Urbanization is intrinsic to development and often serves as a major driver of economic growth. As India reaches tipping point of transitioning from a mostly rural to an urban society, the focus must be on ensuring the best opportunities for economic growth for all sections of the society. — Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Former Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog
In October 2020, the NITI Aayog formed an Advisory Committee on ‘Reforms in Urban Planning Capacity in India’, to find ways to face the multiple challenges being faced in the cities and India’s commitments towards global agendas. After extensive deliberation with domain experts and think tanks, the Committee presented its report in September 2021. The highlights of the report are summarized below.
· India is the second largest urban system in the world with almost 11% of the total global urban population living in Indian cities. In absolute numbers, the urban population in India is more than highly urbanized countries/regions across the globe. Observing India’s urbanization through Western lens has become a practice . Experience has shown that such objectivity diminishes the motivation and confidence needed to generate innovative solutions for indigenous problems. Indian cities are different from their Western counterparts in terms of culture, demography, lifestyle and so on. Adopting Western practices without tailoring them to suit Indian needs is not advisable.
· India’s urban story may be lauded globally or suffer irreversible damages in the next 10-15 years depending upon corrective policy measures and actions taken at the beginning of this decade.
· Over the years, cities have expanded and become burdened by the stresses and strains of unplanned urbanization, the brunt of which is faced by the poor and the marginalised, the biodiversity and the economy.
· In urban areas, land is confronted with competing uses due to market forces, social necessities, as well as environmental concerns.
· Issues like lack of availability of serviced land, traffic congestion, pressure on basic infrastructure, extreme air pollution, urban flooding, water scarcity and droughts are not merely a reflection of infrastructural shortcomings in the cities. These issues indicate a deep and substantial lack of adequate urban planning and governance frameworks.
· Urban planning, which is the foundation for the integrated development of cities, citizens, and the environment, has not received adequate attention. A study conducted by TCPO and NIUA for NITI Aayog indicates that over 12,000 posts for town planners are required in the State town and country planning departments. This is in stark contrast to the present situation. There are fewer than 4000 sanctioned positions for ‘town planners’ in these departments, half of which are lying vacant.
· A significant proportion of urbanization in the country is unacknowledged and unaddressed. Almost half of the 7933 ‘urban’ settlements are census towns, that is, they continue to be governed as ‘rural’ entities. Small and medium towns face vulnerabilities due to rapid growth and inadequate planning. 65% of the 7933 urban settlements do not have any master plan.
· In many cities, development control regulations were formulated several decades ago and have been updated arbitrarily without sufficient empirical evidence on their impacts
· The transfer of the urban planning function from States/UTs to elected urban local governments did not happen as was envisaged through the Constitutional (Seventy-Fourth amendment) Act 1992. Many agencies are involved in urban planning, implementation, infrastructure development at the city as well as State levels. The existing framework has become complex, which often leads to overlapping of functions, lack of accountability and coordination, time delays, resource wastage, etc.
· Massive capacities for problem-solving, innovation, and ideation are required to address the present and future challenges in the planning and management of cities, towns, villages and their infrastructure. It may not be feasible to create such capacities in the public sector given the size and scale of urbanisation in India. However, the ecosystem of the private sector in urban planning domain has remained under-developed.
· The country has been producing graduates with degrees such as Bachelor of Planning since more than 3 decades and Master of Planning since early 1950s. However, so far, the urban planning profession has not yet gained a strong and unique identity of its own. As a result, prospective employers, unaware of these courses and skill sets of available graduates, end up hiring professionals from other disciplines to undertake the tasks of planning, thereby creating a negative feedback loop.
The Committee suggested measures to strengthen the three pillars of cumulative urban planning capacity in the country: public sector, education/research sector, and private sector. The suggestions include programmatic intervention for planning of healthy cities, optimum utilization of urban land, ramping up human resources, re-engineering urban governance, involving citizens in urban planning, building local leadership, and enhance participation of private sector.
The committee advised that “The political leadership, decision-makers and planners need to reach a common consensus that a promise to save the environment from the strains of urbanization is a promise of economic growth in the long run. The road to reform may be long. Collaborative, concerted and cooperative efforts are required to strengthen the urban planning capacity of the country. The moment to start is now, if the country has to keep pace with the emerging demands of time.”
The finance minister took cognizance of the report and devoted six paragraphs in the budget speech of February 2022, while presenting the union budget for 2022-23. The FM proposed setting up a high-level committee of urban planners and economists to make recommendations on urban sector policies, capacity building, planning, implementation, and governance. She pledged support to the states for urban capacity building. Five existing academic institutions in different regions were designated as centers of excellence with endowment funds of INR 250 crore each, tasked to develop India-specific knowledge in urban planning and design.
I hope we shall see some results in the current tenure of the NDA government.
