India has long history of urbanization with spatial and temporal discontinuities. The first phase of urbanization in the Indus valley is associated with the Harappan civilization dating back to 2350BC. The two cities of Mohanjodaro and Harappa represent the climax of urban development attained in the Harappan culture. This great urban civilization came to end at about 1500 B.C, possibly as a result of Aryan invasion.

The second phase of urbanization in India began around 600 BC. The architects of this phase were the Aryans in the North and the Dravidians in the South. From this period onwards, for about 2500 years, India has had more or less continuous history of urbanization. This period saw the formation of early historical cities and also the growth of cities in number and in size especially during the Mauryan and post-Mauryan eras. The Mughal period stands out as a second high watermark of urbanization in India (the first occurring during the Mauryan period), when many of India’s cities were established. The early part of British rule saw a decline in the level of Indian urbanization. The main reasons for the decline of cities during this period are: 1. the lack of interest on the part of the British in the prosperity and economic development of India, and 2. the ushering in of the industrial revolution in England. During the latter half of British rule, Indian cities regained some of their last importance; further, the British added several new towns and cities, in addition to generating newer urban forms in the existing cities. The following elements constituted the permanent components of the Indian urban system:

1.   the military-political town, serving as a center for the flow of cash nexus in the society and often for the redistributive system, and

2.   the temple or the full-fledged temple town. The great variations exiting among the different periods and areas developed with respect to

(a) the degree of existence of a more centralized hierarchy;

(b) the relative importance of coastal towns in relation to those of the hinterland and

(c) the importance of temple centres and networks in relation to the more political and commercial towns.

Facets of British Influence on Urbanization

During the 150 years of British rule, India’s urban landscape went through a radical transformation. The major contributions of the British to the Indian urban scene were:

1.   The creation of the three metropolitan port cities (Calcutta, Bombay and Madras) which emerged as the leading colonial cities of the world.

2.   The creation of Hill stations (Simla, Darjeeling, Mahabaleshwar etc.) and plantation settlements in Assam, Kerala and elsewhere.

3.   Introduction of the Civil Lines and the Cantonments. The Civil Lines contained the administrative offices and courts as well as residential areas for the officers, whereas the Cantonments were most often built near major towns for considerations of security.

4.   The introduction of the railways and modern industry which led to the creation of new industrial townships such as Jamshedpur, Asansol, Dhanbad and so on, and

5.   The improvements in urban amenities and urban administration.

In the British period, Indian cities became the focal points of westernisation. Schools and colleges trained boys and girls in western thought and languages. A new western oriented urban elite emerged whose dress, eating habits and social behaviour reflected western values and attitudes. With the process of westernization, there has been a concomitant alienation of the urban elite from the urban and rural masses. Urbanization in the Post-Independence Period.  This period has witnessed rapid urbanization in India on a scale never before achieved. The major changes that have occurred in India’s urban scene after independence are:

1)   the influx of refugees and their settlement, primarily in urban areas in northern India,

2)   the building of new administrative cities, such as Chandigarh, Bhubaneshwar and Gandhinagar,

3)   the construction of new industrial cities and townships near major cities,

4)   the rapid growth of one-lakh and million cities

5)   the stagnation and decline of small towns

6)   the massive growth of slums and the rural-urban fringe and

7)   the introduction of city planning and the general improvement in civic amenities.

Problems

Some dimensions of the challenge

Actually, the pace of India's urbanization has been slow by international standards. According to census and United Nations data, India's share of urban population in 2011 was 31 per cent, compared to around 50 per cent in China, Indonesia and Nigeria, 61 per cent in South Africa, 78 per cent in Mexico, and 87 per cent in Brazil. In the 60 years from 1950 to 2011, India's urban population share rose from 17 per cent to 31 per cent, while China's quadrupled from 12 per cent to 49 per cent. Nevertheless, the number of people involved is large: in the 20 years from 1991 to 2011, India's urban population rose to 377 million - 160 million more than in 1991 and 90 million more than in 2001. By 2031 the urban population is projected to increase by more than 200 million to 600 million, or 40 per cent of the national population.

