REAL ESTATE NEWS
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Small Is Big
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Most are focussed on developing mega-cities, but the real growth will come in small and mid-sized cities.
When we talk about urbanisation, the image that commonly comes to our mind is that of mega-cities like Delhi or Mumbai. An important fact central to the present day demographic transition that often gets hidden in the glitter of mega-cities is that most of the urban population growth in India (and the world over) is taking place in smaller cities of less than 5 lakh population, a trend reinstated by the recently released State of World Population 2007 Report. Highlighting the fact that 52 percent of the world urban population continues to live in smaller cities, the report said that small cities will dominate over larger cities in terms of urban growth in the foreseeable future.
Currently in India, 180 million or more than 60 percent of the total urban population lives in cities and urban agglomerations with less than 10 lakh population. These smaller and mid-sized cities are estimated to grow very fast over the next two decades for several economic reasons. A recent real estate study also listed smaller cities such as Chandigarh, Nagpur, Kochi and Meerut as the future points of growth for the Indian economy using indicators such as population growth, tax collections and consumption patterns.
Indeed, globalisation is attracting big businesses to the smaller towns. There is a growing availability of employment in these smaller cities in the booming services sector, IT, telecom and automobile industry, making them attractive destinations for migrants. Natural population increase and the reclassification of rural areas into urban ones are also significant contributors to urban growth in many regions.
However, such a population transition is a cause of concern. Small and mid-sized cities are massively underserved when it comes to housing, health infrastructure, transportation, piped water, waste disposal and other services. Like in most parts of the world, mega-cities have been receiving much of the development focus (read investment) whereas the condition in smaller urban areas has been deteriorating.
The author is Executive Director, Urban Health Resource Centre
Source:
Business Standard Siddharth Agarwal, New Delhi
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