Feroze Varun Gandhi's book, The Indian Metropolis, is an attempt, as its subtitle suggests, to deconstruct India's urban spaces through a robust national conversation in and around the issues that afflict the cities, the urbanisation processes and public policies that undergirds the spatial and socio-political developments of metropolises. More on it in this interview:
What prompted you to write this book?
I wanted to start a conversation on urbanisation in India. For decades, we have lived in cities which are increasingly becoming unliveable, despite policy tweaks and stop-start investments in civic infrastructure. With the advent of climate change and high urban temperatures, we can no longer simply make do.
What is the key takeaway from your book?
That policymakers need to give due importance to improving urban planning in our cities, particularly those in Tier 2 and 3 categories. That the long overdue investments in civic infrastructure, public transportation and urban healthcare need to be pushed through. And that we have to prepare for more internal migration to our cities, making them bigger than ever, unless we can course-correct and make other smaller towns and cities more liveable.
In the book, you say for a great civilisation, our cities look like poor distant cousins of those in the West, and there's little sense of verve and tradition in our architecture. How would you want the cities to look and feel?
In Asian countries with similar levels of development, one often sees urban infrastructure that is reflective of functional needs and civilisational heritage. Whether in Thailand, Vietnam or Indonesia, there’s a sense of ownership associated with cities, and a drive to manage chaos and, out of it, create unity of purpose, aesthetics and function. We should aspire for that. We also have examples we can build upon, Jaipur being one.
Do we have the resources to develop the cities as you’ve suggested? Wouldn’t large allocation for cities go against the interest of rural folks?
There are avenues of financing, which cities can tap into via municipal bonds. That would enable us to fund critical infrastructural investments. Raising financing from such sources would mean that one would not pauper rural India to fund urban infrastructure.
Which is a bigger problem: rising population or lack of planning?
It’s a combination -- a large and migrating population means there are challenges in urban planning.
A distinct lack of urban planning in Tier 2 and 3 cities means that job growth is lessened and migration continues towards the metros.
Do you think governments are moving in the right direction?
Although, much is yet to be done, there are steps being taken at the Central and state levels. We need regular conversations between policymakers and civic society.