[Urbanstudy] India’s urbanisation: Up The Garden Path

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.millenniumpost.in/NewsContent.aspx?NID=348047


*India’s urbanisation: Up The Garden Path*


18 December 2016, New Delhi, Raj Liberhan


A smart urban development paradigm has to begin with a simple, compact set
of bye–laws and rules, writes Raj Liberhan.



Our cities have been growing apace, their growth having been self–propelled
largely owing to the absence of a navigation system that could have
anticipated and guided the momentum in an orderly manner. For a long time,
after our independence, the accent has been on making the rural segment
sustainable and even profitable. Indeed, historically too, the political
refrain was to frame and reach economic policy to the 75 per cent of the
population that was dependent on agriculture as its sole means of
livelihood. Right or wrong, is not the question, but the consequence has
been  good and not so good.

Sure, we are reaping the benefits of abundant wheat, paddy, sugarcane and
pulses harvests over the years, but the neglect of our urban development
over the years, is having adverse consequences. The cities expanded as they
had to because of a growing population. With little or scant investments in
the civic infrastructure and poorly enforced development protocols, people
met their shelter needs almost at will. The municipal bodies functioning
without financial and administrative support could only be willing
spectators, as city after city lost its mojo to accommodate the constant
influx.

A flagship research project of the Global Commission on the Economy and
Climate observes that,“Indian cities are expanding outward at a rate that
outpaces their population, and they are doing so haphazardly, without heed
to principles of urban planning, without adequate water, electrical, waste
management or transportation infrastructure and services and without a
regard for the environment”. According to this working paper,“the country
stands to pay for this pattern of urbanisation, if it continues, an
enormous $330 Billion to $1.8 Trillion every year by 2050. For our GDP,
this translates into a loss of 1.2 to 6.3 per cent shaved off annually”.

Let us forget about the GDP and economics of urban centers and focus on
human beings who are the inhabitants. What is happening to them in our
cities? The cost of life is huge in terms of environmental impacts. The
quality of water, lack of waste disposal, lack of drainage, contamination
of ground water, proximity of animals and human dwellings, all combine to
not only  shorten life spans but also seriously damage their quality. An
epidemic a season, dengue, viral of all kinds, asthma prone lives and ‘name
it and you have got it’ ailments and afflictions are common in our cities.

In 2012–13, our public health expenditure was a mere 1.08 per cent of our
GDP and the figure has not changed over the previous two years. The per
capita public expenditure had gone up to Rs 890 in 2012–13. The bulk of the
expense had to be borne by the individual and this is mounting, given the
polluted conditions they live in. To remind, cities really are about human
beings and real lives. It is somewhat of a mystery why our city
administrators have not realized this simple reality. Once this home truth
hits them, it will perhaps be the beginning of a clean and healthy
environment.

Yes, for urbanisation to succeed, we have to start with making clean
environment our first priority. Without this basic need being fulfilled,
all real estate, civic infrastructure, life quality and vibrant economic
activity, are non–real: not sustainable, period. Yes, clean environment is
an expensive enterprise, but there is no choice but to do it. Neighboring
Sri Lanka is a model for clean vehicle policies. Our own need to hasten
compliance with Bharat VI norms is paramount and the target date for
implementation by 2020 needs to be advanced to 2017. In fact some auto
manufacturers in India are meeting these norms but only for export markets.
It’s a bit of a shame that the older technology goes into the domestic
market and we suffer the consequences.

Simultaneously, we need effective waste management systems in all our
cities and villages. This business of dumping waste in landfill sites
outside the city limits has to stop. We only push the problem a few miles
away from the municipal limits or nearby rivers spreading disease and
pestilence. We have to make the investments into methods and disposal
systems through recycling and an extensive education of our urban residents
is needed. Coupled with these steps, the recycling of waste water through
intensive purifications will give a huge impetus to a healthy environment
for the citizen in the urban areas and a smart start to enduring
urbanisation initiatives. The Solid Waste Management Rules, notified in
2016 have given the framework and now institutions have to manage their
compliance. It is noteworthy that these rules cover urban agglomerations,
census towns and all areas beyond municipal limits. If this aspect of urban
life is effectively handled, our urban story will become truly vibrant. And
there are success stories to show that it can be done. An area of utmost
urgency, if there ever was one.

