Technoglitch
Core Member
Terming India’s urbanisation as “messy and hidden”, a World Bank report today called for initiatives at the policy and institutional level to tap the economic potential it offers.
“Although they have made progress, India and other South Asian countries can make better utilisation of opportunities that urbanisation provides them to transform their economies to join the ranks of richer nations,” it said in a report titled ‘Leveraging Urbanisation in South Asia’.
The World Bank said there has been difficulty in dealing with pressures that increased urban populations put on basic services, infrastructure, land, housing and environment, fostering “messy and hidden” urbanisation.
“Inter-governmental fiscal relations must be improved to address empowerment; practical ways must be identified to increase the resources available to local governments to allow them to perform their mandated functions and mechanisms must be strengthened to hold local governments accountable for their actions,” the report highlighted.
To tackle messy urbanisation and bring about lasting improvements in both prosperity and liveability, policies are also required to improve the ways in which cities are connected and planned, working of land and housing markets, and cities’ resilience to natural disasters and the effect of climate change.
“If managed well, urbanisation can lead to sustainable growth by increasing productivity, allowing innovation and new ideas to emerge,” said World Bank Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who is on a three-day visit to India.
“The largest metropolitan centres — Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad — saw a 16 per cent loss in manufacturing jobs between 1998 and 2005 within 10 kilometres of their city centres.
“On the other hand, job growth in their immediate peripheries increased by almost 12 per cent,” said the report.
Indian urbanisation ‘messy’, reforms needed: World Bank | Business Line
“Although they have made progress, India and other South Asian countries can make better utilisation of opportunities that urbanisation provides them to transform their economies to join the ranks of richer nations,” it said in a report titled ‘Leveraging Urbanisation in South Asia’.
The World Bank said there has been difficulty in dealing with pressures that increased urban populations put on basic services, infrastructure, land, housing and environment, fostering “messy and hidden” urbanisation.
“Inter-governmental fiscal relations must be improved to address empowerment; practical ways must be identified to increase the resources available to local governments to allow them to perform their mandated functions and mechanisms must be strengthened to hold local governments accountable for their actions,” the report highlighted.
To tackle messy urbanisation and bring about lasting improvements in both prosperity and liveability, policies are also required to improve the ways in which cities are connected and planned, working of land and housing markets, and cities’ resilience to natural disasters and the effect of climate change.
“If managed well, urbanisation can lead to sustainable growth by increasing productivity, allowing innovation and new ideas to emerge,” said World Bank Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who is on a three-day visit to India.
“The largest metropolitan centres — Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad — saw a 16 per cent loss in manufacturing jobs between 1998 and 2005 within 10 kilometres of their city centres.
“On the other hand, job growth in their immediate peripheries increased by almost 12 per cent,” said the report.
Indian urbanisation ‘messy’, reforms needed: World Bank | Business Line
