A good and "smart" City is where people rich and
poor are able to work and play comfortably. And strive for a dignified journey
thru the 'bhavsagar', i.e. work for "arth" and "kaam" in a "dharmic"
way to achieve "moksha".
There is no gainsaying that our cities leave a lot to be
desired : many are just dumps. Successive governments having realized this
reality have launched many Urban Development and Rehab schemes, unfortunately with
little effect.
Albeit, exploding populations have put paid to the gains
made under all such schemes. The current PM Mr Narendra Modi has elevated the
level of concern in a manner that is uniquely his own. Jury is still out after two and half years.
I suspect that philosophical insights underpinning the Urban
Development policies have run their course and need rethink from basics. Most
urban development insights and rules have been developed in the west, mainly
USA and Europe.
Let's first consider a few vital physical parameters of
India and USA.
|
|
Area
|
Land
|
Arable
|
Perm.
Crops
|
Perm Pastures
|
Forests
|
Other
|
Population
|
|
|
M Sq Km
|
M Sq Km
|
|
|
|
|
|
Millions
|
|
USA
|
9.833
|
9.147
|
16.8%
|
0.3%
|
27.4%
|
33.3%
|
22.2%
|
321
|
|
India
|
3.287
|
2.973
|
52.8%
|
4.2%
|
3.5%
|
23.1%
|
16.4%
|
1252
|
USA (9.15 Million Sq
Km land) has 3X area than India (2.973 Sq M). India serves 4X population of USA
(1252 Million vs 321 Million).
Per unit of land, a finite resource, India supports 12
people vs 1 person that USA supports. Europeans are also blessed with similar
geographical advantage.
This miracle has mainly been possible for the fact that we
are largely vegetarians, who need about 3.5 times less agricultural area vs the
largely non vegetarian populations of USA. The rest of the difference ~3.5
times is made up by poor nutritional intake by us and by intensive cultivation.
Please note that the arable lands of USA
-153.7 Million hectares is comparable to India's 157 million hectares.
The Population growth rates of India do add another level of
pressure on lands.
Therefore, Land is critical to our well-being - hoped for-
which must be used wisely. Our Land use policies must recognize these realities,
but don't.
Hence the need to
rethink our Urban Development Policies.