The laws are there, the implementing institutions are there too, yet the
desired results are not happening on our urban landscape. We even have the
empowerment framework, post the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments for
the Panchayats and the municipal bodies to lead the development and
regulatory paradigms. It is for the state governments to seriously step in
and develop the governance capability of these institutions. Their failure
has impacted city managerial systems and all development protocols. And
this failure is not only within but the externalities have been stage
managed by shortsighted vested interests to ensure continued debility of
civic governance capacity. This has resulted in the degrading of both the
pace and quality of urbanisation and neglect of village amenities. A
ministry of local self–government can never run the management of the
cities from the state capital. Neither policy nor its implementation is
possible in this manner, one for lack of informed inputs and the other for
lack of accountability. We have to realize that the city administration can
only be run by the City Councils, and hence their capacity has to be
matched with the demands of the performance.

We have woefully inadequate town and country planning capacities across the
states in the country. As a consequence, urban planning has been a major
casualty and rural planning non–existent. The vacuum has been filled by the
builder–politico–bureaucrat nexus which drives urban expansion. We have
housing of indifferent designs and shortage of infrastructure. Even where
private–public partnership was the way to go, the private player gained
hugely. The sufferer was always the citizen. The EDCs (external development
charges) where collected were never spent on the infrastructure, colony
roads, drains and waste management systems, local transport etc. Invariably
feeding on builder interests, residential and commercial real estate got
created, being remunerative, even as the social and cultural infrastructure
lagged behind, reducing the quality of life to a humdrum. The town and
country planning is the principal navigator of planned urban development.
The decision makers need to realize that and put the best and the most
talented in these positions. These planners then, have to build a public
consensus on future developments without which we will never get a buy–in
of the people in the city. The ultimate reality is that cities are about
people and not about fancy architecture. Aesthetics are important but not
at the cost of comfort, convenience, safety and well being of the people. A
large part of a beautiful city is about keeping it tidy.

People who live in the cities must be able to feel the joy of their family,
friends and happenings and only then will they share the ambitions of their
city. It is also important to remember that cities are not only for the
rich. They are also about who are not so rich, indeed, who are poor and
have left the warmth of their rural dwellings to make a living for their
next generation. They constitute an essential segment in every which way
and play a vital role in the economic activity of the city. They have moved
into the city to make their life better and that of their next generation,
so city developments must focus on their needs of schooling, health care
and business opportunity through a facilitative approach.

A smart urban development paradigm, therefore, has to begin with a simple,
compact set of bye–laws and rules. Planners must be clear on the basics
like optimum floor area ratios, vertical development, compulsory
underground parking facilities in public spaces and a well–run public
transport facility must be an absolute imperative. We have built housing
without connectivity and many times even without the fundamentals like
water and electricity access. This kind of development should really entail
a criminal liability.

Access and affordability are two vital considerations in building the
momentum for urban growth. Either we have a constant supply of serviceable
land or we should be able to make the best use of available land. We do
neither and keep making facile noises to make shelter and access to
services affordable. There is no magic stick to make affordability happen.
It has to be through a set of practical development controls and
intelligent pricing. Imagine, our inadequacy of the fire services will not
allow us to go for high–rise development. And our outdated laws will not
allow us to go underground except for storage. A capable fire service is a
needed insurance and it should not become a barrier to efficient land use.
All the cities of the world which we envy and want to be like them, have
done it through one simple formula, ‘the law is same for everybody’ and no
exceptions.

In the ultimate analysis, political belief in urbanisation is paramount. It
is not a sin if people want to migrate to cities for their future, the
cardinal sin is in not anticipating these aspirations and not being ready
to manage this scale of migration. Why don’t we do it, though we know the
deficits? Indeed, the inertia to do things right is mystifying most times.
We have almost 350 million human beings in our cities, with another 300
plus million to come to the cities in the next decade. Growth and
employment are powerful magnets to the cities and we cannot undermine
individual aspirations. The problem actually is bigger because we never
count the hidden urban dwellers on the fringes of the cities, called
peri–urban residents.

Their existence is even more appalling as they use resources as per their
needs without any municipal regulation and with no civic service of any
kind. By setting illusory urbanisation goals, we are only leading ourselves
up the garden path. Housing for all is a great ideal. Sure, wi–fi of public
areas is good, sure app assisted access to services is good, and sure
electronic lighting is good, but only after we address the fundamentals of
clean water, power supply and waste management.This will happen through
diligence and doable smart and sustained strategic plans which have to be
city specific and include the rural dimension.  Delhi or the state capitals
can, at best, only facilitate their success but the city administration has
to implement them. The big towns may be bursting at the seams, but there is
still a lot of possibilities in the mid–size and small towns. Let us
retrieve them. We desire to live in paradise, we have to create it here and
now and not in the next life.
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