INDIA NEEDS SMALL CITIES

INDIA NEEDS SMALL CITIES
There is a compelling need for smaller cities in India. ‘The big cities are no more beautiful .Anyone who lives or visits our big cities like Bombay, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi or Kolkata needs no more convincing. These cities are crumbling and gradually turning into large slum like habitats. We do not need such big cities any more.
The recent McKinsey report on urban development is on the expected lines. The model of urban development adopted by the western world does not fit India. There the proportion of people to the land and the financial resources is very favorable. Their case is different. Here in India we have a very large population but little land and financial resources. Besides majority of our people are illiterate and unaware of sophisticated urban behavior that is essential for an efficient functioning of megacities. Water for drinking and other purposes is not available in large quantities in any part of the country to support new megacities. Therefore more and more small cities located near abundant sources of water should be identified and developed into bigger but sustainable cities. Similarly cities located near huge dams, well developed highway and railway networks as well as air network should be taken up for further development. So also the educational centers like university centers etc could be considered for further development. Thus we will have enough small cities to give a happy and satisfactory habitat to the increasing urban population in India.