An Analysis of Urban Growth Trends in The Post-Economic Reforms Period in India
An Analysis of Urban Growth Trends in The Post-Economic Reforms Period in India
An Analysis of Urban Growth Trends in The Post-Economic Reforms Period in India
Abstract
Significant changes have been observed since 1991 in the nature and pattern of urban growth in India. Our cities are in the midst of
restructuring space, in terms of both use and form. The paper addresses various complex urban issues associated with the present pattern
of urban development through review of urban development of selected metropolitan cities of India which have experienced the impacts
of LPG (Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization) process. Spatial trends, prevailing zoning, building bye laws (Floor Area Ratio
and density) development control regulations, urban housing and transport are analyzed in the context of the current phenomenon of
urban sprawl witnessed in India. The implications of such growth patterns of India are projected and the impacts analyzed. In conclu-
sion, the need for an alternative sustainable urban development pattern is outlined for future metropolitan cities of India.
Ó 2012 The Gulf Organisation for Research and Development. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Keywords: Liberalization; Privatization; Globalization; Sustainable; Density
2212-6090 Ó 2012 The Gulf Organisation for Research and Development. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsbe.2012.05.001
J. Chadchan, R. Shankar / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 1 (2012) 36–49 37
areas of large cities like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Gurgaon, slowly shifting away from industrial activities to more
Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bangalore occupy- sophisticated knowledge base systems. According to Mut-
ing areas up to 1000 acres and beyond. tur (2008), total labor force in urban areas increased from
Rapid urban growth, marked by the number of million- 57.15 million in 1983 to 80.6 million in 1993–1994 and to
plus cities increasing from 23 in 1991 to 35 in 2001, has 92.95 million in 1999–2000. The ratio of urban to rural
led to the problems of urban sprawl, unregulated ribbon labor productivity increased from 2.32 in 1980–1981 to
development, increasing problems of inadequate urban 2.34 in 1993–1994 and to 2.83 in 1999–2000. In addition,
infrastructure and deteriorating quality of urban livability. the annual growth of urban labor shows a remarkable
The lack of planning that characterizes most suburban increase from 2.26% during 1993–1994 to 8.38% during
growth has resulted in higher transportation costs in terms 1999–2000.
of money, time and inconvenience for suburban residents, The post-1991 period is marked by a significantly slower
in higher public sector costs, in undesirable land use patterns growth of ‘organized’ sector (comprises enterprises for
and in the inadequate supply of open spaces, recreational which the statistics are available from the budget docu-
facilities and other amenities. Overall, the unplanned and ments or reports) employment. Compared to an average
uncontrolled rapid growth has resulted in serious negative annual growth of 2.04% in the 1983–1993 periods, the
effects on the urban dwellers and their environment. employment growth since 1993 has been around 1% annu-
ally. In line with the global trends, much of the new employ-
2. Materials and methods ment generation (73%) has taken place in the services sector.
On the other hand, the primary sector employment has
The paper deals with in-depth analysis of various urban declined by 23% during this period (Mathur, 2003).
development issues that have emerged in the post LPG per-
iod. The analysis is carried out in two different sections. 3.2. Demographic changes
The first section of the analysis undertakes thorough liter-
ature review of the selected Indian Metropolitan cities India’s total population has increased from 238.4 mil-
which have experienced the impact of LPG phenomenon. lion in 1901 to 1028 million in 2001 whereas urban popula-
The key aspects covered are urban development patterns tion has increased from 25.8 million in 1901 to 286.1
including spatial trends, prevailing zoning, building bye- million in 2001 (nearly 30% of total population). India’s
laws (FAR – ‘Floor Area Ratio’ and ‘Density’) and devel- urban population of 286 million was larger in size as com-
opment control regulations, urban housing and transport. pared to the combined total population of 12 countries in
In the second section, implications of the urban growth West Asia (=192.4 million) or 5 countries in East Asia
trends referring to all the key aspects discussed above are (=206.8 million) excluding China (=1285 million), 40% of
projected and the impacts analyzed. The outcome of the the European continent (=726.3 million) (Muttur, 2008).
projections and calculations are further used as a basis The percentage of urban population living in Class I cities
for formulating an alternative conceptual sustainable (more than 100,000 population) has increased from 65% in
urban development model for future metropolitan cities 1991 to 69% in 2001 (Ministry of Housing, 2007).
of India. The secondary data sources used to carry out Strong urbanization effects are augmenting the growth
analysis are listed below: potential arising from India’s young, expanding population.
