Need For Good Urbanisation

What is the issue?

The Covid situation has reinforced that good urbanisation is the most powerful technology for poverty reduction.

What are the causes of urbanisation?

Urban area is where most of people work in secondary or tertiary (service) sectors. It includes statutory towns, census towns and outgrowths.

Poor infrastructure
Lack of productivity - 50% of our population in rural areas generate only 18% of the GDP
Poverty
Poor quality of education without bilingual possibilities
Poor quality of healthcare
Caste discrimination in villages

What are the issues with urbanisation?

Inadequate planning – Causes congestion , pollution and aggravates the problems during disasters like flood
Non-scalable infrastructure –Pressure on resources such as land, capital limits the scope of scaling the infrastructure
Unaffordable housing – Leads to unhygienic living conditions and multiplication of slums
Poor public transport – Tokyo has one-third of Japan’s population but planning has ensured that essential workers don’t commute more than two hours
Dependence of local governments - only 13 per cent and 44 per cent of the budget of rural and urban bodies was raised themselves
Policy distortion – Separate central rural and urban ministries hampers the continuity and efficiency of policies
Lack of power and resources with the local governments
Men-only migration - leaves women with the burden of farm work, taking care of children and elderly , having no access to health services and no emotional support from the spouse
Pollution – Noise pollution and air pollution are serious issues in cities especially in Delhi
21 of the world's 30 cities with the worst air pollution are in India, according to 2019 World Air Quality Report
Water scarcity - In four metros (Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai & Mumbai) only 30% of dirty water is treated

How can a good urbanisation promoted?

More devolution of powers and resources by the states to the local governments is in need.
Instead of debating on whether cities are hostile to migrants and infection hotspots they must be empowered to deliver economic justice for women, children and vulnerable.

Source: The Indian Expres