Status of urbanisation in India

• According to the World Urbanisation Prospects (2018 Revision), an urbanisation growth rate of 2.4 per cent was observed between 2010 and 2018.
• By 2022, India’s projected rate of urbanisation was expected to be 35.9 per cent, and by 2047, this is expected to increase to approximately 50.9 per cent. 

Issues facing India’s urbanisation journey 

• Asymmetric pattern of urbanisation
  • The states that saw economic growth urbanised at a faster pace.
  • For instance, Kerala has a projected urban population of around 73.19 per cent in 2022, which is expected to increase to over 96 per cent by 2036.
  • In comparison, states like Assam that have a projected population of 15.4 per cent in 2022 is expected to marginally increase to 17.16 per cent by 2036.
  • Union Territories like Delhi and Chandigarh are projected to be 100 per cent urbanised in the same time period.
• Unplanned urbanisation.
  • Limited civic infrastructure.
  • Neglecting key elements of urban planning. Eg: Stormwater drains are not planned properly and lakes and rivers are neglected while concretizing urban spaces.
  • Indian cities are poor in executing urban projects. For instance, Master plans are with limited urban planning flexibility which manifested as low scores in Ease of Living Index 2020. (Bengaluru 55.67/100 and Delhi 57.56/100)

Global precedents in planning urban spaces

1. The Garden City movement evolved in the west to provide healthier living spaces for factory workers. The ideal garden city was planned on a concentric pattern with open spaces, public parks and boulevards etc. Once a garden city reaches maximum capacity, another city would be developed nearby.
2. In the US, the garden city movement evolved into the neighbourhood concept, where residential houses and streets were organised around a local school or community centre, with a push for lowering traffic and providing safe roads.
3. London has a metropolitan green belt around the city, covering 5 lakh hectares of land, to offset pollution and congestion and maintain biodiversity.
4. Paris -“15-minute city” initiative. The idea is that every Parisian should be able to do their shopping, work, and recreational activities and fulfil their cultural needs within a 15-minute walk or bike ride.

Way forward:

Master Plan for every Indian city

• Every Indian city should ideally have a Master Plan, a strategic urban planning document which would be updated every decade or two that also considers poverty mitigation, affordable housing and livability for urban migrants.

Better Land use pattern:

• Urban land use needs to be better from being informal, unplanned to a planned one in order to provide urban services and infrastructure to keep up with growth.
• For instance, in Mumbai, almost 1/4th of the land is open public space — while over half of it is the underutilised space around buildings. Such open spaces has to be utilised properly

Reduce urban density 

• Dense construction on the peripheries of our major cities (for instance, dense construction in Delhi’s suburbs, like Noida and Gurugram) will lock India into a high emissions future and hence has to be paid attention.

Climate resilient infrastructure

• All ongoing and upcoming urban infrastructure projects must be reconsidered from a future climate resilience perspective.

Build up institutional capacity

• Establishing a sense of cityhood by making a push for a city as a co-created space will also require building up institutional capacity.
• Lack of town planning education in the country necessitates creation of more schools along with a push for local IITs and NITs to have a standalone planning department.

Decentralised approach

• Pay attention to the impact of urbanisation at the micro level going down to the districts as they shape up the larger economic spatiality of the country.
• India needs to focus on the districts lagging behind and push for a faster rate of planned urbanisation.

Why is planned urbanisation needed?

• Equal emphasis will be placed on aspects of city design, planning and governance.
• Well-planned cities lead to value creation through optimal distribution and utilisation of resources.
• It fosters ease of living and prosperity through sustainable growth and economic productivity that the residents can benefit from.
• It offers excellent chances to redesign cities by looking at sustainable objectives and socio-economic growth, which will only result in a more stable social structure.

Conclusion

• A dual focus on planned and uniform urbanisation will go a long way in attaining global recognition for India’s urban story with a higher rate of social progress.