Our cities are uniquely corrupt, polluted and dirty. Even by developing world standards. One of the terrific advantages we have as we build our mega cities is to learn from all those who have come before. We get to see the choices made by London, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Singapore and see the consequences. But it’s clear we cherry pick projects such as metro-trains, large airports and ignore basic issues such as large green spaces, consistent building rules, factoring for air flow and how we manage waste.
We can also learn from less ‘glitzy’ cities around the world that have prioritised horizontal development, walkways, heritage buildings, stringent building codes, parks, gardens, museums, tougher safety and operating procedures for industrial operations and a slew of measures that aim to improve air flow, how wind blows, the stress on ground water resources and just prioritise open space above population density. Not to mention making cities safe and fun for kids and adults to navigate and live their daily lives.
As a late to the party country on the urban development front, we could ask interesting questions:
1. If we have the latest and greatest metros, would horizontal development make more sense? This would make housing more plentiful and affordable.
2. Does vertical development make sense given the water table constraints and greater energy costs of maintaining temperature and working conditions in taller buildings?
3. Does it makes sense to increase building sizes and population density in cities with hot or extreme climate. Less ventilation, wind and air flow makes these place dependent on energy-intensive cooling solutions.
4. High density spaces produce much more waste and require far more resources to manage waste.
5. Law and order and governance of larger cities requires greater resources.
6. Is land truly constrained in India? Do our large cities really have a natural advantage to command the premiums they do in terms of rent, resources and sale values? Is the work being done in larger cities uniquely doable only in those large cities? We have ports everywhere. We can build fast railways. And we can build airports everywhere. Why do we continue to fixate on large, unwieldy, corrupt cities when we have the options and resources to think beyond them.
The answers are not straightforward. But it’s far more promising than whatever our current trajectory and dispensation has in store for us.
We can also learn from less ‘glitzy’ cities around the world that have prioritised horizontal development, walkways, heritage buildings, stringent building codes, parks, gardens, museums, tougher safety and operating procedures for industrial operations and a slew of measures that aim to improve air flow, how wind blows, the stress on ground water resources and just prioritise open space above population density. Not to mention making cities safe and fun for kids and adults to navigate and live their daily lives.
As a late to the party country on the urban development front, we could ask interesting questions:
1. If we have the latest and greatest metros, would horizontal development make more sense? This would make housing more plentiful and affordable.
2. Does vertical development make sense given the water table constraints and greater energy costs of maintaining temperature and working conditions in taller buildings?
3. Does it makes sense to increase building sizes and population density in cities with hot or extreme climate. Less ventilation, wind and air flow makes these place dependent on energy-intensive cooling solutions.
4. High density spaces produce much more waste and require far more resources to manage waste.
5. Law and order and governance of larger cities requires greater resources.
6. Is land truly constrained in India? Do our large cities really have a natural advantage to command the premiums they do in terms of rent, resources and sale values? Is the work being done in larger cities uniquely doable only in those large cities? We have ports everywhere. We can build fast railways. And we can build airports everywhere. Why do we continue to fixate on large, unwieldy, corrupt cities when we have the options and resources to think beyond them.
The answers are not straightforward. But it’s far more promising than whatever our current trajectory and dispensation has in store for us.