to thrive in the Mumbai Metropolitan region over a time span of several centuries, starting from the 5th century BC till the 20th century CE. The book presents together, perhaps for the first time, such a large number of heritage sites dating to different time periods, and spread across a vast region. Covering heritage sites of cultural significance belonging to eras such as the pre-Mauryan and Buddhist, through the reign of the Satvahana and the Shilahara kingdoms, the Islamic monarchies, and later the colonial empires of the Portuguese and the British, this book helps in a more nuanced understanding of the region. The book invariably challenges the dominant idea of ascribing urbanization as a recent colonial phenomenon; and brings forth a longer story of urbanization, which started several centuries ago, that impacted the growth of the region.