Delhi, Mumbai to be in list of world’s 10 most populous cities by 2030: UN Report
According to a report released by United Nations’ World Urbanization Prospects, India’s political and financial capitals are both going to find a place among the ten largest cities in terms of population by the year 2030.
As per the report released by United Nations’ World Urbanization Prospects, the population in the Middle East, Asia and Africa is only going to increase by 2030. In 2030, the following will be the new 10 biggest cities in the world:
1. Tokyo, Japan: 37.2 million people
2. Delhi, India: 36.1 million people
3. Shanghai, China: 30.8 million people
4. Mumbai, India: 27.8 million people
5. Beijing, China: 27.7 million people
6. Dhaka, Bangladesh: 27.4 million people
7. Karachi, Pakistan: 24.8 million people
8. Cairo, Egypt: 24.5 million people
9. Lagos, Nigeria: 24.2 million people
10. Mexico City, Mexico: 23.9 million people
Source: Indian Express
How liveable is your city: National Orientation workshop to help assessment
In June 2017, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs had announced a set of liveability standards in cities which would be monitored to generate a liveability index and rate cities against these standards. All these standards are also strongly linked to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The assessment of liveability standards will help India to track and achieve these SDGs.
This week Minister of State (I/C) for Housing & Urban Affairs, Hardeep S Puri inaugurated a National Orientation Workshop on Assessment of Liveability Indices for the 116 Cities selected to be rated.
The Minister said that the purpose of this Workshop is to make the States and Cities understand the complete process for assessment of liveability indices by the selected agency and deliberate on various issues and get feedback on the proposed methodology….
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The Session on Liveability Indicators, Data Sources and Collection Strategies focused on delving into every one of the 79 metrics, helping acquaint the city with the definition of the metrics and provide information on potential data sources. Immediate feedback will be sought on each metric through an audience response system
Source: PIB
India to have new urban policy within two months
A draft of ten key principles or policies, termed Urban Sutras, will most likely form the basis of the New Urban Policy Framework 2018, which could be ready in a couple of months. This will mark the final departure from the three-decades-old roadmap on tackling growth in small and mid-sized cities that India currently follows.
The principles state that cities should be built around clusters of “human capital” instead of treating them like mere agglomerations of land use – residential, commercial and industrial – as being done currently under master plans of various cities.
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The draft principles… further state that cities should plan for density as per location rather than type of land use. Cities should also thrive on multi-modal public transportation and leverage their human capital to become financially self-reliant, they said.
Source: Hindustan Times
After Pune, it is now Hyderabad’s turn to raise money through bonds
The Pune Municipal Corporation had made news last year as the first civic body to successfully launch 10-year bonds. Now the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has raised Rs 200 crore by issuing bonds to finance its strategic road development programme. The plan is to raise Rs 1000 crore within a year.
The corporation intends utilising the proceeds to strengthen the city’s road network of over 9000 km. “We intend to use the funds for the strategic road development programme. We have identified certain bottlenecks in traffic in Hyderabad city that roughly has a population of 10 million and a road network of 9000 km,” B Janardhan Reddy, Commissioner of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, said.
Source: Moneycontrol
It has also been reported that the municipal corporations of Delhi, Ahmedabad and Surat may be the next in line to hit the bond market to raise funds for meeting their funding gaps.
Thane eyes new routes to manage plastic waste
Thane, the neighbouring city of Mumbai, has initiated several measures of late with an eye on environmental sustainability. In the latest, the Thane Municipal Corporation has decided to install plastic balers in the city for efficient management and recycling of plastic wastes.
Although, there are a string of rules to reduce plastic usage in the city, the plastic waste menace seems to be uncontrollable with plastic bags, bottles and packets flooding the city’s garbage output. To control the plastic litter, the TMC will install four plastic balers.
“The balers will compress the plastic which will make melting it easier for recycling units,” said Sunil Chavan, additional municipal commissioner of TMC.
Source: DNA
Gujarat: Urbanisation by force?
A number of villages in Gujarat, India’s fastest urbanising state, are reportedly opposing the state’s industrial juggernaut and the inevitable incorporation of many rural or peri-urban areas into the urban development authorities.
The government proposes to develop 40% of villages’ land, paving roads and building hospitals, schools and housing colonies. In turn, it says this will lead the remaining 60% to appreciate in value. “And that is supposed to compensate for the 40% (land) we initially give up,” says Thakor. Like many farmers in the 68 villages around Ahmedabad, he is not thrilled to give up nearly half of his land for the mere promise of a better future. “More importantly, we don’t think this is a better future.”
About 100,000 farmers in different parts of the state have met to strategise ways to oppose cities’ expansion. Some have even launched challenges in the Gujarat high court.
Source: The Guardian