Drivers of Emerging Urban Landscape

Is India actually “shining” or is it a mirage preserved intentionally? India is boasting about its burgeoning urbanization, which is often linked with economic growth, but the actuality is that the pace of urbanization is slow, as is the pace of economic growth and infrastructure development in the country. Small patches of development concentrated in few primate cities cannot be the true representation of the holistic picture of the country. With only 2.5 per cent urban land area, the outcry about the availability and affordability of land for development of cities is appearing very illusive. To exaggerate the misery of cities, the solution to the problem of growing population inside cities, if it is considered a problem at all, is addressed by the creation of policy-level checks, and the rationale behind doing that is often linked with existing congestion and high density in most Indian cities. The question then arises whether policy control over population growth of cities is the best thing to do? A broad answer to this can be stated simply by appreciating the fact that cities are emerging as modern centres of growth and development, offering better work opportunities and quality of life, and therefore shall be expanded in all dimensions so as to cater to the emerging needs of its original inhabitants as well as the newcomers.