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India needs smart urbanisation
Article:
- Feroz Varun Gandhi, Politician, highlighted the need for smart urbanisation
Important Analysis:
- 2. Over 34% of India’s current population lives in urban areas, rising by 3% since 2011.
- Smaller clusters have risen (from 34 to 50 clusters with 10-15 lakh population).
- According to one estimate, India’s urban population could increase to 814 million by 2050.
- Urban cities are facing following challenges on ‘smart cities’ front:-
- Poverty and poor infrastructure
- Poor urban planning
- Increasing population led to increasing demands for basic services.
- Over 90 ‘smart cities’ have identified 2,864 projects, India lags on implemention, with about 148 projects completed.
- Shortage of affordable house despite government initiative.
- Instances of floods in Mumbai, dengue in Delhi, lakes on fire in Bengaluru presents a worst picture.
- Slow work on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project and the bullet train.
- Low level of urban infrastructure investment and capacity building.
- India spends about $17 per capita annually on urban infrastructure projects, against a global benchmark of $100 and China’s $116.
- Various government schemes like Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission not implemented properly.
- Urban institutions also suffer from a shortage of skilled people.
- There is also differences on definition of Urban between state and central government
- In state the Governor notifies an area as urban based on the following parameters:
- Population
- Density
- Revenue generated for the local administration
- The central government considers a settlement as urban in following cases:-
- If it has an urban local government
- Minimum population of 5,000
- Over 75% of its (male) population working in non-agriculture activities.
- Population density of atleast 400 per sq.km.
- Many states consider such “census towns” as rural, and to establish governance through a rural local government or panchayat.
- However, many States consider such “census towns” as rural, and establish governance through a rural local government or panchayat.
- Solutions:
- Needs systematic policy to deal with urban migration.
- Internal migration in India helps in reducing poverty or prevents households from slipping into it.
- Lowering the cost of migration, along with eliminating discrimination against migrants, while protecting their rights.
- Revitalizing cities such as Meerut, building transport links and connectivity.
- Urban policy makers also need to be cognizant of the historical context for urban development.
- The creation of hill stations in northern India and the advent of the plantation economy, along with industrial township transformal trading networks.
- The creation of cantonment and civil lines areas, along with railway stations in major cities led to the haphazard growth of urban areas.
- Need different model of urbanization.
- Need to empower cities, with focus on land policy reforms, granting urban local bodies the freedom to raise financing and enforce local land usage norms.