36

Urban Sustainability in India: Evolution,

Challenges and Opportunities
Shrimoyee Bhattacharya

Background
The word “urban,” as per the Census of India, refers to settlements with a
minimum population of 5000, with a density of 400 persons per square km,
and with at least 75 percent of the male working population engaged in non-­
agricultural activities. According to this definition, there are a total of 7935
urban settlements in India, which account for 31.2 percent of its total popula-
tion (i.e., 377.1 million out of 1.2 billion) and 63 percent of its national
economic output (Mishra 2015).
India has been urbanizing at a steady but moderate pace. The average
annual growth rate of the urban population in India was 2.4 percent in 2015,
which is lower than some of India’s neighboring countries in South Asia, such
as Bangladesh (3.4 percent) and Nepal (3.2 percent), but comparable to
emerging global economies such as China (2.7 percent) (Urban Population
Growth (Annual %) 2015). Despite having a lower share of urbanization
compared to many developed and developing countries, India houses about
10 percent share of the world’s urban population (Urban Population (India)
2015) and (Urban Population Growth (Annual %) 2015), and a few of the
largest and most populated cities of the world. However, beyond the large cit-
ies, there exist a large number of small towns that constitute a substantial
share of India’s total urban population (Census of India 2011). Thus, the story
of India’s emerging urbanization is as much about its small, non-descript

S. Bhattacharya (*)
Bangalore, India

© The Author(s) 2018 673

R. Brinkmann, S. J. Garren (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainability,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71389-2_36
674  S. Bhattacharya

towns spread across a large rural canvas, as much as it is about its large cities
like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Chennai.
Cities, by their very necessity, are supposed to be efficient by exploiting
the flow of natural and human resources and information. Brendan
O’Flaherty, in his book City Economics, argues that cities could persist, only
if their advantages offset the disadvantages. The very notion of cities is of a
space that is able to, through an exploitative role, provide a competitive
advantage. Thus, there would be tensions between the ideas and practices of
sustainability and the creation and use of urban spaces. One would therefore
expect, from time to time, the emergence of questions and challenges regard-
ing environmental, social, and economic justice. These questions become
even more pronounced in places with severe environmental problems, espe-
cially remarkable in developing countries like India. The country has big
stakes in its cities to achieve a high level of economic growth and, at the same
time, is committed to global agendas such as the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), the New Urban Agenda of HABITAT-III, and the Paris
Agreement on climate change.
In independent India’s policy discourse post 1947, the formal recognition
of urban as an important sector started with the eighth five-year plan (FYP),
during 1992–97(refer Fig. 36.1). Until then, urban was dealt with through
centrally driven programs, mainly focusing on basic infrastructure provision
and the creation of a few new cities as capital towns. Urban sustainability, in
its true sense, was not a conscious political discourse, yet. The 74th
Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA), in 1993, paved the way for the
empowerment of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to manage their own functions,
including planning for their respective jurisdictions. Although the implemen-
tation of the 74th CAA in its true essence has been a debated subject in India,
this landmark reform has actually been a catalyst for a number of flagship
urban sector programs that Indian cities observed in later years. The Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) was among the first of
such flagship programs. Despite various limitations, JnNURM managed to
bring urban local governments to the center of dialogues while planning the
cities’ infrastructure requirements. References to sustainability, in the
JnNURM, were mostly related to financial sustainability, at a time when pri-
vate finance in public infrastructure creation was seen as a potential, in an
otherwise dismal urban finance scenario.
The second generation of urban development programs were started post
2010. These programs (Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation
and Urban Transformation [AMRUT], Housing for All, Heritage City
Development, and Augmentation Yojana [HRIDAY], among others), together,
   Urban Sustainability in India: Evolution, Challenges and Opportunities 

Fig. 36.1  Evolution of India’s urban sector programs since 1951 (Source: Analysis done by the author from five-year plan documents
released by erstwhile Planning Commission of India)
  675
676  S. Bhattacharya

cover over 500 cities and urban settlements in India. Around this time, most
of the mission statements and program guidelines had started mentioning
“sustainability” as a goal, reflecting a more cautious approach in response to an
intensified global agenda focusing on sustainability. However, these programs
also reflected visibly different importance of diverse aspects of urban sustain-
ability. Generally, one could observe more importance towards enhancing eco-
nomic competitiveness of cities and financial sustainability of the ULBs.
Providing for the urban poor has always been a major focus of India’s urban
development programs which contributes towards the social equity pillar of
sustainable development. However, the approach adopted for addressing the
urban poor’s conditions through urban development programs has been a
contested issue with limited success on the ground.
Indian urbanization is constantly evolving at the intersection of growing
population, changing economic and lifestyle pursuits, constrained resources,
worsening environment, and a fast-evolving technology space. The status of
Indian cities is a reflection of the interaction, as well as contestation among
these forces, over space and time.
In the following sections, I present the emerging character of India’s urban-
ization. This is followed by an overview of the performance of Indian cities,
across a range of key quality of life and urban sustainability parameters,
accompanied by anecdotes of sustainable initiatives that are slowly enabling
change, on the ground, in Indian cities.

Case Study
India’s Urbanization: A Spatial Phenomena Dominated
by Large Cities and the Silent Emergence of Small Towns

Till the beginning of this century, Indian urbanization was primarily domi-
nated and driven by million-plus cities, which also included three megacities
with ten million-plus population in their urban agglomeration. The 2011 cen-
sus results reaffirm the dominance of the million-plus cities (refer Fig. 36.2).
However, what is emerging as a slightly different trend is the growth differen-
tial within different parts of large urban agglomerations (UA), and emergence
of census towns as major shareholders (30 percent) in the total urban popula-
tion. Between 2001 and 2011, population growth in core city areas under
municipal jurisdictions has slowed down considerably. On the other hand,
census towns and villages at the peripheries of the city and within the UA area,
  Urban Sustainability in India: Evolution, Challenges and Opportunities    677

Fig. 36.2  Distribution of urban population across various size classes of towns in India
(Source: Analysis done with data sourced from Census of India)

termed as Outgrowths, have experienced increased growth momentum.