According to Planning Commission forecasts, the urban
Census reports, Planning statistics, Annual reports of population is expected to rise more than 40% by 2020 (PREI,
Government agencies, Technical and Master plan reports 2006). The last census survey in 2001 reported roughly
and such other official publications. 192 million households in India, about 40 million more than
Books, Journals, Conference proceedings, Study reports, 10 years earlier (DB Research, 2006). Household formation
Newspaper articles and Internet based information. is growing due to population growth and the shift from joint
families to nuclear families. The average number in each
The analysis is done with the help of MS Excel software, household has fallen from 5.8 in 1990 to 5.3 in 2005 (PREI,
logical calculations and projections. GIS based urban 2006). Median household incomes are expected to grow
sprawl maps procured from secondary data sources are from US$2000 in 2005 to US$3200 by 2010. A large middle
used for spatial analysis and graphical output. AutoCAD class has emerged, currently estimated at 120 million, half of
software is used for digitizing map and to prepare relevant whom are under 25 years. India’s National Council of
drawings. Applied Economic Research expects a further 180 million
to join the middle classes by 2010. At 300 million, it will be
3. Results and discussion larger than the USA (LaSalle, 2006).
Indian Cities are in the process of adapting new eco- India’s globalization and consequently urbanization
nomic realities. City-level economic development is have shown remarkable selective growth by city sizes,
38 J. Chadchan, R. Shankar / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 1 (2012) 36–49
regions and sectors. Higher growth and larger concentra- 3.4. Special Economic Zones (SEZ)
tion of urban population in metropolitan areas is an impor-
tant feature of India’s urbanization in post-globalization In 2000, the government replaced the old EPZ (Export
period. The globalization period has been out of changes Processing Zone or Free Trade Zone) regime by a new
in key urban sectors like Housing, Transport, Commercial scheme of “Special Economic Zones” (SEZs) with several
and Information Technology Enabled Services/Business lucrative incentives/benefits that were not available in the
Process Outsourcing (ITES/BPO) segment. The opening earlier scheme. During 2005–2006, exports from functioning
up of 100% FDI in real estate has brought in big boom to SEZs, which are mainly the former EPZs were around
the industry and was able to attract international private US$5 billion. At present 1016 units are in operation in these
players to invest in Indian cities in joint venture with local SEZs providing direct employment to over 179,000 persons
partners. (about 40% of whom are women). Private investment by
The vested interests in urban development have entrepreneurs for establishing units in these SEZs is of the
increased through the route of private sector participation order of about Rs. 31.63 billion. After the SEZ Act and
in urban services sector. Privatization has pushed the SEZ Rules came into effect on February 10, 2006, formal
governments (national, state and local) to withdraw from approval has so far been granted to 237 SEZ proposals
certain development sectors like housing, infrastructure and in-principle approval has been granted to 164 SEZ
services including water supply, sanitation, sewage systems, proposals. Out of the 237 formal approvals, notifications
urban transport, tourism, health services, telecommunica- have already been issued in respect of 63 SEZs. In these 63
tion and electricity. The demand for infrastructure invest- new generation SEZs which have come up after February
ment during the 11th Five Year Plan (2007–2011) has 10, 2006, investment of the order of Rs. 111.94 million has
been estimated to be US$492.5 billion (Planning Commis- already been made in less than one year. These SEZs have
sion, 2007a). To meet this growing demand, Government so far provided direct employment to 15,097 persons. It is
of India has planned to raise the investment in infrastruc- expected that total investment in these SEZs would be
ture from the present 4.7% of GDP to around 7.5–8% of around Rs. 584.59 million and 890,700 additional jobs will
GDP in the 11th Five Year Plan. In general, efforts towards be created by December 2009. It is also expected that if all
infrastructure development is continued to focus on the key the 237 SEZs become operational, investment of the order
areas of physical and social infrastructure. The spatial of Rs. 3000 billion may take place and 4 million additional
manifestation of investments and economic change is dis- jobs may be created (De, 2007). The share of the four most
cernible through continuous or discontinuous sprawl with industrialized states (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and
poly-nodal centers along the corridors. Maharashtra) in total SEZ approvals is around 50%
According to Planning Commission (2007b) during the (Aggarwal, 2006a).