Despite India's relatively low level and pace of urbanisation (by international standards), the condition of urban communities and their services in India is woefully inadequate. Consider the following:

• Twenty-five per cent of urban India dwells in slums; in Greater Mumbai the ratio is over 50 per cent.
• Barring a couple of small towns in Maharashtra, no city provides continuous piped water. And the water that does come, fitfully, is rarely fit to drink without boiling or other treatment. In contrast, cities in China and Brazil get much better water 24x7.
• Very few Indian towns (such as Chandigarh, Navi Mumbai and Surat) treat over 90 per cent of their sewage (excrement and waste water) before discharge into rivers, sea and lakes. In the vast majority of urban communities, the treatment rate was far lower, well below 50 per cent. Until recently it was 30 per cent in Delhi, and has now increased to 50 per cent.
• Urban India is estimated to produce 180,000 tonnes of garbage every day, most of which ends up in huge rubbish heaps or "landhills", instead of being composted, converted to energy or sealed in sanitary landfills. Overflowing garbage bins and rubbish heaps are common sights.
• Little wonder that diseases like dengue, malaria, typhoid, swine flu, diarrhoea and respiratory ailments are on the rise in most towns in India.
• Urban road systems are grossly inadequate and poorly maintained. Typically, public transport is scarce: only about 500 out of 8,000 cities and towns have a public bus system.

The recent trends of industrial urban growth in India and several third world countries have created a very serious problem of pollution threatening the health and happiness of human beings. The problem of pollution is so different from many other problems that common people hardly comprehend its seriousness although everyone slowly and continuously becomes the victim of ill-effects. The problem of pollution is becoming increasingly acute with the rise of urbanisation on account of the following reasons:

a)   Indiscriminate growth of industrial and chemical plants in spite of the efforts through legal measures to check such growth.

b)   Pre-industrial structure of cities with narrow streets and roads, which have become defective and inefficient in regulating traffic.

c)   High-rise buildings, representing vertical growth of cities, ultimately causing high density of population, congestion on roads and pollution.

d)   Lack of effective and systematic use pattern on account of scarce land and its commercial speculation.

Environment Decay

Added to all these demographic and technological sources of pollution, the human factor involved in causing environmental decay needs attention. The apathy of the city-dwellers and industrialists towards cleanliness of the environment, lack of seriousness on the part of local civic authorities in maintaining environmental standards, stronghold of the vested interest groups on available land, poor maintenance of public utilities, such as, latrines, drainage, dustbins, water-taps and bathrooms, etc., contribute to the environmental pollution so much that many parts of the city become the living examples of dirt and filth. At times, it is seen that even the hospitals and gardens are also very poorly maintained from the standpoint of cleanliness. With the ever-increasing pace of urbanisation and resultant population pressure on the available land and public utilities the environmental pollution in cities has now become a great challenge to the health and happiness of the urban people. The fast deteriorating conditions of urban living can only be ameliorated through systematic programmes flowing from a well-conceived and effective rational policy on environment as well as emergence of a serious awareness among the city dwellers and commuters for pollution control.

Emergence of slum

The National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi, has recorded that the emergence of slums is essentially the product of three forces:

a)   demographic dynamism of a city attracting more people from the rural areas offering greater potential for employment;

b)   its incapacity to meet the rising demand for housing; and

c)   the existing urban land policies, which prohibit the access of the poor to the urban land market.

It is further observed that the urban poor are left with no choice but to make or take shelter illegally on any available piece of land. Sometimes a slum is the consequence of blight in the old parts of the city. At times, a slum is inherited in the form of an old village or a haphazardly growing locality within the extended territorial limits of a town.

