Urban planning is not just land-use planning

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 1 –Society – Urbanization

Introduction

India needs cities that drive growth, cut emissions, create jobs, and stay resilient. A $30-trillion economy by 2047, net-zero by 2070 with major GHG cuts by 2030, and a young workforce seeking livelihoods all converge in cities. Dense settlements are also highly disaster-vulnerable, as seen in the pandemic. Planning must therefore move beyond plot-wise land use to align economy, resources, climate, mobility, and regional linkages in one coherent frame. Urban planning is not just land-use planning.

Statistics on Urban India

1. According to the 2011 Census, the urbanisation rate in India was 31.2%, which is expected to increase to 43.2% by 2035 (UN Habitat World Cities Report)
2. Urban cities in India occupy just 3% of the land but contribute to ~60% of the GDP.
3. India is the second-largest urban system in the world, with almost 11% of the total global urban population living in Indian cities.
4. India’s urban population is expected to cross 50% of the total population within the next two decades.
5. According to the Ministry of Finance, one in-three poor people lives in urban areas. This figure was about one-in-eight in the early 1950s.
6. According to the NITI Aayog Report ~50% of India’s statutory towns are expanding without any master plan to guide their growth and infrastructure.
7. According to Census 2011, 17.3% of the total urban population is living in slums.

India’s Approach Towards Urban Planning

1. Land-use approach: Modern planning grew from 19th-century public-health crises and prioritised sanitation and land-use control. Zoning rules fixed how land parcels may be used, and changes require lengthy approvals..
2. Population-led provisioning: Cities are called engines of growth, yet master plans are not derived from an economic vision. They project population from past trends and size infrastructure accordingly.
3. Boundary-limited scope: Planning practice tends to stop at municipal boundaries. However, much urban growth occurs outside city limits, and urban economies are interlinked with surrounding rural areas. Smaller cities, crucial for manufacturing with affordable land, are rarely integrated into regional plans.

Concerns Related to India’s Approach Towards Urban Planning

1. Economic vision missing: Without a 20–50-year economic vision, land-use plans lack a credible basis. Cities cannot identify future drivers of growth, making investments and land allocation misaligned with jobs and productivity.
2. Mismatch with growth and jobs: People move to cities for livelihoods, yet plans are environment-centric on land, not economy-centric on jobs. Population-trend projections underestimate job-led migration in high-growth phases, risking under-provisioned infrastructure.
3. Resource constraints Growing: cities face natural-resource shortages. Current plans seldom budget water, energy, and land or manage demand. Ignoring carrying capacity creates unsustainable pressures on limited resources.
4. Climate concern : Cities must lead emissions reduction and resilience, but many lack climate action plans with pathways for low-emission growth and vulnerability roadmaps.
5. Air pollution, heavily affected by transport, persists without robust environmental management and mobility strategies.

Way forward

1. Economic vision first: Begin every plan with a 20–50-year economic roadmap that names city-specific growth drivers.
2. Jobs-to-people logic: Estimate population from projected jobs and then size land and infrastructure.
3. Resource budgeting: Map water, energy, and land balances. Use demand management to stay within carrying capacity.
4. Climate action: Prepare citywide pathways for low-emission growth and clear resilience measures.
5. Air-quality and mobility: Adopt an environmental management plan, with an air-pollution focus. Shift travel through a comprehensive mobility plan that favours public and non-motorised modes.
6. Regional scale: Plan beyond municipal limits, recognise urban–rural linkages, and include smaller cities in a single regional strategy.
7. Enabling reforms: Update planning laws and retool education to build the multidisciplinary talent this approach needs.

Conclusion

Cities are pivotal to growth, climate goals, jobs, and resilience. A land-use-only model is inadequate. Planning must pivot to economic visioning, resource budgeting, climate and air-quality action, sustainable mobility, and regional integration, supported by legal and educational reforms. This shift will re-position cities as true “economic growth hubs” for Viksit Bharat.

For detailed information on Urban Planning and Development read this article here

Question for practice:

Examine India’s approach to urban planning, identify the key concerns arising from it, and suggest a clear way forward.

Source: Indian Express