period 1994–1995 to 1999–2000 the real estate services,
housing and construction sector grew by 4.6%. In this, 3.5. Eco-city initiatives
housing sector grew by 2.8% only while the construction
sector grew by 6.4%. As per FICCI (2005) the size of Eco-cities are a concept to achieve sustainability by tak-
the real estate industry in India is around US$12 billion. ing the ecological principles as the central driving principles
This figure is growing annually at a pace of 30% for the for the planning of our cities (Huang et al., 2002). An
last few years. Almost 80% of real estate developed in Eco-city builds on the synergy and interdependence of eco-
India, is residential space and the rest comprise office, logical and economic sustainability, and their fundamental
shopping malls, hotels and hospitals. As per estimates, ability to reinforce each other in the urban context (World
there is demand for 66 million square feet of IT space Bank, 2010). Eco-city aims at developing an urban ecosys-
over the next five years. On the contrary, as per the tem which is ecologically sound minimizing the negative
Report of the Technical Group on Estimation of Housing impact of development on the environment. Eco-city helps
Shortage constituted in the context of formulation of the in the reduction of ecological footprint of development and
Eleventh Five-Year Plan, housing shortage is estimated to achieving environmental sustainability through reduced
be around 24.71 million. About 99% of such households greenhouse gas emissions, utilization of renewable energy
are from Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Low and green transportation. In India discussions on Eco cities
Income Groups (LIG). started in 2000 and starting 2001 six medium and small
In Delhi, several new townships consisting of 500–1000 Eco-cities were planned by the Ministry of Environment
residential dwelling units with quality infrastructure and and Forest (MoEF) in association with Central Pollution
back-up services and office space have been developed to Control Board (CPCB) and with technical assistance from
accommodate the offices of multinationals, airlines, and German technical cooperation (GTZ). The focus of the
financial institutions. In Bangalore, at least seven such project is pollution control, improvement of environmental
townships in sizes up to 220 acres have been established quality, protection of environmental resources like rivers
during the post-1994 period. Specialized parks for software and lakes, improving sanitary conditions, improving the
and technology have come up in Mumbai, Bangalore, needed infrastructure and creating aesthetic environs
Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. in the chosen towns. The cities included Tirupathi,
J. Chadchan, R. Shankar / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 1 (2012) 36–49 39
Vrindavan, Kottayam, Ujjain, Puri and Thanjavur. The and Singh, 2005a). The process of urbanization in India is
Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corpora- marked by increasing concentration in comparatively lar-
tion (DMICDC) has also aimed to develop smart Eco-cit- ger cities.
ies along the Delhi Mumbai Corridor with investment from According to census 2001, there are 35 million plus cities
companies in Japan. The DMICDC and the Haryana State consisting of 107.9 million urban population constituting
Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation nearly 39% of urban population in the country (Bhagat,
(HSIIDC) have planned to develop an Eco-city at Manesar 2005). The number of million plus cities has increased from
in Gurgaon, Haryana. This is planned as a pilot model, and 5 in 1951 to 23 in 1991 and to 35 in 2001. The distribution
if it succeeds similar models will be developed in different of million plus cities across different regions of the country
regions of the country in the future. This has been planned is shown in Fig. 1. It could be seen that, the million plus
based on the Japanese Eco cities of Yokohama and cities are fairly uniformly distributed, except in the hilly
Kitakyushu (Dhanapal, 2011). and desert regions, across the country which is indication
of not only the large population of India but also wide-
spread distribution of population concentration and low
3.6. Urbanization man–land ratio.
Unlike most developing countries where a single city
Urbanization in India is neither unique nor exclusive commands a disproportionately large portion of popula-
but is similar to a world-wide phenomenon. Indian urban- tion and economic activities in relation to the second larg-
ization has proceeded as it has elsewhere in the world as a est city, India’s urban system is spatially dispersed, and not
part and product of economic change (Sivaramakrishnan characterized by primacy (Mathur, 2003).
Amritsar
Delhi
Jaipur
Lucknow
Kanpur
Ahmedabad
Rajkot
Kolkata
Surat
Nagpur
Mumbai
Pune
Hyderabad
LEGEND
NO.
REGION
OF CITIES
CITY SIZE ( in million)
NORTHERN 11
Bangalore
1-2
CENTRAL 03
2-5 Chennai
WESTERN 08
5-8 Coimbatore
EASTERN 05
Above 8
SOUTHERN 08
Fig. 1. Distribution of 35 million plus cities across different regions. Source: Author based on Census of India 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001.