Inadequate housing

The rapid growth of population in cities has given rise to numerous social problems among which the problem of housing is the most distressing. In fact, a vast majority of urban population live under conditions of poor shelter and in highly congested spaces. It is estimated that nearly 70 per cent of population in big cities live in sub-standard houses, which they call their homes. Special mention may be made here of the old houses, which are deteriorating in the sense that they are unserved, overcrowded and dilapidated. Usually, such decaying houses are found in the middle of most of the cities. Similarly, there are hundreds of such people who are living in cities as pavement-dwellers, without any kind of shelter at all.

Unsafe and Insufficient Water supply

Availability of water for domestic use constitutes one of the basic civic amenities. Unfortunately, in the cities of the third world countries including India there are only a few urban dwellers, who enjoy this amenity on a regular and satisfactory basis. Nearly 30 per cent of the urban population in India is deprived of safe drinking water facility. Largely, the municipal pipes and handpumps are the major sources of procuring water in towns and cities. But in most of the cities, specially the rapidly growing ones, the slum-dwellers have to suffer acute problems in procuring water for domestic use. Several systematic studies have brought out the plight of the slum-dwellers in this regard. Not only have they to wait for long hours at the water-tap but many a times fights and unpleasant disputes for the sake of drinking water arise owning to the heavy rush of the slum-dwellers to procure water before it stops running through the water tap every day. In some cases, it was found that more than a hundred families depended exclusively on one water tap. The problem of regular water supply in smaller cities and towns too is assuming an accute form with rapid and unmanageable stream of urbanization.

Power Shortage

Power supply has remained insufficient in a majority of the urban centres in India. The use of electrical gadgets has increased in cites, and establishment of new industries and the expansion of the old ones has also increased dependence on electricity. Conflict over power supply between two states often creates severe power crisis for people in the city.

Social consequences

The rapid urbanisation over the last few decades in India (and elsewhere in the third world countries) has latently led to rise in several problems. In fact, in the modern developed societies, these problems came into existence since the emergence of industrialisation during the 18th century. Today, the developing societies are acquiring the characteristics of the developed societies even in crime, juvenile delinquency, rape, murder, prostitution, gambling, suicide and alcoholism. Moreover, the unprecedented pace of urbanization, causing high density of population and conditions of urban anonymity, have given rise to socio-psychological problems of adjustment, especially in the case of the migrants to the city of their destination. Here, we shall briefly look into the problems of crime, isolation and maladjustment.

Crime

The metropolises and the big cities provide greater environmental opportunities for committing crimes and acts of juvenile delinquency. The rate of crime is very high in cities compared to the rural and tribal areas. With the rise of urbanisation, the rate of crime gets further accentuated as the opportunities of success through socially legitimate means remain scarce as against the number of aspirants. Moreover, urban anonymity in a way encourages resorting to unlawful activities, as the traditional agencies of social control and law and order become noticeably weak. Under these conditions of urban living, crimes such as theft, burglary, kidnapping and abduction, murder, rape, cheating, criminal breach of trust, gambling, prostitution, alcoholism and counterfeiting, etc., have become almost routine affairs in most cities, especially the “million” cities. Further, in all big cities the criminal gangs indulging in organised crimes have become a grave social problem. These criminal gangs have their network stretching beyond a given city, spread over more than one city. At times, these gangs are so resourceful that, even when caught by the police, they easily succeed in escaping punishment.

Modern research points out that the great amount of crime in modern urban centers reflects the inability of the urban community to integrate all its members and to control those who resist integration. Crime and city are thus casually connected. Scholars pointed out that the urbanisation of rural areas and an increase in crime go hand in hand. Several years ago it was found that among the rural areas and an increase in crime go hand in hand. Several years ago it was found that among the rural inmates in an Iowa performatory in the USA Characteristics associated with an urban way of life played a significant role in their criminal behaviour.

Compared to western societies, the rate of crime in urban India is low; nevertheless, the problem of crime is becoming grave in all big cities in India. The most significant reasons for this deteriorating situation lie in an unprecedented rate of population growth of these cities, widespread economic insecurities, and decline in the management of law and order.

