Rethinking The City

Context: Pandemic induced urban crisis has exposed the need for fairer, stronger, safer, disaster-resilient and future inclusive cities. 

Need for Resetting the Indian Cities: Challenges faced by Urban Areas

• At the frontlines of the pandemic: 461 million people live in cities and generate 63% of GDP.
• High-Density Issues:
• Difficulty in controlling the spread and transmission of virus: in highly congested cities. 

• Self-isolation and hand-washing Are very difficult dense living conditions.

• Limited access to basic services/needs like piped water and sanitation services: in dense informal housing or slums restricts
• Intensified Food and Nutritional Insecurity: among informal workers residing in cities.
•  India is home to 15.1% of the world’s undernourished population.

Way Forward

• People-Centric Interventions:
• Provide legal entitlements for food and nutritional security and ensure affordable prices food availability for poorer families.

• Ensure targeted emergency and finance assistance to help communities in restoring and rethinking post-pandemic cities.

• Decongest slums to protect people’s health and wellbeing. 
• Bring targeted sustainable investment in infrastructure to construct modern buildings and streets, sewage and water systems, and toilets. 
• Strengthen sanitation system: by reinforcing Swachh behaviour through India Sanitation Coalition and Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).

• Increase reuse of wastewater and greywater to conserve scarce resources with FICCI water mission and Jal Jeevan mission.

• Reduce the carbon content and enhance the use of green building materials and design.

• Cement is responsible for about 7% of global carbon emissions
• Building design can reduce the air conditioning requirement.
• Investments in low-carbon measures in cities would be worth at least $23.9 trillion globally by 2050.

• Ensure sustainable universal energy access, as 2/3rd of global ambient air pollution deaths are caused by fossil fuels. 

• Exposure to pollution increases the susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 infection.

• Invest in public and non-motorised transportation infrastructure, as it can create more jobs than the same level of investment in roads and motorways and will make roads safer.

• Stepping up digital infrastructure will help make the work-from-home trend permanent.
• India accounts for 2% of motor vehicles globally, yet is responsible for more than 11% of road traffic deaths.

Conclusion: Pandemic provides an opportunity to reset and rethink governance models for cities and rectify what the COVID-19 crisis has exposed.

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