Even in India, cities are associated with higher income, improved health, higher literacy, improved quality of life and are considered to be engine of economic growth. Despite many benefits, urbanisation, which is continuous concentration of economic activities and people in urban areas, has left many scars on the face of cities. Slums, poor housing, lack of urban infrastructure and sanitation facilities, unsatisfactory waste disposal mechanism and environmental degradation have made our cities unliveable. Still cities are attraction for millions of rural folks. If urban planners are to be believed then this trend will continue in future too and it is expected that urban population in India would be 60 percent by 2050 from 28 percent in 2001. Hence, we can estimate the gravity of the problem. All these facts call for a clear vision for the future cities and a paradigm shift in the policies of urbanization and urban planning in India.
This book is indeed a small contribution in this direction. It consists of 22 articles bringing together varieties of issues related to urbanization and urban planning in India. Along with analyzing the process of urbanization in explores clear vision and strategies for future cities and villages. The book has several articles with different issues on application of Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing (GIS and RS) techniques for spatial planning of cities and towns. It also examines urban governance in the light of 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) citing success story from different parts of the country. Finally, it examines various urban problems with interdisciplinary approaches. The book has articles from a number of eminent geographers, urban and regional planners, medical practitioners, political scientists, public administrators etc. The book would serve the need of research scholars, planners, policy makers, administrators working in the field of urban studies.
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