40 J. Chadchan, R. Shankar / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 1 (2012) 36–49
The regional variations in the distribution of urban pop- absorbing new investments is an extremely important
ulation are significant. A large proportion of urban popula- feature of urban growth of the post-1991 period (Fig. 2).
tion is concentrated in the six most urbanized states, Most of these urban centers are linked with expressways
namely, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and rail connections. For instance, few of the noteworthy
Punjab and West Bengal, accounting for about half of the express corridors are Ahmedabad–Vadodara in Gujarat,
country’s urban population. According to 2001 Census Pune–Mumbai in Maharashtra, New Delhi–Gurgaon in
figures of individual states separately, Goa emerges as National Capital Region (NCR), Mohali–Phagwara con-
the most urbanized state in the country with 49.77% of its necting Amritsar and Jalandhar in Punjab, Bangalore–
population within the urban frame, besides the union capi- Mysore in Karnataka and many more in pipeline.
tal territory of Delhi and other union territories. However,
among the major states, Tamil Nadu has claimed to be the 3.7. Urban development policies and programmes
most urbanized state comprising 43.86% urban population,
followed by Maharashtra (42.40%), Gujarat (37.35%), Kar- During Post-Economic reforms period, India recognized
nataka (33.98%), Punjab (33.95%), and West Bengal the need and importance of infrastructure facilities for bet-
(28.03%) (Mathur, 2003). ter living, economic growth, and for making cities compet-
Emergence of urban corridors, particularly originating itive in attracting national and global business and
from Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and investment. Several national level programmes for urban
Hyderabad, linking several important urban centers and development have been implemented in the recent past,
Fig. 2. Urban Transport Corridors and Emerging Conurbations of India. Source: Author based on study by Centre for Policy Research (2001), New
Delhi.
J. Chadchan, R. Shankar / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 1 (2012) 36–49 41
Fig. 3. Urban Sprawl of Bangalore Urban Agglomeration (1971–2001). Fig. 4. Urban Sprawl of Hyderabad Urban Agglomeration (1971–2001).
Source: Author based on Iyer et al. (2007). Source: Author based on Iyer et al. (2007).
42 J. Chadchan, R. Shankar / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 1 (2012) 36–49
Fig. 5. Urban Sprawl of Delhi Metropolitan Region (1974–1999). Source: Srinivasan and Rogers (2009).
Fig. 6. Urban Sprawl of Chennai Metropolitan area and its Hinterland (1987–2009). Source: Srinivasan and Rogers (2009).
(Fig. 6). In the process, CMA has lost agricultural land from tures with Indian partner/s). These private and government
40,991 ha in 1991 to 22,130 ha in 2004 (CMDA, 2001) (see agencies approved townships are coming up on the fringe
Appendix D for facts at a glance of Chennai). areas and along the transport corridors of the large cities
mainly Delhi including NCR, Bangalore, Hyderabad,
3.9. Private townships and housing shortage Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh. The devel-
opment of these townships would mainly include a mix
The liberalization policy of the Government vide Press of residential, commercial, corporate and institutional
Note 4 (2001 series) permitted 100% Foreign Direct Invest- complexes, besides provision of roads, power, water sup-
ment (FDI) in Integrated Township Development, that ply, waste management, storm water drainage as also a
would include all allied infrastructure facilities including mix of social infrastructure – medical, community and
roads, bridges, power and telecommunication distribution education facilities. A variety of residential accommoda-
networks, water supply and sanitation including solid tion is made available from private developers operating
waste management, and other social infrastructure, etc. at large, medium and small scale. The housing development
Depending on the context and state policies, they are pop- normally includes a combination of different typologies
ularly known as Integrated/NRI/High-Tech townships. ranging from plotted, group housing, duplex villas, small
The minimum area under such schemes would be 100 acres scale apartments and service apartments. These townships
with the minimum capitalization of US$10 million (for a mainly target for high end users and depending on individ-
wholly owned subsidiary) and US$5 million (for joint ven- ual state policies, a very small percentage ranging between
J. Chadchan, R. Shankar / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 1 (2012) 36–49 43
10% and 20% is reserved for EWS and LIG households. It Table 3
is surprising to know that, most of the high end consumers Housing shortage in different income group category as on 2007 (in
million).
are looking at housing sector as an investment option. As a
result of this, the newly added housing stock, in terms of Category Housing shortage in million as on 2007
plots and flats, remain vacant. EWS 21.78 (88.1%)
On the other hand, over the decades, the urban housing LIG 2.89 (11.7%)
MIG – A 0.04 (0.2%)
shortage at national level has increased from 3.6 million in HIG – B
1961 to 10.6 million in 2001 (Table 2). According to Eleventh Total 24.71
Five Year Plan estimates, there is nearly a shortage of 25 mil- Source: GOI (2006a).
