Page 93 - HUDCO-SHELTER-APR21

BOOK REVIEW

State of the Cities: - India

- by Prof. O.P. Mathur and Team, Institute of Social Sciences(ISS), New Delhi

urbanisation. Some of the key questions that
this study seeks responses to are:
According to the authors, India's
Is India's urbanisation in the post-
urban transition, has, of late,
liberalisation period any
acquired multiple narratives. It is
different? Does it show the effect
said to be rapid, moderate, slow,
o f t h e c h a n g e s i n t h e
m e s s y a n d h i d d e n . W h a t
macroeconomic parameters of
u n d e r p i n s s u c h m u l t i p l e
the post-1991 period? Is it more or
narratives is the central theme of
less productive and inclusive and
this Report.
environmentally secure? Is it
Making use of an analytical spatially more equal or unequal?
framework that permits an Does it in any way signal an
The world is going through rapid
examination of the shifts in the inflection point in India's urban
urbanisation and India is no
pace and pa ern of India's transition? The Report also
e x c e p t i o n . U r b a n i s a t i o n
urbanisation over a period of develops a ranking system of
continues to influence much of
India's public policy frameworks. time, this Report examines India's I n d i a n s t a t e s / U Ts v i a a n
Managing urbanisation in a large urbanisation and its multiple Urbanisation Index, using a set of
country like India requires a facets and dimensions, by delving 25 indicators. This could be a
thorough understanding and
into the demographic, economic useful indicator for measuring
analysis data in respect of inter-
and infrastructure aspects of the status of performance of
linkages of urbanisation with core
u r b a n i s a t i o n a n d l a y s a states/UTs.
u r b a n i s s u e s s u c h a s
demographic, economic and foundation for further work on The State of the Cities-India
infrastructure. In this context, the how Indian cities are planned,
Report is a must read for policy
'State of the Cities: India' Report, g o v e r n e d , fi n a n c e d a n d
makers, urban researchers,
a s p a r t o f H U D C O C h a i r sustained. The Report also
activities at ISS, New Delhi; and scholars and all those concerned
identifies gaps in infrastructure,
authored Prof. Om Prakash w i t h s u s t a i n a b l e u r b a n
especially soft infrastructure
Mathur, one of the eminent urban development.
scholars, and his team of young mainly education and health
researchers, is a seminal work, infrastructure, which would Reviewed by Dr. Akshaya Kumar
which provides an in-depth s e r v e a u s e f u l g u i d e Sen, Fellow, HUDCO's HSMI, New
analysis of the state of India's infrastructure lending. Delhi

April 2021 Volume 22 No. 1- SHELTER 91