Greater Mumbai, the largest UA in India, has experienced a population decline
in one of its urban districts in the core city area (Census of India 2011).
Another type of shift from rural to urban is silently taking place in some
census towns located away from a large city and its immediate hinterland.
These towns are experiencing rapid changes in economic activities, resulting in
a spillover of urbanization into surrounding villages. A number of such towns
play extremely important roles in the value chain of a global economy, but
remain deprived of infrastructure and facilities comparable to their economic
contribution. One important contributor to the emergence of smaller towns
and their rapidly changing character is the development of industrial corridors
running in long stretches across districts and states. Post 2011, at least five
major industrial corridors have been conceptualized and are being developed
in various parts of India. Integrated townships alongside these corridors have
also been planned with the hope of creating new-age industrial settlements.
However, such fully functional townships are yet to become a reality. On the
other hand, land acquisition and redevelopment mechanisms have become
important determinants for the success of such projects, many of which have
seen severe disputes between landowners and various other stakeholder groups.
678  S. Bhattacharya

The remaining census towns which are neither periurban, nor display any
significant economic activity, exhibit characteristics of villages where agricul-
ture does not appear to be a viable option anymore. At this point, one should
go back to the definition of urban in India, which does not include the status
of infrastructure as one of the criteria. At the same time, notions of urban type
of infrastructure continue to play a determining role in defining Outgrowths
outside large cities1 (Census of India 2011). This ambiguity is pronounced
in new census towns which are devoid of adequate infrastructure and gover-
nance. The definition is also oblivious of the changing nature of rural outputs,
which are becoming less and less dependent on agriculture (Mishra 2015),
and the role of women in the economy.
In terms of spatial distribution, the southern states of India, and some
of the northern and eastern states show higher levels of urbanization. In
most of the states that have noted a high urban population growth rate
during the decade 2001–11, a large number of new census towns have
contributed to the rate of urbanization (Bhagat 2011). Also higher urban-
ization in states could also be correlated to higher levels of economic
advancement.

 ustainability and Indian Cities: An Historical Legacy

S
of Urban Form and Function

Sustainability of cities is in many ways a function of sustainable urban life-

styles. The culture the Indian subcontinent has been of making more with
less. Though changing rapidly with the rise of an affluent Indian middle class,
the frugal legacy still puts Indians ahead of most other countries in environ-
mentally sustainable consumption.2 India, as well as much of South Asia, has
traditionally followed a more resource efficient trajectory. The region has
always had the challenge of meeting expectations of a large population base
with limited land and other geological resources. Indian cities had grown as
mixed-use dense settlements promoting walkability, lesser motorized trip
length, and safer and vibrant public spaces. Traditional Indian neighborhoods
had followed design principles that optimized the use of space, sunlight, and
coping mechanisms against adverse climatic conditions, by using vernacular
construction materials and urban planning principles (Sanyal et al. 2010). For
instance, ancient cities of the Indus Valley contained urban centers and appear
to have been well-planned with organized infrastructure, architecture, and
systems of governance.
  Urban Sustainability in India: Evolution, Challenges and Opportunities    679

Judicious and planned use of life-sustaining natural resources such as water

has been an integral part of traditional Indian urban settlements as could be
seen from Keres (lakes) in southern Indian states to Baulis (stepwells) in north-
ern and western parts of the country. The vibrancy and variety in Indian cities
as centers of activity are difficult to match.
India as a country and its cities continue to maintain a lower per capita
consumption of resources. India has a smaller ecological footprint (EF) com-
pared to countries of similar size  in terms of population and economy.
Considering that the urban sector contributes to more than 60 percent of the
national economy, India’s urban areas are more resource efficient than most of
its developed country counterparts. However, this aspect of urban sustain-
ability of modern Indian cities is partially a result of suboptimal quality of life
standards. The following sections transect India’s present urban centers for
their sustainability in some key quality of life indicators set against four key
sustainability principles.
Apart from  a summary of  performance of cities, this chapter highlights
some positive changes that are taking place mostly driven by a more engaged
citizenry and civil society. These positive stories are yet to scale and are mostly
exceptions rather than the rule. However, these are the lighthouses for driving
India’s urban story towards a more sustainable pathway.

 ustainability of Twenty-First-Century Indian Cities:

S
The Emerging Picture

The measurements of urban sustainability are built around the three pillars of
sustainable development (i.e., social equity, ecological conservation, and eco-
nomic growth). More recently, few city sustainability indices have represented
these three pillars under people, planet, and profit, inspired by the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).
This chapter assesses sustainability of India’s urbanization anchored by four
key principles emerging from the SDGs: well-being, equity, efficiency, and
foresight (or resilience) (Bhattacharya et al. 2015). The discussions in the fol-
lowing sections reflect the status of all three pillars of sustainability in terms of
their outcome, and not necessarily the intent of various interventions the cit-
ies have been subjected to. The data to discuss sustainability have been sourced
from a variety of studies done by different institutions and thus not necessar-
ily synchronized over space and time. However, this chapter attempts to
include data for major cities in India along comparable timelines.
680  S. Bhattacharya

 ell-Being and Equity Through the Lens of Urban Quality

W
of Life in India

Well-being of a city could be summarized as the average quality of life of its

citizens. Expression of citizen rights in a city in a given political framework
could also indicate well-being of a city. However, the general impression
could camouflage exceptions and outliers that also co-exist in a city system
that provide critical insights in understanding of urban equity. In other
words, a well-being status against a certain parameter is not necessarily a
reflection of distribution of the same across various social and geographic
locations. The latter requires disaggregated analysis of data, and many times,
in the absence of the data, anecdotes provide valuable proxies. This section
discusses urban India’s performance in quality of air and water and access to
critical urban services, both in terms of average numbers and through a
dipstick or snapshot assessment of the status of those who are less
privileged.

