Summary:

Urbanization is ongoing and inevitable, urban population today is about 35 percent, by 2030 it is likely that our urban population will become 50 percent and continue to grow.

Cities should thus be planned to absorb such growth and provide the right environment and grow vertically so as not use up too much of the arable land.

Cities should be agglomerations of clusters that allow people living in them to interact for mutual benefit.

Tier II and III towns should also, be developed so as to allow for proper distribution of the growing urban population.

Urbanization makes poor people richer. The density and infrastructure of cities makes people more productive and more able to afford what they seek.

Highlights

Population shift from the rural to the urban areas is inevitable-greater opportunities and choices-economic and social mobility. Hence, cities need to be better designed to be more functional.Tier -II and Tier -III towns to also, be developed and even villages provided essential urban amenities – increased off-farm rural employment to be encouraged.

Introduction

People leave the seemingly more peaceful and cleaner environment of the village for the crowded and filthy slums of a city only because of the vastly greater opportunities and choices a city offers for employment, low paying service jobs in nearby high rent districts or in dirty recycling jobs within the slums. People rarely choose to go back to the villages except for functions / holidays. Dharavi in Mumbai, Asia’s largest slum, annually generates over US $1 bn. worth of business, some of it from exports.

The growth of the urban population because of the ever increasing number of people moving from Rural to Urban areas is a worldwide phenomenon. However, its magnitude and rate is far greater in the developing world than in the so called developed world. With the world’s population now at 7.5 billion and expected to be at least 9 billion by 2030 and the Urban population expected to increase to over 50 percent by 2030 and continue to grow. ‘Urbanization’ and its effects on the existing Cities, is reason for alarm. Such a population shift could be catastrophic for Cities in India unless properly planned for.

All the major Cities in the Country will soon face the collapse of all civic facilities. In fact many Cities are already demonstrating recognizable signs of such a collapse. Unless the Government takes immediate action to;

1. Change the Development and Urban Planning rules to allow cities to grow with greater population densities (more vertical) and,
2. Slow down such migration to more manageable proportions, if not bring it to a stop by taking up suitable development of Tier II and Tier III towns.
3. Construct Mass Rapid Transportation Systems to cover all key areas of each city.

The only way to reduce, or even reverse, such migration in a democratic system is by removing the reasons for it in the first place. The main reasons for such a migration are;

1. Better employment prospects and opportunities for Economic and Social mobility (See “Wealth, Market Economics and Entrepreneurship – the Case for,” and “Dream Budget – 2.0 – The Way Forward”)
2. Better quality of life due to availability of better educational, medical, entertainment and living facilities. (See “Health Care for All” and “Education in the 21st Century”)
3. Non existence of, or at least far less, cultural and social barriers and limitations, in urban environments compared to Rural. (See “Equality for All or are All Equal?” and “Understanding Varna, Caste or Jati, and Untouchability”)

It therefore follows that if these criteria are met outside the major Cities, the migration to such Cities would cease, if not even reverse, due to better planned environment in the smaller Towns / Rural areas. Tier II and Tier III towns must be taken up as above for accelerated development.

The existing Rural Social / Cultural and Land ownership patterns, and the imperative not to needlessly destroy cultivable land, makes it obvious that existing Villages cannot be developed to meet such standards. Hence, new and suitable sites must be identified and selected for such development. In these days of development of Information Technologies and Internet connectivity, allowing for working from ‘away’ locations, such dispersion is not only desirable but also, very practical unlike in the Industrial Age where factories needed labour to be near.

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