lion houses in India, 99% of which is in the category of EWS
(Economically Weaker Sections) and Low Income Group
(LIG) Societies (Table 3). Table 4
The increasing housing shortage, in turn, has contrib- Percentage of population living in slums within Municipal area for Key
Metropolitan Cities (1991–2001).
uted to the rapid growth of slum population across metro-
politan cities. Growth of slums in India has been at least City % of slum population
three times higher than the growth of urban population, 1991 2001
leading to sizeable number of urban population living in Chennai 17 25.60
slums. As per TCPO estimate 2001, 21.7% urban popula- Bangalore 12.5 8.04
tion lives in slums (GOI, 2005). On an average, the percent- Ahmedabad 16 25.77
Hyderabad 19.6 17.43
age share of slum population to the total population in
Pune 33.64 40.38
metropolitan cities has increased from 20% to 24% during Avg. 20 Avg. 24
1991–2001.
Source: Census of India 1991 and 2001.
The percentage of population living in slums within
Municipal area for key Metropolitan Cities (1991–2001)
is given in Table 4. The mixed-use concept is at its infancy and is slowly finding
its way into the rigid zoning and land use models. Further,
3.10. Loss of agriculture land for urban development the current practice of land use planning focuses on the two
dimensional model of the city and misses the third dimen-
The per capita availability of arable land in India has sion and the temporal dimensions which are crucial for the
decreased from 0.5 ha in 1950–1951 to 0.15 ha in 1999– Indian context (Toutain and Gopiprasad, 2006).
2000 owing to population escalation and it is further Mohan and Dasgupta (2004) referring to Land policy
expected to come down to 0.09 ha by 2031 (Balaguravaiah, constraints in India expressed that building byelaws have
2003; Singh, 2006). Total cultivable land has declined to a significant impact on the form of the city thereby having
182.57 million hectares in 2005–2006 from 185.09 million a comprehensive impact on its economy. Brueckner (2007)
hectares in 1980–1981. The land for non-agricultural uses referring to FAR (Floor Area Ratio) regulations in Indian
mainly housing, industry and others (in short, for human context state that maximum FAR values in the central
settlements) has increased from 9.36 million hectares in areas of Mumbai, Bangalore and other major Indian cities
1951 to 22.97 million hectares in 2001, an increase of 2.5 are much lower than free-market values.
times. It is a paradoxical situation that on the one hand As per 2001 Census and various Master Plan reports,
more production is required from the scarce soil resources the gross average population density of key metropolitan
for meeting the demand of ever-expanding population and cities is 195 persons/ha within municipal limits and a mere
on the other hand vast areas are either going out of cultiva- 25 persons/ha outside the limits with in metropolitan area
tion or showing reduction in productivity due to land deg- (refer Table 5). The reason for the low density development
radation at an alarming rate. is that all Indian cities generally follow a very stringent
inflexible development controls and building bye laws in
terms of zoning regulations, FAR, ground coverage, set-
3.11. Zoning, FAR (Floor Area Ratio) and density
backs and height restrictions, not allowing cities to grow
in compact form (Brueckner, 2007).
All Indian city plans reflect the strict zoning while
ground conditions reflect mixed use and multiple uses.
Table 2 3.12. Urban transport problems
Housing shortage (1961–2001) (in million).
Year 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 The rapid growth of India’s cities has generated a corre-
Total 15.2 14.6 23.3 22.9 24.7 spondingly rapid growth in travel demand, overwhelming
Rural 11.6 11.6 16.3 14.7 14.1 the limited transport infrastructure (Pucher et al., 2005).
Urban 3.6 3.0 7.0 8.2 10.6
The expansion of cities has increased the length of trips
Source: GOI (2006b). for most urban residents, leading to more overall travel
44 J. Chadchan, R. Shankar / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 1 (2012) 36–49
Table 5
Population, area and density of metropolitan cities.