Quality of Urban Environment: Air and Water

In 2014, 37 Indian cities appeared in the list of top 100 polluted cities in the
world published by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to
the National Air Quality Monitoring Index (NAQI) which monitors 43 cit-
ies across India, under the National Air Quality Monitoring Program
(NAQMP), a large number of the Indian cities did not meet India’s National
Air Quality (NAQ) norms during 2015–16, despite the latter setting a higher
limit compared to WHO standards (“NAQI status of Indian cities” 2015). A
recent study indicated that pollution levels across all 168 cities monitored
under the study (including the NAQMP cities) are above the WHO stan-
dards. The report also suggests that air pollution causes 1.2 million deaths in
India annually and costs the economy about three percent of the national
(“Airpocalypse: Assessment of Air Pollution in Indian Cities.” 2017). One
could say that a large share of this life and economic loss is contributed and
borne by cities in India. Those most vulnerable to impacts of air pollution
include populations that are the most exposed to large amounts of air pollut-
ants. These include those living along roadsides and spending long hours
outdoors (“Air Pollution Nitrogen Dioxide,” n.d.). This also includes home-
less populations in cities, a large number of whom are migrant laborers. The
  Urban Sustainability in India: Evolution, Challenges and Opportunities    681

transport sector is one of the major contributors to air pollution in Indian

cities (13–22 percent).
Water quality in Indian cities has two separate dimensions: quality of sup-
plied water and the quality of both surface and groundwater in the natural
urban ecosystems. The former is not always a shadow of the latter as many
Indian cities such as Bangalore source large volumes of water from distant
sources for supply within the city. According to the Central Pollution Control
Board (CPCB), in India, most of the rivers passing through or close to cities
are polluted heavily in the downstream due to large-scale water abstraction
and discharge of untreated or partially treated industrial effluents and sewer-
age (Aggarwal 2016). The Ganga, one of the most urbanized and largest river
basins in India, is also one of the world’s most polluted rivers, with 17 cities
located, respectively, on its banks (“Pollution Assessment: River Ganga”
2013).
Drinking water demand, for many cities in India, is met by groundwater.
According to a CPCB report published in 2011, which studied 28 cities across
India, most of the cities have been found to have groundwater quality issues
such as being contaminated with sewerage water, unchecked extraction,
reduction in groundwater recharge due to increased built-up areas, and con-
centration of some minerals beyond permissible limits (“Ground Water
Scenario in Major Cities of India” 2011).
While access to drinking water in urban India has improved considerably,
the quality of drinking water supplied by civic authorities is a concern for citi-
zens. A small study in a poor urban pocket in Delhi, in 2013, revealed that
about 42 percent of households were receiving contaminated water. As a con-
sequence, 24 percent of children suffered from diarrhea, and 11 percent of
households experienced death of an infant (Varma 2014). Overall, there are
signs that the quality of drinking water in cities, from all sources, suffers from
water quality problems, with the urban poor mostly bearing the brunt,
through loss of working days and sometimes life.

Two large-scale government programs to restore the glory of India’s two mighti-
est rivers—the Ganges and the Brahmaputra—have been initiated by the gov-
ernment of India. Happening in parallel is a community initiative to clean the
Adyar River, passing through the city of Chennai, and make it free of pollution
received from the city. The initiative also included greening of some of the
islands on the river.
682  S. Bhattacharya

Access to Services: Housing

The housing situation in Indian cities can be described as predominantly

being a demand-supply problem. There is both under-supply and over-­supply,
depending on housing for different income groups. According to the Technical
Group on Urban Housing Shortage 2012–17, there was a shortage of 18.78
million houses in urban India in 2012. Out of this, about 96 percent (18 mil-
lion) of the shortage was in the low-income group (LIG) and economically
weaker sections (EWS), whereas 80 percent (15 million) of this shortage was
constituted by means of congested houses. Here, one should note a quick
comparison with the slum population in India which is 13.7 million, accord-
ing to the Census of India 2011.
In this context, it is important to look at the issue of urban equity with
respect to Indian slums, which often represent as bleak areas of deprivation.
Even though the inadequacy of shelter and the incidence of poverty are not
confined to slums only, these pockets undoubtedly exhibit sub-standard qual-
ity of life conditions. However, the mere presence of slums cannot be the sole
statement of urban inequity. First, there is little agreement on what could be
labeled as a slum, and there are political economy considerations behind these
decisions. There are poor urban pockets under severe distress that might not
be included in official slum figures because of reasons, such as the legal status
of the land occupied by them. Second, slums could be, arguably, an indication
of more inclusive cities in a given geo-political context where cities do not
close their doors to migrants and refugees. In such cases, slums emerge as a
result of an inadequate system to cater to the demands of these inhabitants
seeking a place in the large city. However, there are serious issues relating to
distribution of wealth, infrastructure, and natural resources, and thus, slums
do present the most interesting case to be studied while discussing urban
equity.

