Change India: How can we improve our cities?

The first point deals with a simple point of doubling the investment in urban infrastructure. Currently we spend about 0.7 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP) on urban infrastructure. We say that in the next five to seven years this should go up to 1.1-1.4 percent of GDP. We have also suggested that if possible funds could be directly transferred to the 50 top cities of the country and to have a unified ministry of urban affairs and housing. But how effective is this recommendation and how doable?

According to Chandra, it is doable if we are able to raise resources. “Resources will not just come by reassigning the Budget. It is clearly a felt need for two reasons. One is that cities are your wealth. A country is judged by its cities. It is true that a lot goes on in the rural areas but wealth, development and growth is what lies in the cities,” she said.

“We have not had a very comprehensive plan towards the urbanisation and the growth of population both within the cities as well as in migration; is going to in all the cities you can think of except Mumbai and perhaps Bengaluru the figures tell me they will double their present population by 31. In that case we have to be ready for so many things; not just roads, sewage, water supply but also for the fact that people need opportunities, people need some way of innovating,” she added.

Chandra further added that cities have to provide that and she feels that money can be found by raising those resources in many ways.