- Proposals by the new govt to fulfill its promise of making cities symbols of efficiency, speed and scale:
- Prioritize housing and public transport:
- Furthering the previous govt’s policies to make cities slum-free and infuse investment in infrastructure, the govt has declared that by 2020 every citizen will own a house.
- Reduction on interest rates on home loans and introducing private company investment in housing as part of their corporate social responsibility requirements.
- For these to succeed, the incentives need to be strictly tied to the actual creation and delivery of affordable housing.
- Establishing over 100 cities:
- Development of township as a satellite city or twin cities around existing metros to ease urban pressure.
- This may be plausible, but it requires a regional approach to for better distribution of the urban population and efficient integration of the hinter land.
- A city-centered approach, rather than a standardized urban template, will comprehensively include larger areas surrounding cities.
- Efficiently integrate Greenfield development with existing cities.
- Connectivity should be improved by using rapid transport systems.
- Optimal utilization of land and protection of ecological assets should be of utmost priority.
- The success of the govt will be largely driven by the difference between its planning and implementation.
- Read at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/the-new-urban-agenda/article6095985.ece
Exams Perspective:
- Urbanisation
- Problems of Urbanisation
- PURA
- JNNURM