Access to Services: Transport

Indian mega cities score low compared to their global and Asian counterparts
in the walkability index (“Walkability in Indian Cities” 2011). Between 1951
and 2011, the share of buses among total motor vehicles has come down from
11 percent to 1.1 percent (“Review of Urban Transport in India” 2014). Out
of 468 cities with more than 1 lakh population, only 61 cities have a formal
bus transport system (Gadepalli 2016). Among the mega cities, only Mumbai
  Urban Sustainability in India: Evolution, Challenges and Opportunities    683

and Kolkata have full-fledged suburban rail systems connecting different parts
of the city. It is estimated that in several megacities in India such as Delhi,
Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bangalore, buses which are generally one to two per-
cent of the total number of vehicles on the road are used to meet 33–62 per-
cent of the total vehicular trip demand. Importantly, non-motorized transports
(NMT), especially walking, constitutes a substantial portion of total mode
share (48–55 percent) in Indian cities. However, this does not necessarily
indicate good walkability conditions in cities, and merely demonstrates a
compulsion of commuters with less access to affordable public transport.
With more private vehicles, traffic congestion in Indian cities is a concern
that is catching global attention and is proving to be detrimental to competi-
tiveness of Indian cities as investment destinations. Studies show that in most
Indian cities, both large and small, travel speeds are slower than in cities like
Singapore, London, Melbourne, and Sydney. (“Review of Urban Transport in
India” 2014)

“Whitefield Rising” is a platform for citizens living in an upcoming locality, one

of the information technology hubs in Bangalore. It is trying to make a change
in the civic infrastructure and services situation in their locality (such as condition
of roads, footpaths, water, and sanitation) by focused group discussions, seeking
expert help, interacting with the government/municipal bodies, and implement-
ing solutions.

Access to Services: Water and Sanitation

According to the Joint Monitoring Program 2015 Report for the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), most South Asian countries, including India,
made substantial progress towards increasing access to drinking water and
sanitation facilities. According to the World Bank statistics, about 97 percent
of the urban population in India had access to improved sources of water, and
about 63 percent had improved sanitation facilities in 2015. These figures
indicate an increase of about four percent and eight percent from 2001,
respectively, for water and sanitation sector. However, several other studies
have indicated a more moderate access situation for these two critical basic
services in urban India while acknowledging the enhanced policy focus in the
national domain. Access for urban poor remains lower than national averages
(refer to Fig. 36.3).
684  S. Bhattacharya

Fig. 36.3  A summary picture of urban India’s access to water and sanitation (Source:
Analysis done by the author from Water Sanitation Scenario in Urban India document,
by the Health of the Urban Poor (HUP) Program and Population Foundation of India,
submitted to the UN India Water Development Report 2012)

The statistics however leaves scope for scrutiny in terms of the access con-
ditions they indicate, as well as the quality of the facility to which citizens
have access. For example, the census of India measures access in terms of
physical distance of the facility for households. However, it does not capture
aspects such as reliability, time, location, and design of the facility, which can
render a facility inaccessible despite being located within the normative phys-
ical distance. Moreover, since most of the burden of water provision for
households is on women, and women are the group which suffers most due
to absence of sanitation facilities, lack of proper access conditions has signifi-
cant impact on women, resulting in more hours of unpaid care work, loss of
economic opportunities, and sometimes exposure to violence (Bhattacharya
et al. 2016).

Public toilets in Trichy, a tier-II city in the state of Tamil Nadu in India, are being
managed by women self-help groups (SHGs) with support from a number of
donors and NGOs. Apart from positively impacting health indicators in the city,
with more sustainable financial returns compared to ULB-managed toilets, the
project has been an example of social empowerment, especially for women.
  Urban Sustainability in India: Evolution, Challenges and Opportunities    685

Efficiency

The word efficiency can have different connotations when described in relation
to cities. Most commonly, it is used in connection with production of eco-
nomic value vis-a-vis use of resources, or efficiency of urban services, in terms
of leakage and unaccounted losses. In this section I examine efficiency from
three broad perspectives: one, as a wider function of ecological systems within
which cities sustain themselves, that is, its use of resources vis-a-vis its availabil-
ity expressed by ecological footprint (EF); two, functional efficiency of urban
service delivery; and three, economic sustainability of urban local bodies.

Ecological Footprint of India’s Urbanization

At a country level, India accounts for approximately 7.1 percent of the global
total EF and 4.9 percent of world’s total bio-capacity (“Species and Spaces,
People and Places” 2014). India’s EF is the third largest in the world after the
USA and China. However, India has historically had a lower per capita EF
(ranked 135 globally with 0.9 global Ha/cap) compared to developed coun-
tries; it is also lower than countries with comparable economies and popula-
tion size, such as China (approximately 2.2 global Ha/cap), as per 2002 data.
However, there is an increasing gap between per capita EF and available bio-­
capacity of India. Notably, built-up areas contribute to six percent of the total
ecological footprint of India (“Species and Spaces, People and Places” 2014)
While there is no reliable assessment of EF of Indian cities, which is con-
sidered as a good comprehensive measure to assess ecological sustainability,
studies for other cities show that generally, a compact city form with higher
population density could be directly related to lower EF.3 However, looking
beyond per capita numbers, the larger picture raises tough questions for over-
all ecological consequences that India’s urbanization is creating, given its
bio-capacity.
There is increasing evidence that rapid urbanization of cities in India has
not only resulted in significant change in land use but also negatively impacted
natural ecosystem and biodiversity (“Impact of Urbanisation on Biodiversity”
2012). It is estimated that the average EF of India’s urban middle class would
increase in the long run, owing to growth in population and consumption
(Rajashekariah 2014).
In the absence of a comparable statistics on EF of Indian cities in recent
times, we look at some specific parameters that contribute to overall ecologi-
cal footprint of cities and, thus, can give an idea about the trajectory in which
686  S. Bhattacharya

cities are growing, or rather what sort of ecological and environmental com-
promises and consequences they are creating, both within and outside the
physical urban jurisdictions.

