Uneven spatial development refers to the concentration of industries and services in high density economically developed areas. In other words, the clusters of economic activity are concentrated in a few highly dense megacities and engines of growth have failed to spread to less dense secondary cities.

                India’s unprecedented economic growth during the last two decades has been spearheaded by lopsided spatial development.

Body:

Trends of Uneven Spatial Development in India:

• Uneven spatial development is common in many countries, but it is much more pronounced in India.
• A majority of the population in India still lives outside megacities, this has created huge spatial disparities.
• Unlike in China, Europe and the US, where the engines of growth and job creation have spread to the secondary cities, in India medium-sized cities remain mired in joblessness and poverty.
• India’s manufacturing sector is spatially spreading at a much faster pace than the services sector.
• The low-density manufacturing districts are growing at a much faster pace than high-density districts in India.
• High-density service clusters (Example: Bangalore, Mumbai) have continued to grow at a much faster pace than less dense areas (Example: Pune, Chandigarh) and more dense locations have become more concentrated over time.

The reasons for such uneven spatial development are

• Infrastructure:
  • The manufacturing sector has not spread to all districts. Only those districts that have improved their physical and human infrastructure have attracted manufacturing enterprises.
• Employment Density prioritised:
  • Spatial development in any location is determined by the trade-offs between the forces of agglomeration economies and congestion costs.
  • Usually, Agglomeration economies are concentrated in locations with employment density below 150 employees per sq. km. Example: USA
  • In India, the concentration is in regions having density around 1000 employees per sq. km, giving higher priority to availability of labour.
• Knowledge Spillover Benefits:
  • India’s megacities suffer from severe congestion costs, they also benefit from huge agglomeration economies and knowledge spillovers.
  • This leads to growth of many ancillary industries, start-ups especially in the services industry. With the IR4.0 on the rise, the congestion costs are overlooked for knowledge spillovers.

• Spatial development policies and frictions:
  • Poor developmental policies in secondary cities.
  • Poor access to telecommunication and post-secondary education in secondary cities.
  • Some states offer Tax-Holidays for companies which attract them over others.
  • Failure of models like SEZ in India vis-à-vis China.
• Economic Opportunities:
  • Push and Pull Migration factors are still largely at play.
  • This leads to migration of a lot of people to Megacities, in search of job opportunities.

The impacts of uneven spatial development are

• Congestion Costs:
  • Locations with employment density above 150 employees per sq. km have experienced reduced employment growth, indicating important congestion costs.
  • UN Population Fund predicts that by Urbanization in India will rise to 40% by 2030.
• Environmental Costs:
  • Unsustainable development of cities has huge ramifications on the environment.
  • Example: India already hosts 14 out of 15 most polluted cities in the world.
  • Other impacts like depletion of groundwater, reduced green lung spaces.
• Economic Costs:
  • Concentration of high demand in few megacities leads to high cost of rents and in turn high cost of living.
  • Real Estate Bubble leading to increased Black Money circulation.
• Social Costs:
  • Lack of economic activity in smaller cities leads to inequality, poverty and conflicts.
  • The poor socio-economic development can lead to extremism, secessionism and other dangerous trends.

Way Forward:

• Quick need to increase connectivity and Infrastructure of the secondary cities. Initiatives like AMRUT, Smart cities, Digital India, BharatMala, PMGSY etc. can play a big role in spreading the manufacturing sector evenly.
• Proper planning of peri-urban areas, increased connectivity to spread out the population evenly. Example: RURBAN scheme
• Policymakers should improve access to telecommunication and post-secondary education in secondary cities. This will help in the spread of service sector to these cities.
• Incentivization for setting up manufacturing industries in underdeveloped areas. Example: National Industrial Manufacturing Zones can be set up.
• Strengthening the allied activities like Food Processing through Food Parks. This will reduce the Push and Pull migration.
• MSME’s are responsible for more than 14 crore jobs in India. Their growth must be boosted in smaller cities.

Conclusion:

                The flawed perception of Engines of Growth are tied to big cities must be shed. Secondary cities and the rural areas should be developed to reduce the lopsided spatial development currently happening in India.