Isolation

Social interaction with others is a basis of all forms of social relationships and social groupings. It plays a very vital and meaningful role in all forms of social life: rural, urban or tribal. In smaller communities, such interactions in different aspects of life provide for personal and intimate social relationships, whereas in the cities due to the large and heterogeneous population, the possibilities of such relationships are considerably minimized. With the rise of urbanization, a city-dweller, while living amidst a sea of fellow city-dwellers, is detached from them socially. In other words, a city-dweller is physically in proximity with others in different walks of life, but socially he is under conditions of relative isolation, if not absolute isolation. Socially, isolated persons are rarely found in village communities. In the city, people are usually unable to make intimate and emotionally strong relationships. This tendency goes on increasing as the city grows in the face of rapid population growth. Older people, the migrants who are still strangers in the city, people who are unable to get along with others, socially rejected persons and persons who do not find people of their liking often feel acute isolation even amidst thousands of the urban-dwellers.

The rapid growth of urban population leads to greater divisions of labour and specialisation of work which, in turn, creates interdependence among individuals participating in a given economic activity. Such an interdependence is partial and restricted only up to the fulfillment of a given fraction or a portion of the total activity. Thus, there is extremely limited scope for sharing a totality of experiences and social life. The heterogeneity of population, especially in matters of social status, caste, class, religion, income, occupation, etc., creates partial isolation under which, as K. Dais says, integrity of particular groups is reinforced by maintaining social distance (avoidance) toward other groups. Residential segregation is one of the manifestations of partial isolation in cities.

Maladjustment

The process of urbanisation adds to the complexities of city - life. It generates and strengthens the forces of social change, leading to new social reality and inevitable pressures of conformity. As the process of urbanisation accelerates, the city life tends to be rapidly characterised by cultural diversities, socio-economic inequalities, competition, conflict and several other manifestations of complexities of social reality. The fact of social mobility also affects the life of the city-dwellers. In a way, all these social forces impose a functional adjustment on the part of the city-dwellers to lead a peaceful and fuller life. However, all the city-dwellers are not fortunate enough to satisfactorily adjust to the diverse challenges of a growing city. For example, in the field of economic activities, even in a rapidly growing city, the number of opportunities for successful adjustment are smaller than the number of competitors. In such a situation, several among those, who are the losers, fail to suitably adjust to the reality, and become victims of frustration, inferiority complex and loss of ameaningful integration with the totality of city-life. All such failures give riseto the problem of maladjustment. Similarly, even among the successful ones,many fail to conform to the new situations, and become maladjusted.

Remedies

Key Constitutes of India’s Urban Future

In India, it is now recognised that urbanisation is not a trivial aspect of the processes of economic development and social change. This has led to a demand that there ought to be a national policy statement on urbanisation, as it is true in matters of industrial development, population growth, and education. Several reasons account for the lack of national policy on urbanisation, foremost among which have been the issues of overwhelming concern for self-sufficiency of villages and the inclusion of urbanisation in the state subjects of our Constitution. However, in our efforts of planned development, the five year plans do reflect the general policies being followed for the management of the urban problems, which are assuming massive proportion due to unprecedented rise in the rate of urbanisation. This problem has reached almost a breaking point in the case of the metropolitan cities. In order to meet this problem, planned efforts are made in the following directions:-

1.   Constitutional maechanism

2.   Legal Mechanism

3.   Programme of Slum clearance and construction of New houses

4.   Five year Plans

Constitutional Mechanism

At the heart of the quality of urbanization is the governance system of institutions and policies that guide and oversee the planning, execution and co-ordination of land use, building regulations, road construction and delivery of key services such as water supply, sanitation, transport, and solid waste disposal, while ensuring adequate mobilisation of the necessary financial resources. The institutional framework for urbanisation in India has been historically weak. Significant improvement occurred in 1992 through the 74th Amendment to the Constitution, which emphasised the importance of urban local bodies (ULBs). But many believe that this matter needs to be revisited to assign better revenue resources to ULBs, clarify expenditure responsibilities in relation to state and central governments, and improve their staffing and competencies.