Souring Water for Urban India

Almost all the megacities and many of tier-I and tier-II cities have started fac-
ing water crisis especially during hotter seasons. The demand-supply gap
ranges anywhere between 70 percent and 17 percent (Dash 2013). A number
of large Indian cities meet their water demand from sources located far away.
This creates sustainability issues on multiple fronts. First, sourcing water from
far distance is generally accompanied by high transmission and distribution
losses as well as high cost of transportation and high consumption of energy.
Second, dependency on faraway sources is subject to high external variables
and thus become unreliable in the long term. Third, it raises a larger question
of social equity and environmental justice regarding the distribution of life-­
sustaining natural resources. Fourth, sourcing water from faraway sources has
been related to a more complex behavioral aspect of both citizens and civic
agencies that start neglecting nearby water bodies, which are no longer used as
sources of water for the city and its citizens. Cities that use their own ground-
water are fast depleting their dynamic water reserve as groundwater extraction
is far higher than its recharge, as a result of blocked drainage channels and
decreases in permeable surfaces. A report prepared by Mihir Shah, former
member of the erstwhile Planning Commission of India and an eminent
expert on urban water systems, noted that as cities grow, engulfing peripheral
areas into their municipal boundaries, and become denser, their dependence
on external sources of water grows, along with increased inequality of supply
and poor infrastructure conditions in the peripheries (Shah 2016).

A gated residential community towards southeastern part of Bangalore has

managed to achieve water sustainability for its own needs using the Integrated
Urban Water Management approach.

The 800-year-old Nizamuddin Baoli, the only surviving stepwell in Delhi, was
restored by an NGO that worked closely with the community. The project
included creation of parks and open spaces, especially for women and children.
In fact, at the time of writing this chapter, Vijayapura, an ancient city in southern
India, has started drawing water from its ancient Bawadis (huge open wells)
built during the fifteenth to seventeenth century after successful restoration.
  Urban Sustainability in India: Evolution, Challenges and Opportunities    687

Managing Waste from Urban India

Waste, both municipal solid waste (MSW) and solid and liquid waste from the
city’s sanitation, are not only important aspects in maintaining a city’s aesthet-
ics and liveability but can also lead to grave consequences for the well-­being of
citizens, the peri-urban areas, and the larger ecological systems surrounding
the city. The average per capita MSW generated from Indian cities ranges any-
where between 0.36 and 0.55 kg per day; the bigger the city size, the higher
the number. This is in general lower than cities in the developed countries,
owing to the average Indian lifestyle which has lower consumption levels com-
pared to developed countries. Evidence shows that collection efficiency of
MSW in some of the Indian cities could be as low as 20 percent and as high as
100 percent. However, the major problem lies in handling of solid waste after
collection. Most of the cities rely on landfills to dispose MSW, and most of the
time these landfill sites are located outside the city. While landfills do pose a
serious threat of polluting local ecosystems, especially water resources, studies
show that landfills are going to be unsustainable in the long run owing to the
area of land needed to accommodate the amount of waste generated from an
increasing urban population, in an increasingly landlocked urban future.
Considering that only a minimal share of MSW is treated (about 13 percent
as estimated in 2011) and an even smaller amount is recycled for reuse, it also
contributes to the increasing EF of cities (Joshi et al. 2016).
Fecal sludge management (FSM) is another aspect that has been posing
challenges to health and well-being in cities and degrading the larger environ-
ment and ecosystem, especially water systems. It also affects various aspects of
human development, especially with different marginalized groups in cities
facing varying types and degrees of vulnerability. A Fecal Sludge (FS) Flow
diagram, constructed for Indian cities, shows that about 81 percent of FS goes
untreated and is directly disposed (Rohilla et al. 2016). This further pollutes
water bodies and river systems carrying traces of pollutants downstream far
beyond city limits. Vrishabhavathy, an ancient river originating right from the
center of the city of Bangalore, has turned into a drain loaded with untreated
sewage, toxic chemicals from industries, and garbage. Many of the rivers pass-
ing through cities eventually meet a similar fate. They emerge again, remind-
ing citizens and civic authorities about their otherwise forgotten might and
intrinsically nested relation with the city, only during the time of urban floods.
Notably, India has spent approximately USD 5000 million, for the Ganga
Action Plan (GAP), over the last few decades, to restore one of its largest riv-
ers, the Ganges, to its past glory, by cleansing the waste flowing through its
688  S. Bhattacharya

water. However, in the absence of a robust planning and mechanism for con-
trolling the sources of waste, much of what is contributed by the city’s sewer-
age systems and industrial waste, the GAP has remained largely ineffective.

A wetland towards east of the city of Kolkata sprawls over 125 sq. km. and
receives about 1000 mld of sewerage from the city. The wetland, part of which
is used for fish cultivation and provides livelihood to thousands of farmers and
fishermen, treats the sewerage completely organically without any cost to the
city government. Having the status of a Ramsar sites, one of the 26 such in India,
the wetland however has not escaped threats of encroachments from the fast
growing real estate industry—an increasing concern.

A number of citizen-led initiatives to restore lakes in Bangalore, the once cov-

eted garden city of India, have started gaining momentum and are showing
results on the ground. These initiatives are pushing civic authorities to take
action to restore the man-made lake system of Bangalore, which has diminished
from 262 lakes in 1960 to only 81 in 2017.

