Never before in history has such a high volume of population shifted from rural to urban locales as is currently happening in India today. The government has been carefully curating policy provisions and orchestrating future plans to prepare for this urban acceleration. Government estimates suggest that over 60 crore people would be residing in urban India by 2030. This trend is encouraging for several reasons.
Firstly, urban areas are hubs of economic growth. In 2016, a Brookings Institute study stated that 123 largest metro cities in the world, with only 13% of the world’s population, contribute 33% of the world GDP. This trend resonates in India as well, with urban locales contributing about 63% to the country’s GDP as of today, and this is expected to rise to 75% by 2030, according to a CBRE and CREDAI report.
Secondly, population density is also shown to be correlated to innovation. Leading scientist Geoffrey West, working on scientific models of cities, has shown that as the population of a city doubles, innovation measured by the number of patents marks a rise by 15%.
Finally, smart urbanisation also brings the potential of environmental sustainability. A 2018 McKinsey study noted that smart cities have the potential to save 25-80 litres of water per person each day, and reduce non-recycled solid waste by 30-130 kg per person annually. Taking cognisance of such network benefits, recently the Budget acknowledged and the Fifteenth Finance Commission (FFC) anticipated the growing importance of urban India.
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