City City Municipal Popln. Metropolitan Metropolitan Population Population Area Density of the
population corporation density (P2/ population area (ha) (A1) density (P1/ outside outside area outside
(lakhs) (P2) area (ha) A2) within (lakhs) (P1) A1) within municipal municipal municipal
(A2) city (in metropolitan limits (P3) limits (A3) limits P1–P2/
persons/ha) area (in P1–P2 A1–A2 A1–A2
persons/ha) (persons/ha)
Ahmedabad 3,520,085 19,084.00 184.45 4,709,180 133,008 35.40 1,189,095 113,924 10.40
Bangalore 4,301,326 22,606.43 190.27 6,170,000 107,287 57.50 1,868,674 84,680.57 22.06
Chennai 4,343,645 17,600.00 246.79 7,041,000 118,900 59.20 2,697,355 101,300 26.60
Hyderabad 3,637,483 17,200.00 211.48 6,380,000 190,500 33.50 2,742,517 173,300 15.80
Kolkata 4,572,876 19,754.00 231.49 14,720,000 185,141 79.50 10,147,124 16,5387 61.30
Pune 2,538,473 24,396.00 104.05 3,755,525 150,000 25.50 1,217,052 125,604 9.60
Total Average: Total Average: 48 Total Average 25
22,913,888 195 persons/ 42,775,705 (persons/ha) 19,861,817 (persons/ha)
(54%) ha (46%)
Source: Author based on Census 2001 and Master Plan reports.
demand and thus more traffic on the roadways. The consumption, motor vehicle growth, fuel demand, road acci-
sprawling, low-density development around Indian cities dents, slum population growth and urban housing shortage
has made cars and motorcycles increasingly necessary to scenario in metropolitan India. For each of the attributes,
get around, especially given the unsatisfactory alternative projection and scenario building work is carried out for
of slow, overcrowded, undependable, and dangerous public the year 2051. Two scenarios are developed, one on the basis
transport services. At the same time rising incomes among of existing growth trends with ‘do-nothing’ and the other
the Indian middle and upper classes have made car and with planned intervention by modifying legal provisions
motorcycle ownership increasingly affordable. Moreover, and adopting improved technology. The outcome of the
increased trip distances make walking and cycling less fea- projections and calculations are further used as a basis for
sible than before, thus encouraging a shift from non- suggesting an alternative sustainable urban development
motorized to motorized modes (Pucher et al., 2007). The pattern for future metropolitan cities of India. The method-
crude oil consumption has increased from 62.9 million tons ological approaches followed for projections and scenario
in 1997 to 103.5 million tons in 2001 registering an annual building are discussed below in detail.
growth rate of more than 10% and the oil deficit is growing
at a rate of more than 18% per annum. 3.13.1. Projected land consumption for urban development
The number of road accidents has increased, from about 3.13.1.1. Basis for projections and analysis. Based on Table
161,000 in 1981 to over 400,000 in 2001.The number of 5, the existing average gross density for metropolitan cities
fatalities has gone up from 28,400 to almost 80,000 during vary from 195 and 25 persons/ha within and outside muni-
this period. The fatalities per 10,000 vehicles in India are 21 cipal limits. Growth trends and population per million plus
as against one to two in high-income countries and four to cities is studied and analyzed based on the secondary
six in some lower income countries. Buses carry more than source of information referred from Bhagat (2005).
90% of public transport in Indian cities. Yet only eight of According to Ribeiro (2003), the projected population in
the 35 million-plus cities have dedicated bus services. Buses India in the year 2051 will be 1732 million, out of which
themselves are seriously overcrowded, must negotiate 47.5% will be urban, that is 820 million. As per straight line
extremely congested, narrow streets, with no separate projection method, the total population percentage of mil-
rights-of-way at all, having to fight with an array of mixed lion plus cities to total urban population in 2051 will be
modes of traffic including animal drawn carts pedestrians, 68%. This basis is used further to estimate the total number
cyclists, and street vendors (Agarwal, 2006b). of million plus cities having an average population size of
3.2 million (based on Bhagat, 2005) expected by 2051.
3.13. Assessment of impacts of present growth pattern The total number of new million plus cities expected by
2051 will be 139 excluding the present 35. Table 5 clearly
It is evident from the above discussion that, LPG process reveals that, the existing population percentage share of
has affected various sectors of the urban system mainly Municipal and outside Municipal limit areas to the metro-
urban land use development patterns, issues related to urban politan population is 54% and 46%, respectively. The pres-
transport and housing. There is a growing concern among ent pace of urban development in the fringe areas of the
the more serious planners about the implications of the metro cities indicates that in the coming decades, they are
impacts of these urban development trends. What do these going to accommodate a major share of the metropolitan
impact add up to in quantifiable terms? What do these trends area; whereas the capacity of city area to attract population
mean on consumption of our scarce resources? An attempt is will get saturated. With this assumption, the future land
made to project the likely impacts in terms of urban land area needs are projected with a reverse scenario considering
J. Chadchan, R. Shankar / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 1 (2012) 36–49 45
the population share of city and outside limits as 40% and grow at an average annual growth rate of 10%. From the
60%, respectively. calculations, it is seen that, by the year 2051 there will be
an increase of 329 million vehicle population on roads
3.13.1.2. Calculation of future land area requirement. which is almost six times more from the existing one. If
3.13.1.2.1. Within Municipal limit (Gross average density the existing road network is not developed with the same
@195 persons/ha). Based on the above discussion and refer- pace, it will lead to serious traffic problem coupled with
ring to analysis done in Table 5, it is concluded that, in order air pollution.
