Urban renewal !

 

THE pledging of 10 billion dollars by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for infrastructure development in the next five years will prove to be a major boost to the national plan of urban renewal. It was during this meeting with Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi that ADB President Mr. Masato Kanda agreed to offer the help to India’s national vision. However, it is important for the country’s urban planners to give a far more serious thought to the cause than they are giving presently.

 

The progress made in the country’s urban infrastructure development in the past some years has left many serious gaps in planning and execution. One of the most serious issues that urban India now faces is of flooding of urban centres of all shapes, sizes and grades. Flooding of cities, unfortunately, have become a commonplace phenomenon in the country for the past few years. This is mainly because of faulty urban planning stemming from faulty thinking. Until a few years ago, India’s urban sector did not face the problem of flooded cities with even nominally higher rainfall. Experts in urban designing and planning without any political vested interests think that Indian cities of older times were safer place during the rainy seasons because of the planners had factored the provision of appropriate outlet to rainwater so that it is absorbed into systems of Nature. Modern cities are unfortunately being planned differently -- with little scope for rainwater to get absorbed into the systems of Nature.

 

This lacuna will have to be addressed on an urgent basis so that the money spent on urban development is not wasted due to damage following floods. There are also many other issues faulty or inappropriate urban design dogging most modern cities in India -- including the national capital (New Delhi) or the commercial capital (Mumbai). In the name of modern infrastructure, whatever is being achieved is not a design standard that is conducive to the needs of the people and their cities. When India utilises the ADB offering, then it would do itself much good if it engages itself in sensible urban thinking, planning, designing and execution. If these aspects are handled with much care, then India would be able to boast of truly modern but fully utilitarian but graceful urban infrastructure. Since the ADB pledge has come through the channel of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, it is his core responsibility to ensure that the money is spent in a right manner and on right design and usage.

 

He should ensure that India’s modern urban infrastructure adheres to norms of common sense as well as science of urban architecture and town planning. The general national experience is that Indian urban planners and designers are more interested in copying western urban models that have actually failed to deliver their basic purpose. Increasing numbers of cities in modern India are beginning to look like their European or American versions -- having lost their Indianness and identities. This will never help India even as it seeks massive monetary assistance for its urban renewal. In modern times, Indian cities do become massive in shape and size and population, but their utilitarian value has continued to sink ever lower.

 

In modern India, this cannot be allowed at any cost. Indian cities should become models of good design with a high utilitarian factor. Urban design should be such as to afford the residents higher living standard from multiple angles. It is time India gave a very serious thought to this dimension. If this area is ignored by the national leadership, the nation will suffer for long time. By no norm should this be allowed to happen. What India needs is not just cities with tall and expensive buildings, but places where ease of living is of a high standard with issues such as pollution having been taken care of beyond political tall talk.