Energy Demand and Emissions

India is projected to be the largest contributor to the rise in global energy

demand by 2040, although the projected per capita demand would still be 40
percent lower than the world average (“India Energy Outlook (World Energy
Outlook Special Report)” 2015). A major share of this demand will be from
Indian cities. Currently, about one quarter of the energy demand in India is
met by renewable sources—the rest is met by fossil fuels. Considering that
India is just entering into a more industrialized and urbanized future, the
energy demand from cities is likely to grow substantially. Nevertheless, the
country is committed to reducing the energy intensity of its economy by
20–25 percent by 2020, and thus new and renewable sources of energy are
receiving increased policy focus.
Literature suggests that most of India’s emissions will come from its urban
agglomerations, negatively impacting the environment and its rural popula-
tion (Sanyal et al. 2010). In 2015, a study published by the Indian Institute
of Sciences presented a sector-wise assessment of carbon footprints of seven
major cities in India (Fig. 36.4).
Transportation and domestic sectors were found to be the two biggest con-
tributors of emissions in these cities.
  Urban Sustainability in India: Evolution, Challenges and Opportunities    689

Fig. 36.4  CO2 eq. emissions per capita, GDP per capita, and CO2 equivalent emissions
per unit of GDP for different cities (Ramachandra et al. 2014)

Electric Vehicles (EV) for Indian Cities

India’s National Urban Transport Policy has set forward-looking policy directions
by advocating for land-use and transport integration, emphasizing on moving
people rather than vehicles, and also pushed cities to think about EV as the via-
ble mode of clean and efficient public and private transport. A number of Indian
states (such as Himachal Pradesh) and cities (such as Bengaluru) have carried
viability studies of EV as an option and started procurement of vehicles.

Efficiency of Urban Service Delivery

An important aspect of efficient urban service delivery lies in non-revenue

services. While a portion of this could be attributed to transmission and dis-
tribution (T&D) losses, a large part could also be due to non-collection of
charges for services provided. While the first is largely due to quality of infra-
structure and technical matters, the latter is a direct function of the efficiency
of urban governance mechanisms.
Nonetheless, it is interesting that a large amount of non-revenue water
(NRW), besides the T&D loss, actually caters to sections of the population who
otherwise are not included in the formal service delivery net, such as migrant
laborers working in informal sectors. The informal sector in India absorbs about
70 percent of the urban working population, with an average annual growth
rate (4 percent) higher than the formal economy (2.5 percent). It would be
690  S. Bhattacharya

interesting to estimate the economic gain generated by this informal economy,

which benefits from NRW, as opposed to the loss incurred on account of the
same. Another argument is that a large part of the T&D loss actually goes back
to the ecosystem through groundwater recharge, although not in the most effi-
cient manner. Many Indian cities have been aiming for 24×7 water supply for
which minimizing T&D loss is a prerequisite.

About 30 percent of the total water drawn from the Cauvery River for Karnataka
is lost in transmission, and about 20 percent of total water supplied to the city of
Bangalore is accounted as NRW. On the other hand, some reports suggest that
the 24×7 water supply scheme in the city of Nagpur, one of the first ever in India
implemented through public-­private partnership mode, is actually turning to be
more inequitable to different localities and sections of citizens.

Economic Efficiency of Urban Local Governments

Urban India contributes approximately 60 percent to the national economy (in

gross domestic product terms). However, there exists a substantial backlog in basic
urban infrastructure provisions, which is estimated to be around USD 250 billion
as per the estimates of the High Powered Expert Committee on urban infrastruc-
ture. This implies that more investment is needed from public and private sources.
Self-sustainability of ULBs continues to be a challenge even with increased
interest from the private sector to engage with cities, by means of investment
and expertise. A number of assets and infrastructure built with private sector
assistance or even through support from state or central governments are
turning out to be dead investments in the long run, as the ULBs are not able
to sustain financial sources for operation and maintenance of the assets. A
credit rating of Indian cities published in 2017 reveals that only 94 out of 500
cities included in the Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT have obtained rat-
ings, which is necessary for securing different modes of financial self-reliance
such as the issuance of municipal bonds (“Press Information Bureau
Government of India Ministry of Urban Development” 2017).

In 2016, the citizens and civil society of Bhopal, a tier-II city in India, managed to
create enough pressure on the local government to put on hold the plan for a
high-end area development plan and instead initiate actions towards preparing
a strategic plan for integrating the city’s natural elements into the urban devel-
opment process. Around the same time, civil society-led protests compelled civic
authorities in Bengaluru to drop a high-investment flyover construction plan,
which was not a viable solution for the city’s traffic problems. Following the suc-
cess of this movement, civil society groups have launched an online platform
named Niga (vigil) to enable the citizens and communities be vigilant over deci-
sions made by civic authorities.
  Urban Sustainability in India: Evolution, Challenges and Opportunities    691

