SUSTAINABLE CITY: ISSUES AND CONSIDERATIONS

‘Sustainability’
has been everybody’s concern in different spheres of human settlements and
their development. Every effort is made to make provisions for the inhabitants of
these settlements to make their living better. Thus, quality of life has been
the prime concern for the planners and policy makers while considering planning
and developmental options for the settlements. Urban settlements have been in
the limelight since past one and half decades or so because projections reveal
that the future of different regions across the globe rests in towns and
cities. McKinsey Global Institute
has projected that India’s total urban population will be approximately 590
million in the next 20 years and cities will generate 70% of India’s GDP,
resulting in the newfound importance of a city’s role. For the cities to
perform new role they have to be self-reliant to make them ‘sustainable
cities’. But the present day conditions are that they are suffering from pressures
of infrastructural deficit in housing, social infrastructure, clean &
regular water supply, sanitation facilities, solid waste management,
transportation system, etc. Inefficient management and poor governance are
other important concerns hitting the sustainability issue. With the existing
deficits and inefficiencies it is extremely difficult to attain the objectives
of ‘sustainable cities’ and to meet the future urban needs. The present paper
is an attempt to assess to infrastructural deficits and inadequacies and
identify the issues concerning sustainability. Efforts are also made to suggest
planning and developmental considerations to develop the urban settlements on
the concept of ‘sustainable cities’.