Such systemic reform may well be necessary. But a great deal can be accomplished within the existing framework, with strong administrative and legal support from state governments and some assistance from the Centre, as through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. First, it is surely shocking that while over 2,000 new areas were designated as "towns" by census enumerators (according to established criteria of population, density and employment in non-agriculture pursuits) between 2001 and 2011, the number of towns with statutory ULBs increased by less than 250. Thus, a very large number of small towns do not have a ULB to deliver the basic services necessary in order to avail the benefits of agglomeration. The facilitation of new ULBs is surely a primary task of state governments, with some assistance from the Centre.

Second, ULBs are chronically short of resources. Yet within the existing framework, many of them, especially city municipalities, could do a far better job in exploiting existing revenue bases such as the property tax. International comparisons show that Indian cities are unusually deficient in raising revenue from property taxes, usually the prime source of income for urban local governments worldwide. Indeed, as Dr Mohanty spells out, there is a range of other revenue instruments that could be deployed for harnessing some of the soaring land values in urban locales to fund the necessary urban infrastructure. Third, user charges need to play a bigger role to fund provision of services such as water, electricity, bus services and waste disposal. Fourth, as Dr Ahluwalia shows, ULBs can improve - and have improved - resource mobilisation and service provision through intelligent deployment of information technology. More generally, there is a great deal that India's urban governments can learn from each other.

Dr Ahluwalia documents some 40 case studies of progress in urban service provision. Not all of them are replicable or scalable. But quite a few surely are, especially with the support of state governments.

Programme of Slum clearance and construction of New houses

These urban problems haveassumed massive proportion, warranting social legislation and special attentionin our national planning. Following from these efforts, one of significant programmes is the slum clearance scheme and programme of construction ofnew houses for the urban poor and the low income groups. Under this scheme, low cost houses, equipped with latrine, bathroom, water-tap, sanitation anddrainage facilities, are made available to the poor people, who can afford topay a token amount as rent from their meagre earnings. Moreover, under thescheme of slum clearance an entire area inhabitated by economically andsocially weaker sections is provided with these common utilities to be sharedby all.One of the greatest obstacles in effective implementation of the slum-clearanceprogramme has been lack of adequate funds. The issue received significantattention in the Seventh Five Year Plan. It led to the establishment of a NationalHousing Bank (NHB) with an assistance of Rs.100 crores from the Centralgovernment.

The Five year Plans

The policy of decentralisation in our national planning has lately been founduseful in matters of urban development also. In the First Five Year Plan nospecial attention was paid to the solution of urban problems. Yet, it did recognize the acute shortage of housing and steep rise in land prices in big cities. By theend of the First Five Year Plan several institutional set-ups to ease this problemcame into existence. For example, a new ministry of works and housing wasfirst established and later renamed as the Ministry of Urban Affairs. TheNational Building Organisation was established to design low cost housing.Steps were taken to train personnel in town planning.In brief, although the Five Year Plans do not as yet exhibit any comprehensivepolicy on India’s urbanisation and urban problem, there are obviously certainaspects which have received greater attention to ameliorate the conditions ofthe urban-dwellers. Special mention may be made of (a) finance for housing,(b) slum clearance and improvement, (c) town water supply and sewerage, (d)urban transportation, and (e) the preparation of master plans for the developmentof cities, especially bigger ones.

