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Speaking at the XI Metropolis World Congress here, Naidu said at the current level of urbanisation, urban areas in India were contributing over 60% to the gross domestic product (GDP). However, "this is estimated to reach over 75% in the next 10 to 15 years".
"It is for this reason that urbanisation is seen as a driver of economic growth. With so much of economic activity concentrated in urban areas, the challenge is to sustain it, which in turn warrants an enabling environment," he said. However, according to the minister, the primary challenge that accompanies the growing urbanisation is to ensure inclusivity.
"We need to ensure that every urban resident feels involved in the socio-economic and cultural landscape of the city that he/she had come to live in and thereby make him/her own that city rather than being subjected to the feeling that it is not wanted and has no hope. This is what I understand by the theme 'Cities for all', the governing theme of the Metropolis Congress here," he said.
Urban centres engines of growth
Naidu further stated that to sustain this economic dimension of urbanisation, the country needs to facilitate the ease of doing business through proper integrated provisioning of social, economic and physical infrastructure. These facilities are essential to take advantage of urban agglomerations.
In India, as per the 2011 census, over 31% of the population (or 377 million) live in urban areas. This is projected to rise to 600 million by 2030. And by 2050, more than 50% of India's population would be urbanised.
On Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao's suggestion to give police powers to urban bodies, Naidu said this was a novel idea but needs to be discussed with the political parties across the country for a broad consensus.
Efficient public transport systems
Speaking on the need to maximise the utility of urban public transport systems, he said the Centre would work with states on the National Urban Transport Policy, which envisaged around 80% of urban population to utilise public transport for intra-city commuting. Naidu said the government was studying the Barcelona city public transport model for implementation in the country.
"More than 80% people in Barcelona use public transport ... it's a good example. We have to learn from this. Contrary to this, in Atlanta in the US, more than 85% utilise private transport. However, the economic footprint of Atlanta is five times that of Barcelona," Naidu said, while emphasising the priority to cut down the green house gas emissions.
Globally, almost 80% of GDP is generated in cities and so is most of the greenhouse gases. It is essential to manage the ecological footprint of cities in a sustainable manner.
Over 1,000 participants, including 135 from 40 countries, are attending the five-day conference to discuss and deliberate on various aspects of making urban cities inclusive. President Pranab Mukherjee will address the valedictory function scheduled on October 9.
