[Urbanstudy] Inklings of politics in urban India :: DTE leader article

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20090315&filename=led&sec_id=3&sid=1

*Headline* : * Inklings of politics in urban India*

*Intro:*

*The traditional non-politics of Indian cities is confronted by rapid
urbanization *

THERE are signs that urban India is discovering politics after a long
interval. City after congested city is demanding funds for new, comfortable
buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. Municipal
managers see a clear political advantage in pushing public transport, and no
merkely pandering to the car lobby (see ‘More bus rides’ Down To Earth,
February 16-28, 2009).

Now, Thane has announced an ambitious plan to have a cycle track. The
lobbies of truckers and personal vehicles are quite clearly up in arms.
Their resistance to the cycle track should be seen in the context of what
has happened in the town of Fazilka in Punjab (see ‘Come without your car’,
*Down To Earth*, January 1-15, 2009). The trader lobby, the interests of
which are aligned with the interests of truckers, was dead against
restrictions on cars in the main market of the town. They feared the
inability to park cars close to the shops would dissuade their clientele.
But after the ban on cars came about, shopkeepers said they registered an
increase in sales.

There is no mystery at work here, no surprise. When citizens have greater
mobility, economic activities only increase. People of Fazilka realized
mobility was not the same thing as automobility—private vehicles, when
uncontrolled, cause more congestion and immobility than their adverts would
have people believe.

Urban planners and city managers in India have for too long mistaken
automobility for mobility. This is because they have identified too closely
with the interests of the minority that gains from concessions to private
vehicles, because urban voters were indifferent. Urban voters did not form
as big a part of the polity as they do now, given rapid urbanization. This
shift is leading to new strategies among all political parties.

It stands to reason that managment of cities will make or break many a
political career. Consider the case of slum redevelopment in Bengaluru. The
interests of the real estate sector are not aligned with those of people
living in the city’s slums. Till now, city managers and urban planners have
chosen to not deal with the interests of slums and the people who live
there. Low-cost housing has never been taken seriously in India despite
several international examples of the social and economic role it can play.
It is hoped the discovery of politics in urban India will extend to land use
and housing.
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