Resilience

Resilience in urban systems can be described as a combination of foresight and

coping mechanisms. In their fifth assessment report, the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has mentioned six major categories of climate
change threats to cities and urban areas, which are drought, increased precipita-
tion, rising sea levels and storm surges, inland and coastal flooding, heat stress,
increased aridity, water scarcity, and air pollution (Revi et al. 2014). South Asia
is regarded as one of the most vulnerable regions to impacts of climate change.
Evidence shows that South Asian countries, including India, are more prone to
natural disasters compared to the rest of the world.4 The vulnerability of these
areas is compounded by the region’s low human and economic development
indices compared to developed countries. Cities, which signify concentration of
population and economy, naturally incur substantial loss of human and eco-
nomic resources. Indian cities, some of which are among the most populated
ones in the world, tend to show vulnerability especially in the wake of extreme
natural events such as heavy precipitations, resulting into urban floods, which
are becoming more frequent. India figures among top five countries in Asia and
the Pacific in economic damage and fatalities ranking with significant impact of
disasters in urban areas. Naturally, building urban resilience is emerging as one
of the top priorities of the region. Incidents of urban flooding in the recent past
in Indian megacities, such as Mumbai and Chennai, expose significant fault
lines in the city’s spatial growth management strategies and disaster response
mechanisms. Urban floods in Chennai, caused by heavy rainfall, over short peri-
ods of time in November 2015, were estimated to have led to losses worth USD
2.2 billion, apart from loss of lives. While one cannot control natural events, the
reason behind such severe impacts of the floods was largely anthropogenic. One
common feature that could be seen in almost all urban flooding incidents in
India is unscientific spatial planning of built infrastructure and lack of enforce-
ment of laws. In all cases, built spaces encroached upon prime natural contours
or were chocked by garbage. While innovative disaster assessment techniques
and data gathering tools are increasingly being used, such cutting-edge efforts
are yet to be largely mainstreamed in formal city governance mechanisms.

Chennai was better prepared after the 2015 floods by taking proactive measures
to create a stronger flood monitoring and response mechanism.

There are a number of indigenous flood modeling efforts done by national- and
state-level disaster management authorities and premier technology institutes in
India which are better designed to capture contextual variations of cities in India.
692  S. Bhattacharya

Lessons Learned
Indian cities continue to create paradoxical examples of inclusion through
informality5 and efficiency through rather compromised quality of life stan-
dards. As economic output of urbanization increases, we see tougher contesta-
tions in cities and their adjoining peri-urban areas, over questions of well-being,
equity, efficiency, and resilience. The contestations take different forms
depending on power structures such as citizen vs. citizen, citizen vs. business
groups, or citizens vs. government. A part of the struggles for efficiency and
equity seen in Indian cities is inherent to the fact that India is stressed for
natural landmass resources compared to its large population. Nevertheless, at
the same time, these struggles and tensions could be perceived as a feature of
the ongoing urbanizing trajectory that Indian cities are experiencing. Thus, it
would be inadequate to apply lessons from more urbanized contexts and
expect them to work. Western cities experienced peak urbanization when
there was no internet and when the world did not start to stare at a 2° C global
temperature rise scenario. India and other south Asian cities are currently in
an unusual phase in an atypical period which demands unique and carefully
crafted strategies and responses. We are also at a stage wherein the character-
istics of future Indian cities are not easy to predict. They may develop along
their current trajectories or result in alternative urban paradigms that embrace
ecosystems limiting traditional growth, or perhaps along some other path.
Going back in time, the idea of collaborating with nature can be seen in
most ancient Indian cities, until engineering skills and investments started
overpowering natural constraints. Modernization has put Indian cities on the
global map in an increasingly open economic paradigm but at the same time
brought consequences that urban governance mechanisms were not prepared
for. At this juncture, a new genre of initiatives focusing on cities has come
forth with the hope of transforming India’s urban face.
India’s urban development started receiving focus not very long ago. There
is visible effort in measuring outcomes instead of outputs along with a slow
shift in perspective of what we consider as symbols of prosperity. More
­importantly, a more concerned and better-informed discourse is slowly gath-
ering momentum emphasizing a more holistic approach towards planning for
ecosystem-­based services which can create a viable win-win model in the long
run.
One must also remember that at present, India’s megacities highly influ-
ence average numbers because of the sheer number of the population that
resides in them. However, megacities are reaching their carrying capacity fast.
  Urban Sustainability in India: Evolution, Challenges and Opportunities    693

Thus, the future urban population of India, which is projected to double by

2050, will mostly reside in tier-II and tier-III cities. In tier-II and tier-III cit-
ies, the problems have not reached a complex stage as much as they have in
megacities, which appear to be resistant to solutions. There is an urgent need
to focus on these cities, and intense research is needed on census towns, peri-­
urban areas, and their transformations.
Despite unsatisfactory average performance, Indian cities exhibit tremen-
dous coping mechanisms to sustainability challenges. The future lies in learn-
ing from anecdotes and finding the right entry point in the established
institutional mechanisms to scale up successes. India’s demographic position
is to its advantage with the age-pyramid bulging below the 20 years age group
and thus ensuring a continuing work participation over the next three to four
decades. India also has a more stable domestic environment congenial to sta-
ble economic growth compared to many of its South Asian counterparts. We
also see the emerging of an increasingly aware and concerned citizenry that is
turning the otherwise theoretical discourse of sustainable development to
more real-life, tangible actions. The future looks somewhat hopeful.

Challenges and Barriers
Sustainability is not an easy or simple goal, especially in developing countries
that are sharing the responsibility of reducing global carbon footprint while
being positioned far below their developed country counterparts in prosperity
and quality of life standards. Continuous contestations in urban spaces show
the struggle to seek justice in the face of conflicting goals that are handled
through hurried responses. Formidable challenges exist in a number of areas,
and these ought to serve as a guide in the formulation of the next phase of
urban development programs in India.

