Urban development in North-Western India: emerging trends, concerns and strategies

Urban development in North-Western Region of India comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh is at cross roads. The Region is facing many crucial and new urban challenges in post liberalisation era. The scale of emerging challenges, such as housing, slums, poverty, infrastructure and services, parking, environmental pollution, is unprecedented. Slums, with multiple deprivations, are growing rapidly even in the hilly states due to migration of the poor population. Urban development seems to be neglected in urban policy planning over successive planning eras.

The onset of liberal regimes in promoting development of real estate markets, beginning of low interest home loans, lack of strong regulation of land and housing deals seem to have made them the commodity for speculation. Housing problem seem to acquire serious dimension in the wake of rapid urbanisation, commodification of land and housing, distortion in land market and weakening of public sector housing provision. The marginalisation of urban poor continues to be a major challenge. The planning and local governance are unable to cope with haphazard urbanisation and emerging urban problems. The deficiencies in and services are visible and people's perception about the same is poor. The social and environmental fabric of cities in the region is under stress.

Based on com of extensive data on various aspects of urban development in North Western India, the book is an attempt to contribute to the existing debate on emerging trends, concerns and strategies in urban development in India. With the discussion on the city and state level case studies from the region, the volume tries to explore how state and city governments in North-Western India have been dealing with the emerging urban issues and challenges and what sort of local policies are emerging to deal with the growing crucial urban problems. The volume provides good source of relevant information to planners, policy makers and students of urbans studies.