How does urban India contribute to Indians economic development
Answers
Service sector activities such as financial, insurance, real estate and business related service activities such as transport, storage and communication contribute more than industrial activities. There is no major growth of industrial output over the last few decades.
Answer:
Recognising the challenges of urbanisation, India has affirmed its commitment to the New Urban
Agenda at UN Habitat III.
Infrastructure deficit, financing urban development, inclusion of the informal sector, housing, sustainable transport and the urban-rural divide, among others, are some of the issues that the country will have to focus on to meet the larger goal of the new urban agenda.
While delivering India’s statement at Habitat III, housing secretary Nandita Chatterjee said: “India’s urbanisation is poised to accelerate in the coming decades. Urbanisation has made significant contribution to India’s economic growth and poverty reduction. Managing and facilitating the process of urbanisation is essential for India’s structural transformation.”
The country’s urban population is likely to go up by 116 million (from 377 million to 583 million) by 2030, as per a government estimate. It is, therefore, important to prepare its cities for this transformation.
The New Urban Agenda focuses on various aspects of urbanisation and pushes for a larger goal of inclusivity and sustainability and building resilient cities in the future.
With urbanisation taking place at a fast pace, there is an urgent need to upgrade the transport system, basic services and infrastructure in cities so that it can meet the growing requirement. “There is an urgent need to address infrastructure deficit across cities and towns so as to ensure quality of urban life and local economic development,” said Chatterjee.
With nations all set to adopt the new urban agenda, which will set the tone for development for the next 15 years, urban planners and civil society members in India want the government to use this opportunity to lay special focus on bridging the rural-urban divide and addressing the concerns of the informal sector.
Civil society groups have submitted a Delhi Declaration to the ministry of housing and poverty alleviation in this regard. “Now that the country is going to adopt the new urban agenda, we want the government to focus on villages and informal sector. In this urbanisation process, what will happen to the villages? It is important to recognise the rural
reality in an urbanising world. There is a need to focus on bridging the urban-rural gap,” said Kirtee Shah, who led the civil society group for Delhi Declaration.
Speaking to TOI, Chatterjee said that the Indian government has carefully worked out levers for effective implementation of the new national agenda to make cities work towards productivity, inclusivity, sustainability and strong urban-rural linkages.