Exclusive Cities: The poor and lower income groups must be brought into the mainstream in cities.  Regulations intended to manage densities and discourage migration both limit the supply of land and require many households to consume more land than they would choose.  This drives urban sprawl and pushes up the price of land and the cost of service delivery for all.  High standards for parking, coverage limits, setbacks, elevators, road widths, reservations for health centers schools etc.  (often not used) prevent the poor from choosing how much to consume of the costliest resource (urban land) to put a roof over their heads, and comply with legal requirements.  Informality is now the only path to affordable housing for the bulk of the population in India’s cities.  But informality implies illegality and therefore vulnerability.  While lower income groups pay dearly for shelter and services—they are bereft of normal property rights protections and their investments are thus far riskier than those of the well off.  They must instead depend on the good will of bureaucrats and politicians—to safeguard their homes and places of business.  These barriers to healthy urbanization come not only at a high human cost, but take a toll on productivity.  Chronic informality discourages the very investments in education, health and housing improvements the lower classes need to improve their own lot and contribute more to the national economy.

Urban Governance: Meaningful reforms have to happen that enable true devolution of power and responsibilities from the states to the local and metropolitan bodies according to the 74th Amendment.  This is because by 2030, India’s largest cities will be bigger than many countries today.  India’s urban governance of cities needs an over-haul.  India’s current urban governance is in sharp contrast to large cities elsewhere that have empowered mayors with long tenures and clear accountability for the city’s performance.  India also needs to clearly define the relative roles of its metropolitan and municipal structures for its 20 largest metropolitan areas.  With cities growing beyond municipal boundaries, having fully formed metropolitan authorities with clearly defined roles will be essential for the successful management of large cities in India.

Financing: Devolution has to be supported by more reforms in urban financing that will reduce cities’ dependence on the Centre and the states and unleash internal revenue sources.  Consistent with most international examples, there are several sources of funding that Indian cities could tap into, to a far greater extent than today: Monetizing land assets; higher collection of property taxes, user charges that reflect costs; debt and public-private partnerships (PPPs); and central/state government funding.  However, internal funding alone will not be enough, even in large cities.  A portion has to come from the central and state governments.  Here one can use central schemes such as JNNURM and Rajiv Awas Yojana but eventually India needs to move towards a systematic formula rather than ad-hoc grants.  For large cities with deep economies, this might mean allowing them to retain 20 percent of goods and services tax (GST) revenues.  This is consistent with the 13th Central Finance Commission’s assessment that GST—a consumption-based tax that creates local incentives for growth and that is therefore well suited for direct allocation to the third tier of government.  For smaller cities, however, a better option would be to give guaranteed annual grants. 

Planning: India needs to make urban planning a central, respected function, investing in skilled people, rigorous fact base and innovative urban form.  This can be done through a “cascaded” planning structure in which large cities have 40-year and 20-year plans at the metropolitan level that are binding on municipal development plans.  Central to planning in any city is the optimal allocation of space, especially land use and Floor Area Ratio (FAR) planning.  Both should focus on linking public transportation with zoning for affordable houses for low-income groups.  These plans need to be detailed, comprehensive, and enforceable.  

Local capacity building: A real step-up in the capabilities and expertise of urban local bodies will be critical to devolution and improvement of service delivery.  Reforms will have to address the development of professional managers for urban management functions, who are in short supply and will be required in large numbers.  New innovative approaches will have to be explored to tap into the expertise available in the private and social sectors.  

India needs to build technical and managerial depth in its city administrations.  In the Indian Civil Services, India has a benchmark for how to build a dedicated cadre for governance. India now needs to create an equivalent cadre for cities, as well as allow for lateral entry of private-sector executives.

Affordable housing: Affordable housing is a particularly critical concern for low-income groups—in the absence of a viable model that caters to their needs, India can meet the challenge through a set of policies and incentives that will bridge the gap between price and affordability.  This will enable a sustainable and economically viable affordable housing model for both government housing agencies and as well as private developers.  India also needs to encourage rental housing as an option particularly for the poorest of the poor, who may not be able to afford a home even with these incentives.

With the 74th amendment to India’s constitution and the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), India took the first steps toward urban reforms.  Going forward, the central government has to play a catalytic role accompanied by a supporting package of incentives.  States should recognize that starting early on the urban transformation will give them competitive advantage, attract investment, and create jobs—getting them ahead of the curve.