Urban development initiatives and reform in India:
Author: Dr. Anil Kumar Roy
Secretary general of the Association of Professional Geographers, India (APGI)
Introduction
Urbanization is a process of transformation from traditional rural economies to modern industrial ones. It is a long-term process through which the ratio of population between rural and urban is changed in favour of urban settlement. Indian urbanisation has frequently been considered as over-urbanisation or pseudo-urbanisation because of rapid growth of the urban population especially in large cities. The high rate of population growth in urban areas particularly in large cities is the result of high natural growth and poverty- driven rural to urban migration in the short and long term.
Traffic near Victoria Terminus, Mumbai. Photo: APGI
The Process of Urbanisation in India
At present, India is a country with a low level of urbanisation. The number of urban agglomerations/towns has grown from 1827 in 1901 to 5161 in 2001, while the population residing in urban areas increased from 25.8 million in 1901 to 285.3 million in 2001. According to the 2001 Census, 28 per cent of the total population of India lives in urban areas.
Table 1 shows the growth of towns and cities and their number from 1951 to 2001.
Table 1 / India: Trends in Urbanisation 1901-2001Year / Number of Towns/Urban Aggl. / Urban Population (in thousands) / % of Total Population / Decennial Growth (%)
1901 / 1,827 / 25,851.9 / 10.84 / -
1911 / 1,815 / 25,941.6 / 10.29 / 0.35
1921 / 1,949 / 28,086.2 / 11.18 / 8.27
1931 / 2,072 / 33,456.0 / 11.99 / 19.12
1941 / 2,250 / 44,153.3 / 13.86 / 31.97
1951 / 2,843 / 62,443.7 / 17.29 / 41.42
1961 / 2,365 / 78,936.6 / 17.97 / 26.41
1971 / 2,590 / 1,09,114 / 19.91 / 38.23
1981 / 3,378 / 1,59,463 / 23.34 / 46.14
1991 / 4,689 / 2,17,611 / 25.71 / 36.47
2001 / 5,161 / 2,85,355 / 27.78 / 31.13
Source: Census of India, 2001
The Census of India classifies cities and towns into 6 classes based on population as shown in Table 2:
Table 2 / Population of cities and towns by size class in India, 2001Class / Population Size / Number / Population (millions) / % of total Urban Population / % Growth 1991-2001
Total / 5161 / 285.35 / 100 / 31.13
I / 1,00,000 and more / 423 / 172.04 / 61.48 / 23.12
II / 50,000 – 99,999 / 498 / 34.43 / 12.3 / 43.45
III / 20,000 – 49,999 / 1386 / 41.97 / 15.0 / 46.19
IV / 10,000 – 9,999 / 1560 / 22.6 / 8.08 / 32.94
V / 5,000 – 9,999 / 1057 / 7.98 / 2.85 / 41.49
VI / Less than 5,000 / 227 / 0.8 / 0.29 / 21.21
Source: Census of India, 2001
Over the years there has been continuous concentration of population in class I towns. By contrast, the concentration of population in medium-sized and small towns either fluctuated or declined. The ‘graduation’ of a number of urban centres from lower population size categories to class I cities has resulted in a top-heavy structure of urban population in India. The big cities attained inordinately large population size leading to virtual collapse in urban services, followed by problems in the field of housing, slum, water-supply, infrastructure, quality of life etc. The urban planning and policy framework focus was therefore on increasing the efficiency of large cities and redirecting attention towards small and medium towns. This was intended to ensure a balanced regional pattern of urban growth through which India can benefit from globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation as cities become the centre of global economy. The major challenge to policy makers and planners is to tackle the concentration of urban poverty in cities, particularly in large cities. They warrant special attention so the urban poor are accommodated in the fabric of city and can contribute to its growth.
Taking its cue from the current urban development scenario in India, Central Government adopted a very ambitious urban development programme called Jawaharlal Nehru Urban renewal Mission (JNNURM) in 2005. Prior to these initiatives, the Government of India had taken a very positive democratic policy decision to strength urban local bodies by providing them with political and financial autonomy. This was made possible through a process of devolution of power though the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992.
Legislative Measures in Urban Policy
This constitutional arrangement legally allowed individual cities to take decision on their own developmental issues. However due to lack of financial support and low capacity to generate their own resources (with the exception of a few large municipal corporations in India), urban local bodies struggled to take advantage of globalisation and privatisation over recent decades. The following are salient features of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act which provides the planning frame work for urban local bodies.
Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, 1992
The Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, 1992 relating to Municipalities (known as Nagarpalika Act, 1992) was passed by Parliament in the Winter Session of 1992 and received Presidential assent on 20 April 1993. This Act seeks to provide a common framework for the structure and mandate of Urban Local Bodies and enable them to function as effective democratic units of Local Self Government. The 74th Amendment Act came into force on 1 June 1993.
As a result of the initiatives taken by the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment, the Constitution (74th Amendment) Act 1992 was implemented by all State Governments/Union Territory Administrations to come into force on 31 May 1994. State Governments then enacted amendments to bring their Municipal Laws in conformity with the Nagarpalika Act.
The salient features of the Constitution (74th Amendment) Act covers the following:
· Constitution of Municipalities
· Composition of Municipalities
· Constitution of Wards Committees
· Reservation of Seats
· Fixed duration of Municipalities
· Power, Authority and Responsibilities of Municipalities
· Appointment of State Election Commission
· Appointment of State Finance Commission
· Constitution of Metropolitan Committee and
· Constitution of District Planning Committees.
Through these legislative measures urban local bodies got a fixed tenure and popular representation in decision-making which was not the case before when a ‘top-down’ process of decision was prevalent.
Recent urban development schemes and municipal reform agenda
Cities and towns have a vital role in India’s socio-economic transformation and changes. Host to about 30 percent of the country’s population, they contribute 50-55 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). At the same time, most cities and towns are severely stressed in terms of infrastructure and service availability, and their growth and development is constrained by poor implementation of the Constitution (74th Amendment) Act 1992 and the continuing existence of statues, systems and procedures that impede the operation of land and housing markets. As this is incompatible with the country’s socio-economic objectives, the Government of India has launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) in recent year. The JnNURM aims to encourage cities to initiate steps to bring about improvement in the existing service levels in a financially sustainable manner. The JnNURM consists of two sub-missions:
A) Urban Infrastructure and Governance and B) Basic Services to the Urban Poor.
It is believed that in order to make cities work efficiently and equitably, it is essential to create incentives and support urban reforms at state and city levels, develop appropriate enabling and regulatory frameworks, enhance the creditworthiness of municipalities and integrate the poor with the service delivery system.
Mission Objectives
The primary objective of the JnNURM is to create economically productive, efficient, equitable and responsive cities. In line with this objective, the Mission focuses on:
· Integrated infrastructure development of infrastructure services>
· Securing linkages between asset creation and maintenance for long-run project sustainability
· Planned development of cities including the peri-urban areas, outgrowths, and urban corridors
· Renewal and re-development of inner city areas; and
· Universalisation of urban services so as to ensure their availability to the urban poor
It is expected that the total allocation of funds for the programmes will be Rs. 10,000 million (about £120 million) drawn from central government and a matching grant from state governments through a public-private partnership model of finance for urban projects. The JnNURM mission prescribes a series of urban reforms to be undertaken by state governments to take advantage of urban renewal schemes.
October 2008