Traversing the Predicaments of India’s Urban Policy

The statement by Peter Marcuse asking, “Neither cities nor places in them are unordered, unplanned; the question is only whose order, whose planning, for what purpose?” sums up the conundrum of urban policymakers in India. The reality of too much focus on indefinite growth using finite resources of an already strained planet has unleashed a Pandora’s box of environmental crises.

India’s urban policy is a culmination of significant infrastructural developments and challenges. There are instances like Harvard University recognising the Hyderabad metro as a model of infrastructure development in the country. The Smart Cities Mission, PMAY mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation have also received attention for improvements in urban development. Yet Indian cities are plagued by issues which need to be addressed as soon as possible. This is why it is important to assess how aspects of urban policy - infrastructure, governance and climate readiness are faring in the context of developments in India.

Mr Tikender Singh Panwar,  a distinguished expert in urban studies and governance, has been a leading voice on the ramifications of the current state of urban policy in India. He views India’s urbanisation as a paradox: Where on one hand, cities are magnets of livelihood. They drive aspirations and transform lives by facilitating upward mobility. On the other hand, systemic exclusions, precarious employment, alienation and socio-economic disparities are urban realities. India faces an enormous demand for funding urban infrastructure. A McKinsey report pegs the amount at $1.2 trillion. The World Bank estimates $840 billion as an annual requirement. This premise makes it evident that Indian cities do not have a buoyant revenue base and are not sufficiently creditworthy. He observes that Indian urbanisation experiences ‘policy paralysis from the top’, rendering grassroots policymaking from the bottom-up referenced to in absentia.

Urbanisation and its perils:

The urban development trajectory in India has resulted in the rapid expansion of ‘grey infrastructure’. Prioritising real estate development has caused the widening of roads, leading to more road dust and concrete batching. Fuel-guzzling motorised vehicles have squeezed pedestrian space. Vehicular emissions and pollutants from industrial units have shrunk green cover on urban commons and green lungs. Green stretches amidst concrete jungles act as natural sponges since they prevent floods by absorbing rainwater. They purify air by filtering pollutants and maintain biodiversity, serving as a barrier against habitat loss.

Instead of a participatory role, city residents have been reduced to passive bystanders. The urban forest known as Kancha Gachibowli near the University of Hyderabad is one of the few remaining green spaces in the concrete jungle that is Gachibowli. However, despite such a sordid state of affairs, it has recently drawn attention due to legal intervention by both the Telangana High Court and the Supreme Court, as there were projects which required cutting down a significant portion of green cover.

Naturally, these instances have paved the way for climate change. Intensifying summers mean cities reeling from water shortages, increased use of air conditioners followed by power cuts. The urban heat island effect resulting in water crises in cities such as Bangalore, Delhi and Chennai underscore the multidimensional nature of water crisis in India. Stemming from factors such as over-privatisation and severe lack of regulation, water shortages have overarching effects ranging from water conflict to the rise of indebtedness and poverty.

However, it should be noted that effects of such changes are mostly borne by the marginalized. According to Aravind Unni and Shalini Sinha,“while heat waves affect everyone, it is India’s millions of urban informal workers who are bearing the brunt of this slow-moving disaster. The Reserve Bank of India has pointed out, in 2024, that extreme heat threatens the health and livelihoods of occupationally exposed people, potentially causing a projected 4.5% loss to India’s GDP.” They have also pointed out that the Heat Action Plans (HAPs) continue to remain underfunded and poorly coordinated, while establishing that the treatment of heatwaves are short-term disasters while focus should be catered to long-term strategies such as heat-resilient infrastructure and urban cooling.

Policy paralysis and urban governance:

As a consequence of rapid urbanisation, urban areas are now in a lurch owing to inadequate infrastructure and land use planning. Informal settlements and slums are structured by ‘inadequate housing’ which exacerbates chances of disaster vulnerabilities. Even then these disasters disproportionately disadvantage the workforce that constitute India’s urban informal sector due to a disregard for worker-focused social protections. Urban governance is also in a vegetative state. In a study by the University of Pennsylvania, small urban centres are poised to become growth engines for urbanisation since 400 million people are projected to migrate to urban areas by 2050. However, the study also found that chances of improvement  are very scant since elected officials are poorly trained and ignorant about financial autonomy. They are further supplemented by bottlenecks in cases of government spending affecting the provision of intel and equipment for development projects.

A panacea of expert policy suggestions offer a silver lining to the dark cloud of climate change. The solution to policy paralysis is often drawn out by empowering the three F’s: finances, functions and functionaries. Suggestions for protecting green spaces include levying a congestion tax for polluting vehicles, creation of an alternate city plan incorporating pedestrian paths and bicycle lanes to promote active mobility and safeguarding urban commons (ponds, parks, forests) against entities motivated by private profits. Techniques such as enhancing rainwater harvesting systems, promoting efficient irrigation techniques and strengthening groundwater management are the top three suggestions by water management experts. Also, the urban heat response requires a multi-pronged approach, which above all needs to focus on facets like equality and inclusivity.

Another pertinent requirement is the necessity of disaster-resilient infrastructure. It comprises essentials such as strict building codes, nature-based solutions and green roofs to reduce flood impact and make water management sustainable. Furthermore, to improve urban governance, it is important to undertake awareness raising around how mid and lower management officials should be oriented towards their roles and responsibilities. Regular elections and transparency measures, such as checks and balances on the everyday role of public officials, should also be turned into a political mandate.

Most of us today live in the urban sphere and often take its amenities for granted, leading to events which may go beyond our control. But how much longer can we complacently survive with apocalyptic climate disasters waiting to happen?