National urbanization policy: The need of the hour

By Upasana Hembram

India’s urban population is projected to have an addition of 404 million people between 2014 and 2050, having the highest annual growth rate among major economies. As inequalities in income and opportunities remain unchecked, India is currently facing a severe urbanization challenge with the socio-spatial hierarchy penetrating even deeper.

It is only recently that urban issues are being addressed seriously in the discourse of India’s public policy. The Gandhian dictum “India lives in villages” no longer reflects reality. Today, urban issues and concerns dominate the public discourse and government action with schemes like Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to the ambitious Smart Cities Mission.

Weak foundation

The kind of urbanization being built right now lacks the fundamental issues of adequate urban planning and effective rules and regulations. Issues pertaining to the urban subject are usually sidelined and often addressed in the framework of housing provision, industrial growth and regional development. A weak revenue base, deficiency of skilled and equipped human resource and multiple overlapping jurisdictions are some of the problems impeding the operations of urban policy in almost all Indian cities.

The ambitious ‘Housing for All’ initiative aims to provide every poor urban household with a home by 2022. Government data indicates that the economically weaker sections are victims of the 90% housing shortage in urban India while lakhs of apartments remain unsold. This mismatch is a result of high supply in the higher-price segments and a higher demand in the affordable housing sector.

The ruins of Indian urbanization

Moreover, 33% of existing houses in India are of sub-standard quality. Urban poor bear the brunt of rising costs of inefficiencies in the provision of services that are passed on to consumers. About 35 million people in urban India live in hazardous unsanitary conditions and only 83% have access to sanitation facilities. Piped water is dispensed for not more than a few hours a day which can be accessed by only about a half of the urban population.Majority of the urban population relies on non-revenue water through leakages, stealing, unauthorized connections etc.

The annual rate of the number of vehicles plying on roads has significantly outpaced the growth rate of road networks in India, giving rise to congestion of roads and air pollution. Surging inequality and deteriorating health of human capital in urban India shall only bring down productivity, intensify social fragmentation and endanger sustainable development.

Is the government even concerned?

Since urban policy, urban planning, housing and urban development are listed as state subjects under the Constitution of India, Centre can at best provide advisory services, issue directives, pass legislation and sanction funds which the states can utilize at their will. Despite being accorded with sufficient power and autonomy to implement urban policy, very rarely have states taken this initiative.

Following a bottom-up approach, even urban local bodies (ULBs) are bestowed with constitutional status and certain civic responsibilities by the 74^th amendment to the Constitution. List of subjects that fall under the bounds of ULBs as mentioned in Schedule 12 of the Constitution includes regulation of land use, water supply, sanitation and solid waste management, environment, urban planning and most importantly construction of buildings, roads and bridges and provision of public amenities and conveniences.

The entangled traps

But with next to zero financial autonomy, ULBs are compelled to rely on state governments for funds. With ULBs receiving a fixed percentage of below 2% of central tax pool which is further converted to grant-in-aid in order to conform to the Constitution, the very empowerment of ULBs is undermined by the primacy of state governments in local matters. Even though the fraction of transfers from Centre in total revenues of ULBs is high, they are crippled by inadequate funds and financial dependence on higher ranks of government.

The power and decision making for urban sector schemes including Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation of 500 cities (AMRUT) and the Smart Cities Mission are supposed to lie at city-level with State and Central governments only providing support. In reality, mayors of Indian cities are devoid of power. Their two-year term in office renders them ineffective and efforts to devolve power to ULBs with administratively and financially weak municipalities has simply been futile.

Is urbanization any different from rural India?

With their deeply entrenched caste system and social conventionalism, India’s urban landscape mirrors the socio-cultural realities prevalent in rural India. While millions of oppressed and marginalized communities believe that cities are inclusive, identity-based segregation and residential discrimination are accelerating in urban areas. Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims and newly migrated folk are concentrated in certain geographical sections of cities and the location of a settlement greatly dictates the quality of services it receives.

Basic services such as sanitation, healthcare, drinking water and coupons or vouchers for food are inaccessible in these neighbourhoods. During a time when polarization is on a steady rise in the politics and society of our country, exclusion based on socio-cultural identities demands intervention by municipal governance and policymakers to bring in necessary reforms to address these faulty socio-cultural structures.

Taking the right steps

When designing a national policy on urbanization, there needs to be a balance amongst migration, urbanization and development. Integration of economic goals with the planning of human settlements in urban spaces will culminate in better distribution of people along with economic growth while reducing inequality amongst varied socio-cultural groups. This would also help in dealing with high rates of population growth by effectively mobilizing resources.

United Nations Habitat III conference laid down a roadmap for urbanization that aimed towards affordable housing, clean energy, the creation of more jobs, greater socio-cultural equality and better transport connectivity. It is critical to evaluate urban spaces as a nexus of different policy verticals comprising of employment generation, energy, housing, gender relations, industrial location, transportation, disaster management, safety and health care.

Treat the disease not the symptoms

A constitutional amendment is needed to empower local governments in both financial and administrative capacity. While empowering municipalities with fiscal power, there must also be a system of open-data where they are obliged to publish accurate data in the public domain pertaining to operations, expenditures and periodic performance reports of ULBs.

Rather than viewing the problem of urbanization through the prism of lack of water supply, potholed roads, unarrested mushrooming of slum settlements, urban policy should be targeted at correcting the flawed legislation, practices, overly bureaucratic processes and policies that are the root cause of these issues.

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