NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
Theme : Urbanization,Local Self Governance,Separation of Powers,Government Policies.
GS - 2
Unsustainable Urban planning is a huge limiting factor to achieving the real economic potentials of urbanization as urban challenges have changed and require different approaches considering the current scenario.
An urban space is the region surrounding a city.The urban space refers to several urban areas and their related multicentric municipalities forming a whole in a single stretch. In the multicentric urban space, the urban areas are either adjoining or linked together by multicentric municipalities. This space forms a connected whole.
TABLE OF CONTENT
- Context
- Urban Spaces
- Urban Governance in India
- Major Challenges related to Urban Spaces
- Initiatives in Developing Urban Spaces
- Some Success Stories
- Road Ahead
Context : Unsustainable Urban planning is a huge limiting factor to achieving the real economic potentials of urbanization as urban challenges have changed and require different approaches considering the current scenario.
Urban Spaces :
An urban space is the region surrounding a city.The urban space refers to several urban areas and their related multicentric municipalities forming a whole in a single stretch. In the multicentric urban space, the urban areas are either adjoining or linked together by multicentric municipalities. This space forms a connected whole.
Urban Governance in India :
- A pan-India vision for the urban area was first articulated in the 1980s with the creation of the National Commission on Urbanization (1988).
- Through the Directive Principles of State Policy and the 74th Amendment Act 1992, the Indian Constitution imposes a clear mandate for Democratic Decentralization (Municipality) in India’s Urban Space.
- The 15th Finance Commission report on local bodies also emphasized the city governance structures and the need for their financial empowerment.
Major Challenges related to Urban Spaces :
- Purse, Purpose and Politicization of the ULBs: In view of inadequate finances, the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) have been unable to fulfill their obligatory functions.
- Urban local governments are seen more as platforms for political mobilization than as effective tools for development.
- Urban Heat Island: Natural land cover is reduced with dense concentrations of pavement, buildings, and other surfaces in urban areas that absorb and retain heat leading to the formation of urban heat island.
- Critical Infrastructure Shortages: Infrastructures are one of the layers that form a city. Majority of cities in India lack physical and cyber-based systems essential to the minimum operations of the local economy and local governance.
- Lack of critical infrastructure like access to safe housing, clean water and sanitation, waste management, timely health care, digital infrastructure and education affects the upward mobility of urban residents and the city as a whole.
- Inefficient Water Resource Management: Due to an increase in land prices and the lack of available land in city centres, new developments in Indian cities and towns are taking place in low-lying areas, often as encroachments on lakes, wetlands and rivers.
- Weak Urban Transport: The supply and demand of public transportation in urban areas are out of balance, so private vehicles are increasing, leading to congestion as the most prevalent issue of urban transport.
- Urban Poverty: The urban poor is largely the overflow of the rural poor who migrate to urban areas in search of alternative employment and livelihood. This creates overcrowding in the already packed urban infrastructure.
- Due to the informal nature of work, migrants have no social security, causing them to be in fear of being expelled at any time as seen at the time of Covid-19.
Initiatives in Developing Urban Spaces :
- Atal Mission for Urban Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)
- Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U)
- Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework 2.0
- TULIP-The Urban Learning Internship Program
- SMART Cities Concept
- Swachh Bharat Mission
- National Urban Renewal Mission(NURM), 2005
- National Urban Transport Policy,2006
Some Success Stories :
- Solid waste management in OKHLA:Waste management is the concern for any urban city with respect to its safe disposal, recycling of waste products and also generating energy from wastes.Timarpur Okhla Municipal Solid Waste Management project is the first commercial waste-to-energy facility in India that aims to convert one-third of the Delhi garbage into the much-needed electricity, enough to serving 6 lakh homes. It became the first to get carbon credits from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in the country in 2013.
- Delhi metro :It is one of the world-class metros. To ensure reliability and safety in train operations, it is equipped with the most modern communication and train control system. For its energy efficient practices, it has earned carbon credit points from the UN.
Road Ahead :
- Local E-Governance: Urban local bodies should maximize e-participation and include various social categories and in decision-making and bottom-up approach in policy-making through the use of new technologies such as social networks.
- Urban Employment Guarantee: A replica of MGNREGA scheme is needed in urban areas to provide a basic standard of living to the urban poor. Social security measures for migrants and unorganized sector workers are also necessary.
- Special Cultural and Environment Zones: Indian cities can create Special Cultural and Environment Zones with zero-exploitation of that area and "Our City Our Culture" centres as a means to promote cultural values.
- Sustainable Urban Planning: There is a need to align towards sustainable solutions for urban issues that can include green infrastructure, mixed-use of public spaces and use of alternative energy sources such as solar and wind.
- Good sustainable urban planning can help improve the welfare of people shaping their urban areas and neighborhoods into healthier, more efficient spaces.
- Towards Green Mobility: Public transport needs to be rethought and rebuilt, including by adopting e-buses, creating bus corridors, and using bus rapid transit systems to achieve green mobility in India’s urban space.