to accommodate 223 million population (40% of total num-
ber of million plus cities i.e. 558 million) @195 persons/ha, 3.13.3. Projected road traffic fatalities
the total land area required for settlement will be 1,140,000 According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Road
(A) hectares. The existing area of 35 million plus cities within Transport and Highways (2003), the number of vehicle pop-
municipal limits will be 298,974 (B) hectares. The additional ulation during 1981–2001 have grown more than 10 times.
land area required to accommodate 223 million population On the other hand, proportionately the number of fatalaties
will be 841,026 ha (A and B). This additional land area of has increased more than 2.5 times during the same period.
841,026 ha will be made available within the existing muni- The average decadal percentage increase in fatalities during
cipal limits by extending municipal limits wherever possible 1981–2001 is 70%. Assuming that, the decadal percentage
in all the directions, redevelopment of existing buildings by increase in fatalities for the next five decades will be
increasing FAR and productive utilization of pockets of @70%. The increase in fatalities per decade @70% will be
vacant land. If, on the other hand the gross average density 56,000. The proportionate sum of fatalities for five decades
within municipal limit is planned at different higher densities will be 280,000. Therefore, the total increase in the number
of 400, 600 and 800 persons/ha, the additional land area of fatalities by the year 2051 will be 80,000 (Existing) plus
requirement will be 557,500, 371,666 and 278,750 ha, respec- 280,000. It can be estimated that, for the total projected
tively. Therefore, it is evident from the above analysis that if 329 million vehicle population in the year 2051, the propor-
the future development within municipal limit is allowed to tionate number of fatalities will be 360,000. This is definitely
occur @400, 600 and 800 persons/ha (gross density), it will a mind boggling and unacceptable figure.
consume only 0.56, 0.37 and 0.28 million hectares of land,
respectively, as against consumption of 0.84 million hectares 3.13.4. Crude oil demand projection
(additional land area) in case of 195 persons/ha. In other Present crude oil consumption during 2007–2008 fiscal
words, if the development is allowed to take place @400, year is 133 million tons/year (Ministry of Petroleum and
600 and 800 persons/ha (gross density), there will be saving Natural Gas, 2005). Out of total energy consumption,
of 33.4%, 56% and 67% of land respectively as against the 30% share goes to Transport sector. Thirty percent of
present growth pattern. 133 million tons will be 40 million tons (MT). Out of the
3.13.1.2.2. Outside Municipal limit (Gross average den- total transport sector demand, 80% share will be of Road
sity @25 persons/ha). In this category, projections and cal- Transport that is 32 MT. Out of the total road transport,
culations are undertaken following similar methodological 80% share goes to personalized two and four wheelers (cars
approach discussed in the above section. It is concluded including jeeps and taxis). The existing vehicle population
that, if the present pattern of development is allowed to of two wheelers and cars is 45 million (Ministry of Road
continue without proper planning, additional area of Transport and Highways, 2001). The crude oil consump-
11.4 million hectares will be consumed from prime agricul- tion by the existing 45 million vehicle population will be
tural fields. 80% of 32 MT that is 26 MT. The projected total vehicle
If, on the other hand the gross average density outside population (two wheelers and cars) for the year 2051 will
municipal limit is planned at different densities of 200, be 273 million (based on author’s calculation). The pro-
300 and 400 persons/ha, it will consume only 1.67, 1.11 jected annual crude oil demand by the year 2051 from
and 0.83 million hectares of land respectively, as against 273 million personalized vehicle population will be 158 mil-
consumption of 11.4 million hectares (additional land area) lion tons (6 times the present level of consumption for
in case of 25 persons/ha. In other words, if the develop- personalized motor vehicles.)
