Urban tsunami: India's big challenge

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Since 70-80 per cent of the urban India that is going to be there is yet to be built, with good sense it can be built right, says Subir Roy.

That an urban tsunami is going to hit India (it has already begun doing so) is well known. In 20 years, by 2030, the country must make room for 250 million more urban-dwellers - the equivalent of 10 new Mumbais.

But the existing urban space is rapidly declining, the quality of life in Indian cities is among the worst in the world. The country is not equipped to tackle the urban challenge already there, not to speak of the one that's coming.

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Since 70-80 per cent of the urban India that is going to be there is yet to be built, with good sense it can be built right, says Subir Roy.

That an urban tsunami is going to hit India (it has already begun doing so) is well known. In 20 years, by 2030, the country must make room for 250 million more urban-dwellers - the equivalent of 10 new Mumbais.

But the existing urban space is rapidly declining, the quality of life in Indian cities is among the worst in the world. The country is not equipped to tackle the urban challenge already there, not to speak of the one that's coming.

Image: Mumbai.

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But the challenge can be countered and overcome. A number of cities across the world have rescued themselves - Chicago, Barcelona, London - and it does not take a generation to do so. Plus, a consensus of sorts is emerging on how to do it.

Many of the concerns of civil society groups that are traumatised by city administrations cutting down trees to widen roads to make way for more and more private cars which keep raising pollution levels have been addressed in a detailed recent study by the consultancy McKinsey's global institute.

Of course, "sustainable" development does not figure upfront in the study but is there as an appendix.