Cities need new model to become resource-efficient, inclusive, and liveable

Cry for my Delhi. This is my city: My family records many generations who have lived here. It is also where I have spent most of my professional career advocating clean air, water, and everything else that we need for basic well-being. 

We have garbage everywhere; potholes alongside no traffic discipline, with congestion, illegal buildings, and parking woes, which add to the chaos of road management. Our water supply is struggling to keep up with demand; the Yamuna is a forsaken river, and has become a receptacle of sewage instead; and of course, the now infamous unbreathable air. I could go on, but all residents of Delhi know what we are living through. 

So, we need to ask if the complete, visible, and much-discussed breakdown of urban services that we are witnessing today can be reversed, or if the blight has gone too far. I ask this not to crib about collapsed infrastructure but to ensure that we learn from this experience and do not create another Delhi in India. In other words, we ensure that middle-India cities do not become mega messes as they grow — even implode. 

This is important. We know that urbanisation will drive the white-collar economy. Today, with the pressures of immigration in the Western world, there is a huge opportunity for young, skilled workers to flourish in India. But they need more than money — they need quality of life for themselves and their children. It is not just about malls, restaurants, and nightlife, but about the basics: Clean water, clean air, education, and housing attract and retain talent. It is about liveable cities. 

To make this work, we must understand what not to do. The population data for cities is outdated, and planning still depends on the 2011 Census. Yet, we can see the implosion as cities expand into their peripheries. Over two decades ago, at the turn of the millennium, Gurugram sprang up on Delhi’s outskirts. Today, urban extension spreads laterally for miles and grows every day. Smaller towns are becoming big but without planning or services. This is the challenge. 

What should be done? First: Cities must plan for mobility, not just roads. This is the key as moving people is linked to affordable housing and livelihoods. As cities grow and land prices rise, many cannot afford to buy homes. This then means that the poor — critical to the city’s services sector — look for living in what are euphemistically called “unauthorised” areas, or slums. The tragedy is that in many cases, these lands are the key for the city’s environment, like green areas or catchments of waterbodies. The commute from the periphery, where housing may be cheaper, is either unavailable or just out of reach. The middle class also moves outwards, relying on private transport, which then adds to congestion. The city loses in every way. 

As cities grow, the most important component of planning, its “spine”, should be transportation — to connect the periphery and enable movement within the city. People should be able to walk, cycle, take buses or the Metro, and, only if necessary, use a car. A modern city should not resemble a gridlocked Delhi or Bengaluru. Then, there is a need for other basic services as well, from education to health care to clean water. These will drive the liveability quotient. 

But nothing is as important as the enforcement of the master plan. Delhi’s master plan is outdated and, worse, it is practised more in the breach. Most cities in India, and certainly the ones that are growing, do not even have the semblance of a land-use plan, which is then available publicly so that people know what is permitted and what is not. Transparency is the first step to deterrence. The chaos, deliberately born out of this confusion, is visible in Delhi, where illegal encroachments take over roads and public investment in infrastructure is lost. 

The new-gen city needs management, not populism, which leads to anarchy. This is where the rubber meets the road. We need affordable models of urbanisation, but these will not emerge from permitting everything that is illegal in the name of protecting livelihoods. This will only guarantee chaos and poor services. 

The bottom line is to focus on the nature of urban governance. We have completely discordant city-governance systems, where representatives are elected and then disabled. They then play with everything that is lucrative, adding to disorder. It is ironic that New Delhi, where the power elite lives, has decided that democracy does not work for it — an authority of officials runs the city. This is fast becoming a model for other newly growing cities. What, then, is best? 

This is the question that will determine our economic future — nothing less. The nature of urbanisation must be resource-efficient, inclusive, and capable of ensuring livelihood security and all that makes life worth living — from clean water and clean air to playgrounds and schools. Let’s discard the Delhi-style city dreams of the past. Let’s embrace the future.

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The author is at the Centre for Science and

Environment. sunita@cseindia.org, X: @sunitanar