Agenda, Approach and Options for Rationalising and Redefining Future Indian Cities

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Agenda, Approach and Options for Rationalising and Redefining Future ?Indian Cities

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Jit Kumar Gupta

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? [email protected]

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Looking at the context of Smart City Mission, it can be visualized and concluded that cities remain complex, full of dualities and contradictions. Promoting economy, ?generating lot of wealth, creating large proportion of employment and housing large number of slums, poverty, pollution, houselessness, lack of infrastructure and unauthorized development, cities are also known for its positivities and negativities. Looking at the entire domain of operation, Cities ?remain difficult to ?define in terms of ?its growth and development for the reason cities are never static

. Being dynamic entities, cities are always evolving and devolving, never fixed and never finite. Accordingly, freezing cities in the name of planned development, shall ?be a fallacy and ?a mirage, for making cities sustainable. It will be doing injustice to the cities and the people, ?if cities are put in a water tight framework of planned development. Accordingly, it needs to be ensured that cities will have ?to be planned and designed with inbuilt flexibility to evolve an devolve, ?but still adhering to ?and remain committed? to follow, all the principles of planned ?and sustainable development, ?based on well defined, norms and standards.

?Since Cities comprise of human beings and accordingly, all efforts to reform ?cities must ?focus on making people happy, healthy, more productive and more efficient. Cities must be able to empower its citizens, including poorest of the poor to lead a dignified life. Cities must be able to skill all its citizens to make them more productive. Cities must create enabling ?environment which will lead to inclusivity and ?care of all its residents. Cities must be able to promote planning which will lead to universal good and? not good of few selected and rich people. Cities must be able to create ?universal opportunities of gainful employment for all. Making people happy and healthy, by creating an enabling environment and creating appropriate level of healthcare institutions should be made integral part of city planning, development and management process of cities. In addition to generating wealth and promoting economy, cities must ensure that wealth generated must be equitably distributed among all its residents to ?enable them to meet their basic and essential requirements, in an effective and efficient manner.

?Accordingly , cities must be planned, designed, managed differently and distinctly. In order to make cities better places to live and work. Accordingly, ??planning , development and management of cities must be ?critically reviewed, ?objectively revised and rationally ?redefined in order to empower cities ?to ?create opportunities of universal good of all its residents. Government policies must move from making cities ?smart to ?making cities sustainable, ?happy and healthy places to live, inclusive and safe, both physically, socially, economically and environmentally. This would require ?that cities will empower ?its residents and ensure the provision of Roti, Kapra, Makan to all its residents besides providing universal access to healthcare, education, employment , infrastructures, amenities and ?mobility; as integral part of commitment of city to its residents. If these basic essentials are not made available to all its residents, no city has the right to call it a sustainable and livable city and achieving ?agenda. defined in SDGs, ?will remain ?a ?fallacy, illusion and misnomer.

?Government of India/state policies, programs, mission and agenda must move ?providing basic essentials through an efficient, ?objective? and transparent ?system of governance. ??For making cities livable and empowering people; ?right to ??basics/essential of human living including; ??Right to shelter, food, clothing universal access to healthcare, education, employment , infrastructures, amenities and ?mobility; should be ?made integral part of Indian Constitution by embedding it as Fundamental Rights/Directive Principles of state policy besides making them integral part of planning, development and management/governance process of all human settlements.