OPEN FORUM

New Delhi, 12 January 2006

Urban Renewal

NEW PROJECT TO TRANSFORM CITIES

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

Cities have strongly emerged as the prime engines of the Indian economy and generators of national wealth.  It is evident that the future of India is inescapably urban. As the National Commission of Urbanization states, urbanization is the inevitable concomitant of economic change which is being witnessed in the country. With a total urban population of over 300 million and 35 metropolitan cities and metropolises, it is time that the nation perforce invests in the destined social and economic functions of cities and ensures that cities deliver a quality of life that would enable them to become national assets and engines of growth.

At such a juncture, the new project of the Union Government, Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission which seeks to improve the quality of life in 60 cities with a million-plus population, including all State capitals, has undoubtedly been a major step forward.  The seven-year plan with a budget of Rs. One lakh crore is expected to focus on infrastructure which would mean anything from road repairs and new flyovers to basic services for the poor, such as housing, drinking water supply and improved slum sanitation.

Though the endeavour appears to be extremely ambitious and should greatly help develop cities, sincerity and resources are vital for accomplishing this rather difficult task. This is because most of the big cities have a large percentage of the population who live in slums, squatter settlements, pavements and railway tracks and upgradation of these colonies as also rehabilitation, wherever necessary, has become imperative. Thus the Mission’s main objective of creating the much-needed infrastructure and developing basic services for the poor is expected to transform the cities and make them engines of development.

However, to achieve these objectives it is necessary to solicit the support of all stakeholders, including the NGOs and CBOs who have been working with the poorer communities in the city slums.  Any development plan would have to be finalized keeping into consideration the needs and demands of the lower echelons of society.  But this is rarely done and without planning from below, the success of meeting the requirements of the poorer sections can never be achieved. Thus, the strategy to develop the cities is very crucial at this juncture and, as the Prime Minister aptly pointed out at the launch of the Mission, it should evolve a people-centred approach.

As is well known, there has been a paradigm change in most Indian (if not Asian cities) cities during the course of decade or so. There are five negative aspects of the changes.  One, the globalization policies have resulted in the establishment of corporate sector industries, increased tourism and a rapid increase in the middle class. Consequently, there has been demand for land for industrial, commercial and middle class residential purposes. As a result, poor communities are being evicted from public land that they had occupied in or near the city centres.  The increase in land prices has also adversely affected the lower middle income groups. Two, due to increase of immigration and lack of low cost housing in the cities, living conditions in slums and squatter settlements have deteriorated due to over-crowding and lack of basic services. Three, increase in automobiles has polluted the environment and caused increase in environment-related diseases, affecting mainly the squatter settlers and the pavement dwellers. 

Four, curtailment of Government subsidies has directly affected the poorer sections that have to pay more for education and health. Especially the deterioration of the health sector and emergence of high-cost nursing homes has been a cause of serious concern for the poor who cannot afford the cost.  Five, increase in real estate development has led to the strengthening of the nexus between politicians, developers and the business community due to which building laws and zoning regulations have become strict with a view to beautify the city.  This has affected the poor communities, including pavement dwellers and street hawkers, who are being evicted from public lad, in most cases without any rehabilitation.

Deficiencies in urban infrastructure and basic amenities have acquired alarming proportions in the developing countries, including India, due to the declining trend in investment and financial support from the State governments to the urban local bodies. The possibility of generating large funds by these bodies from their resources being limited, the gap between demand and supply has widened in recent years.  It was thus necessary that the Centre make available resources for the development of cities which presently the Mission would seek to do.

Municipalities are in an unsatisfactory state on account of inability to properly tap and utilize proceeds from property tax because inadequacies in the valuation system and inefficiencies in the collection system, the Prime Minister rightly observed. He called for improvements that would enable city-level institutions to become financially viable and capable of generating resources. 

Meanwhile, tax exemption for municipal bonds and guidelines for their issuance, fiscal incentives for private sector participation in urban infrastructure, permitting FDI inflows into city hardware have heralded the possibility of ensuing changes.  It ma be mentioned here that some states and cities have taken the initiative in introducing accounting reforms, setting up state level urban municipal funds and attempting private sector in civic services though the overall national impact has been limited.

The current Mission for providing basic amenities should encourage involvement of local bodies, private agencies, non-governmental organizations and communities in a integrated manner to achieve the task.  The government fund constitutes only a part of the total resources that may be required for urban renewal and the remaining is expected to come from institutional sources, private entrepreneurs and the residents themselves.

Sustainable municipal efficiency is thus called for.  This needs capacity not merely within the municipal ranks of elected representatives and officials but also outside among civil society stakeholders.  Thus, capacity building for good urban governance is very much necessary.  Such capacity building, in any event, needs to be demand-based and should cover a wide spectrum of stakeholders and should address itself to a sufficiently large and widespread to achieve impact.

Urban governance needs serious attention and necessary reforms. As the Prime Minister said: “cities have not been enabled to look inward and build on their inherent capacities, both financial and technical, and instead are still seen in many States as “wards” of State governments.  He wanted this to change and informed, in this connection, that many cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Thirvananthapuram have come up with citizen’s initiative for urban renewal.

Thus, the renewal programme of the populous and big Indian cities is very much needed at a time when infrastructure upgradation to international standards has become a necessity. The big question that the Mission has to keep in mind is the fact that both the rich and the poor have to exist peacefully in a city and the interests of both the groups have to be protected.

While the Government has been giving prime land to the corporate sector at relatively low prices in the metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore, there is also a need to give land rights to the urban poor which unfortunately is not being done.  The city in Third World countries like India should have a balanced approach; both the powerful corporate entities along with the poor communities should be able to live and their livelihood. ---INFA.

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)