ment is allowed to take place @200, 300 and 400 per-
sons/ha (gross density), there will be saving of 85.4%, 3.13.5. Projected increase in slum population and housing
90.3% and 93% of land respectively as against the present shortage
growth pattern. 3.13.5.1. Slum population growth. As per the Government
of India estimate, the present growth of slum population
3.13.2. Projected motor vehicle growth is at least three times higher than the growth of urban pop-
According to statistics provided by the Ministry of ulation (GOI, 2005).On the other hand, the projected
Road Transport and Highways (2001), the annual rate of urban population of India for the year 2051 is 820 million,
growth of motor vehicle population in India has been closely 3 times more than the existing urban population of
about 10% during the last decade. With an assumption 285 million (Ribeiro, 2003). Therefore, if the present trend
that, in the near future till 2051, the motor vehicles will is allowed to continue ‘with do nothing’, the projected
46 J. Chadchan, R. Shankar / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 1 (2012) 36–49
growth of slum population will be six times more than the growth of private modes of transport is to develop
existing. cities and city extensions oriented to public and sus-
The existing percentage of urban population living in tainable modes of transport.
slums is 21.7 (GOI, 2005). v. Prescription of low FARs and other housing policies
making adequate housing unaffordable to large sec-
21:7 285 millionðexisting urban populationÞ=100 tions of metropolitan households. An alarming urban
¼ 61:8 million housing scenario of ‘sprawling slums’, housing short-
age and cities full of shelter less population can be
The projected percentage of urban population living in prevented by making appropriate changes in relevant
slums in 2051 will be 61.8 6 times more from the exist- Institutional mechanisms and legislative measures
ing = 371 million (45% of total projected urban population including development controls, zoning and building
of 820 million). byelaws.
Appendix B. Facts at a glance of Hyderabad Vehicular population Four wheeler , three wheeler
and two wheeler: 32.38 lakhs
Land area Municipal corporation area: Buses: 41,483
17,200.00 ha Land use (2001) Residential 44%
Metropolitan area: 190,500 ha Commercial 2%
Area outside Municipal limits: Industrial 5%
173,300 ha Public and semi public 15%
Population (2001 Municipal corporation area: Recreation 24%
census) 3,637,483 Transport 8%
Metropolitan area: 6,380,000 Railways 2%
Area outside Municipal limits: Agriculture 0.3%
2,742,517
Density Municipal corporation area:
211.48 persons/ha
Appendix D. Facts at a glance of Chennai
Metropolitan area: 33.50 persons/
ha
Area outside Municipal limits: Land area Municipal corporation area:
15.80 persons/ha 17,600.00 ha
Slums Slum population as % of total Metropolitan area: 118,900 ha
population 17.43% Area outside Municipal limits:
Public transportation The major role is played by bus 101,300 ha
transport. Rail based Multi Modal Population Municipal corporation area: 4,343,645
Transport System (MMTS) is also (2001 census)
present. Three and seven seated Metropolitan area: 7,041,000
autos acting as the Para transit Area outside Municipal limits: 2,697,355
Vehicular population Motor cycles: 856,397 Density Municipal corporation area:
Motor cars & jeeps: 126,472 246.79 persons/ha
Autos: 58,851 Metropolitan area: 59.20 persons/ha
APSRTC: 2395 Area outside Municipal limits:
Land use Existing land use 2001 (non-fringe 26.60 persons/ha
area) Slums Slum population as % of total
Residential 43.57% population 25.60%
Commercial 11.94% Public Buses and suburban train form the
Manufacturing 1.78% transportation major public transport. Metro services
Public-semi public 13.6% are also there. Share autos, auto
Open spaces 4.42% rickshaw are other form of public
Agricultural & vacant 11.65% transport. There are proposals for
land BRTS, MRTS and monorail
Forest 0% Vehicular 1,519,357 (2007)
Water bodies 5% population
Transport & 7.81% Land use Chennai City Rest of
communication CMA
Residential 54.25% 21.87%
Commercial 7.09% 0.37%
Industrial 5.17% 6.28%
Appendix C. Facts at a glance of Delhi Institutional 18.48% 3.01%
Open space & 2.09% 0.19%
Land area 1483 km2 recreation
Population (2001 census) 13.78 million Agricultural 0.57% 11.92%
Density (NCT) 92 persons/ha (Gross) Non urban 0.47% 2.33%
Slums 35% Others (Vacant, 11.89% 54.03%
Public transportation The major role is played by Forest, Hills, Low
buses and MRTS has been lying, Water bodies,
introduced. BRTS projects etc.)
have also been launched.
J. Chadchan, R. Shankar / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 1 (2012) 36–49 49