Urban Environment and the Indian city

The numbers are mind boggling. Every day 300 families migrate to Mumbai, by 2050 50% of the Indian population will be urban – which means about 60 – 65 million which represents a 100% growth from the already overcrowded cities in its current state, Delhi ships water from Ganga despite Yamuna’s presence, Chennai’s population density is 24,700 people per sq km. Are these cities ready to double their size in the next few decades, and how? Should they double their size, or their carrying capacity? What can be done?
On the global front, apart from the worldwide recession, cities are back at the forefront of mainstream economics. Over the last half of the previous century, suburbanization combined with rapid disinvestment and degeneration of urban neighborhoods was rampant along with the automobile boom in leading the economic bandwagon. With globalization, however, the increased need for collaboration and human interaction in leading business decisions and the lifestyle of the modern ‘knowledge worker’ has brought urban areas that have an attractive atmosphere for such interactions and lifestyles into the limelight.
Where does this leave Indian cities? Apart from the historical fabric and cheap technical labor, they hold little attraction at a global level. The infrastructure for a friendly urban atmosphere and pedestrian oriented neighborhoods which is the main draw of the ‘global cities’ is virtually non-existent. Survival instincts take over and the entire urban experience provides scenes of various survival mechanisms – some legal, some illegal, some approved, some not, some sustainable and sane while others are obscene and ludicrous in terms of a social and cultural fabric.
The best illustration that brings out this experience is that of Pondy Bazaar in Chennai. Comparing this urban district to another similar district in Washington DC – Georgetown, the biggest difference is in the pace of life on these streets. While the laidback atmosphere in Georgetown allows you to have a wholesome experience of the urban fabric, life in Pondy Bazaar is frenetic and the survival instinct is rampant in full splendor. There are no street side restaurants and street bands and cafes that let you relax and spend a balmy summer evening. No, not in Pondy Bazaar. It is all about fighting traffic to find a parking spot, shop and get out as fast as you can for there is nothing to let you enjoy the setting.
Where does this survival instinct come from? What is the main driver behind such frenetic and feverish urban activity? Why is there a lack of quality in our urban experience? Partially, the answer lies in the large migratory population that throng our cities in search of a livelihood and a better life for their future generations, it lies in the failure of our agricultural system that leads thousands of farmers to suicide, it lies in the lack of investment outside of ‘Economic Zones’ and ‘export oriented policies’ that came with our economic liberty.
As a result, we are ‘Caught in the Middle’ to use the term framed by Richard C. Longworth in his book ‘Caught in the Middle’, where he describes how the American Mid-West once the cradle of the US economy is now a derelict and abandoned region better known as the ‘Rust Belt’, is caught in the middle between the old economic setup where they were productive and the new economic policies of globalization where they are marginalized. Their skills and training do not render them useful to the new economy and the old industries where these communities were successful have also taken the Silk Route. The blue collared workers find themselves out of favor due to lack of training in the ‘new’ industry and their acquired skill is of no use anymore. And he is talking of America, where access to education is not an issue.
In the Indian context, given the size of our population and the access to basic facilities outside the preferred urban/economic zones, we face a larger conundrum. Decentralized economic opportunity and a widespread investment and development portfolio is the call of the hour to provide for inclusive growth – the latest political mantra in India. Whatever the merits and demerits of the Nehru era, the investment in education and science however farfetched it seemed at the time has been our savior in the last two decades. Similar vision and commitment is called for from a policy stand point. The aim should be to stop migration to cities and provide opportunities for a better life wherever there is an existing human settlement.
The means of achieving this goal is not farfetched or utopian. We have had successful examples like Amul that have created a business model to emulate. With a cooperative base and a capitalistic outreach, Amul has been able to channelize economic opportunity to the grass roots shown by the development of Anand in Gujrat. Similar setups with an organized retail sector at the helm can help bring prosperity to the grass roots of our country. With this kind of a setup, redistribution of wealth acquired is also channelized and realizable, and does not remain a pipe dream.
At the moment, we are pinging our hopes on ‘trickle-down Reaganomics’ it seems, with no mechanism other than a Robin Hood story in place to redistribute wealth to foster ‘inclusive growth’. Our built environment also reflects this thought process at the policy level as can be clearly seen on ‘IT Highway’ in Chennai. Not so long ago, this was a road flanked by farm lands, marshes and backwaters, with buildings flung far and few in between, interspersed by villages. Today, it looks like a mixture of confused glass containers waiting to be shipped out of an otherwise derelict village. Clearly, the conundrum is because the community is not being developed in an inclusive manner. The inhabitants of the glass containers are shipped in and shipped out on a daily basis and their money is also spent elsewhere. This is exclusionary development and not inclusive growth.
Urbanization of the human population may be an irreversible phenomenon. However, it does not mean that existing cities have to bear the brunt of this phenomenon. Through decentralized development, newer urban regions can be created which will enable a better quality of life in every environment and render the possibility of an access to livelihood in one’s preferred environment. It does not mean a return to Ebenezer Howard and his Garden Cities, but networked transit-oriented development with high density urban centers at transit hubs and a hierarchy of high-speed long distance rail, short-distance rail and surface trams that enables development footprint to be low and allows men and materials to be transported in an efficient manner. It means a revamp of the existing urban fabric in the current cities to enable transit-oriented development and efficient resource utilization. It means that current cities should not be disinvested; rather require more attention and investment to alter the cancerous urban fabric of today to make them truly ‘Global cities’ in the shadow of which the smaller centers can then prosper.