• Scalability and Replicability: India is a large and diverse country with many
agro-ecological zones and different social and political forces at play in dif-
ferent parts of the country. Nevertheless, replication and scaling up are a
must, and this needs learning from both success and failure. Indian cities
also need to learn better from each other and from developing countries in
similar contexts, before looking for solutions from Western countries.
There exist smaller stories of success, which show immense possibility. The
key is in collective effort and an efficient governance mechanism support-
ing the same.
694  S. Bhattacharya

• Data Preparedness and the Problem of Evidence-based Policy-Making: India,

like many other developing countries, suffers from poor data syndrome.
Meaningful data is key to transitioning from an output-oriented discourse
to a more outcome-oriented discourse. Lack of disaggregated evidence also
limits opportunities that could emerge by comparing intersections of dif-
ferent sectors. Synchronization between sectoral programs under various
ministries, in data, scale, time, and fiscal management, is critical to achiev-
ing a universal agenda like sustainable urban development. The hope is that
India’s commitment towards the SDGs will galvanize actions towards this,
a substantial part of which is expected to be crowd-sourced with critical
involvement of civil society and think tanks.
• Capacity of Urban Institutions Affecting Good Governance Agenda: There is
substantial capacity constraint, especially at ULBs level to carry out reform
agendas, especially the e-governance schemes and to respond to growing
demand from increasingly aware citizenry. The fast-changing technology
space is generating additional requirement for adequate training and capac-
ity building in ULBs and across urban sector institutions. While the new-­
age programs focused significantly on citizen engagement, translating the
same into an effective coalition of actors for the city’s benefit has not been
possible through these programs. It is interesting that approaches (such as
various open data initiatives) are coming into existence outside the ambit
of formal programs and gathering enough weight to influence
decision-making.
• Thinking Beyond Cities and Linking Villages to Sustainable Urbanization:
Cities, in order to be true engines of growth, need to lead to the develop-
ment of a region. Little evidence exists on livelihood generation by cities
beyond the formal sectors. A substantial gap remains in the understanding
of peri-urban dynamics and how these areas in transition relate to the city,
the inflow-outflow pattern in terms of natural resources, economic oppor-
tunities, migration, and vulnerability. The urban-peri-urban-rural relation-
ship is stronger than what is recognized in present urban governance
mechanisms. Cities are living off their fringes and the rural areas both adja-
cent and away from them. It is high time that the capacity of rural local
bodies be given as much importance while advocating for capacity building
of urban local bodies, especially in rapidly urbanizing contexts.

Finally, the importance of asking the right question and creating conversa-
tions around sustainability issues cannot be undermined as cities embrace
technology-driven solutions and operate on tools and platforms. Fundamental
and exploratory research, with multi-disciplinary approaches, can lead to
  Urban Sustainability in India: Evolution, Challenges and Opportunities    695

enhanced understanding of the pattern of urbanization in India and related

sustainability issues. There is little disagreement that the future generation of
urban and rural sector programs need to be built on a much better under-
standing of urban dynamics in order to convincingly argue for cities as engines
of growth.

Notes
1. OGs—outgrowths are defined as enumeration blocks with viable boundaries,
such as villages, which are physically contiguous to a town and possesses urban
features in terms of infrastructure and amenities.
2. According to 2014 National Geographic/GlobeScan Consumer Greendex
which is a scientifically derived sustainable consumption index of actual con-
sumer behavior and material lifestyles across 18 countries, Indians are the top-
scoring environmentally sustainable consumers.
3. Studies measuring ecological footprint of Atlanta, Dubai, Vancouver, Berlin,
Dubai, London, and Barcelona show that Atlanta and Dubai have the highest
EF compared to other five cities, which either have a compact urban form or
high population density or both. Refer to http://assets.wwfindia.org/down-
loads/urbanisation_report.pdf originally sourced from www.citymayors.com.
4. A 2015 UNESCAP report shows South and Southwest Asia was the most
affected sub-region in the world in terms of number of natural disasters that hit
them and the amount of loss of life and economy.
5. While urban poverty is an important aspect contributing to informalities in
Indian cities, researchers have argued that informalities in India’s urban plan-
ning regime are marked by “state of deregulation, ambiguity, and exception.”
Roy, Ananya; Research Article: Planning Theory “why India Cannot Plan its
Cities: Informality, Insurgence and the Idiom of Urbanisation,” SAGE publi-
cation (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1473095208099299).

Further Reading
Ahmad, O. 2016. Interview: Gautam Bhan on the “Encroacher” Versus the “Citizen.”
THE WIRE.
Bhan, G. 2015. From Slums to Neighbourhoods. The Hindu.
———. 2016. A City is for All Its Citizens. The Hindu.
Census of India. 2011. Provisional Population Totals Urban Agglomerations and Cities.
Guttikunda, S.K., R.  Goel, and P.  Pant. 2014. Nature of Air Pollution, Emission
Sources, and Management in the Indian Cities. Atmospheric Environment 95:
501–510.
696  S. Bhattacharya

Jain, M., H.  Taubenböck, and S.  Namperumal. 2011. Seamless Urbanisation and
Knotted City Growth: Delhi Metropolitan Region. Paper presented at the REAL
CORP 16th International Conference ‘Change for stability: Lifecycles of Cities
and Regions’, Essen.
Khosla, R. 2017. India’s Urban Landscape. Economic Political Weekly 52: 92–101.
Mishra, N. 2015. The Village That Could Be a Town. The Indian Express, January 5.
Mukherjee, M., N. Chindarkar, and J. Grönwall. 2015. Non-Revenue Water (NRW)
and Cost Recovery in Urban India: Case of Bangalore. Water Policy 17 (3):
484–501.
Pradhan, K.C. 2013. Unacknowledged Urbanisation: The New Census Towns of
India [WWW Document]. Central Policy Research. URL http://www.cprindia.
org/articles/unacknowledged-urbanisation-new-census-towns-india.
Urban Water Supply and Sanitation in Indian Cities. 2015. National Institute of
Urban Affairs.
Water and cities [WWW Document]. n.d. Int. Decade Action Water Life. URL
http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/water_cities.shtml.

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