Govt's New Urban Agenda

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

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