Salient Features and Issues of Indian Urbanisation: A World Bank View

Posted on May 13, 2020 by Rashid Faridi
Here are some salient features of Indian Urbanisation
  • While home to a minority of the population, Indian cities contribute to about 2/3 of the economic output.
  • The population of Indian towns and cities is expected to increase from 282 million to 590 million in the next 20 years.
  • Already, slums( manifestation of urban poverty) now account for about 26% of all urban population in cities. In Mumbai, more than half the population lives in slums.

Urbanization is not a side effect of economic growth; it is an integral part of the process. As in most countries, India’s urban areas make a major contribution to the country’s economy. Indian cities contribute to about 2/3 of the economic output, host a growing share of the population and are the main recipients of FDI and the originators of innovation and technology and over the next two decades are projected to have an increase of population from 282 million to 590 million people. India’s towns and cities have expanded rapidly as increasing numbers migrate to towns and cities in search of economic opportunity.

Hence accompanying India’s rapid economic growth will be a fundamental shift in terms of a massive urban transformation, possibly the largest national urban transformation of the 21st century. This would pose unprecedented challenges to India’s growing cities and towns in providing housing and infrastructure (water, sewerage, transportation, etc.), and addressing slums. Already, slums now account for about 26% of all urban population in cities. In Mumbai, more than half the population lives in slums, many of which are situated near employment centers in the heart of town, unlike in most other cities in developing countries. This would also entail massive capital investment needs in urban infrastructure India, as highlighted by various Finance Commissions and expert bodies. For instance the Report on Indian Urban Infrastructure and Services by the High Powered Expert Committee (HPEC) on urban projects an investment requirement of over US$ 870 billion over the next 20 year period. Similarly, a Mckinsey study on Indian urbanization projects an investment need of US$ 1.2 trillion over a similar period.

Meeting the needs of India’s soaring urban populations is and will continue to be a strategic policy matter for various national, state and city governments. Promoting an efficient urbanization process in India will require a set of policies that will deal with land policies and basic needs, connective infrastructure and specific interventions. India also needs well-managed cities with high-quality services. Water supply and sanitation, urban transport, and urban drainage are key local services to ensure the quality of living and sustained growth. Sustained energy supply and affordable serviced land are services that are essential for the development of the economy.

 Challenges

The built environment: the supply of both land and infrastructure is falling behind demand.

• Out of date and static master plans immobilize the supply of serviced land and buildable space, blocking efficient and productive development. While important laws have been revoked to remove land restrictions and rent controls, many of the legal instruments to operationalize those reforms are still lacking;
• Inappropriate FSI, zoning and development control regulations inhibit development and trunk infrastructure;
• Fractured planning structures are incapable of integrated planning for land use, infrastructure planning, and finance across metropolitan areas;
• The legal, regulatory, and institutional basis for land management is generally lacking, hindering the capacity of the private sector to be competitive and the ability of the public sector to use land-based financial instruments to finance infrastructure investments.
• Urban services, including water & wastewater, and solid waste, do not reach many residents, and those they do serve receive sporadic, unreliable services. And, in the case of non-notified slums, service providers are prohibited from serving residents.
• Public transport services provide inadequate services, and non-motorized transit for pedestrians, bicycles, and handcarts is limited, forcing this traffic to compete with cars, trucks, and motorcycles for space on the streets.
• The proliferation of slums is largely the result of failures in land markets and regulations, compounded by limited access to housing finance.
• Rigid master plans and restrictive zoning regulations limit the land available for building, constricting cities’ abilities to grow in accordance with changing needs.

Weak and unpredictable financing frameworks limit the ability of ULBs to manage their resources effectively.

• Overlapping institutions across three tiers of government diffuse accountability across agencies, parastatal bodies, and elected governments. This situation undermines India’s robust democracy, clouds issues of responsibility, and blocks the development of coherent regulatory frameworks and sustainable service delivery models.
• Dominance of state governments: India’s states are often on the scale of countries. These state governments cannot effectively provide service or good governance at the local level. Even India’s mega-cities do not have control over their own policies, planning, finances, assets, or institutions.
• ULBs and local service entities have neither clear responsibility nor the fiscal and operational autonomy to deliver adequate urban services;
• Weakness of local governments: ULBs lack capacity, i.e. systems and trained human resources in areas such as financial and organizational management; land use and infrastructure planning; asset management; and project identification, design and management.
• This leaves them trapped in a low-level equilibrium, dependent on the State and Centre. Citizens have limited opportunities to hold City managers (who are appointed by the states and are not elected) and service providers accountable for the quantity or quality of services provided..

Government Priorities and Programs:

Government’s urban development strategy. There two urban-related ministries at the national (GoI) level- the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA). The Government of India’s overarching urban-development objectives is to create economically productive, efficient, inclusive and responsive ULBs, by focusing on strategic outcomes: (i) universal access to a minimum level of services; (ii) establishment of city-wide frameworks for planning and governance; (iii) modern and transparent budgeting, accounting and FM; (iv) financial sustainability for ULBs and service delivery institutions; (v) utilization of e-governance; (vi) transparency and accountability in urban service delivery and management; (vii) Slum-free cities.

In pursuance of these goals, the Government of India (GoI) launched a flagship urban development program called the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM), in December 2005. The Mission targets 65 ULBs (7 with populations greater than 4 million, 28 greater than 1 million and 30 other ULBs of religious, historic or tourist importance). JnNURM is reform and incentive based – in return for a commitment to adopt the obligatory reforms over a period of seven years, ULBs may access funds for investment and capacity building. The investment component of the Mission consists of two sub-missions: (i) Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG), implemented by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), with investments including (a) water, sanitation, sewerage and drainage; (b) solid waste management (SWM); (c) urban transport; (d) street lighting; and (e) environmental protection; and (ii) Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP), implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA), with investments supporting integrated development of slums. More recently GoI launched the Slum-free City program of Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) a scheme working towards the goal of a slum-free India.

In addition, many of the state governments have their own urban development schemes and programs at the state and level, focusing on many of the aforesaid issues.

Source:

World Bank Site

Posted in Class Notes, earth, Urban Studies | Leave a comment

Phases in Planning Process

Posted on May 11, 2020 by Rashid Faridi

The basis for integrating energy aspects in planning processes is a thorough understanding of the existing urban planning process in a given city. Such a process should include all phases , steps, stakeholders and their related activities/responsibilities as well as instruments and tools used in planning urban development projects.

In most cases the main planning instrument of a city such as the zoning plan or land use plan needs to be adapted when new projects are being developed. However, it is important to not only show the final, official steps when adapting the zoning plan. The process map should depict all phases including the early planning steps, feasibility and master plans, the permitting process, and final implementation. It should also show some decision points or paths during this process for instance criteria for special procedural steps or competitions. It might also be helpful to develop two process maps: one for the procedure of new development areas and one for transformation areas.

The principal phases of an urban planning process are:

  1. Preparatory / exploration phase
  2. Feasibility/planning phase
  3. Formal planning/zoning phase
  4. Design and implementation phase
  5. Operational phase

simplified_urban_planning_process_red

Source:

UrbanLearning

Posted in earth, urban morphology, Urban Studies | Leave a comment

Levelling in Surveying (Geography)

Posted on May 9, 2020 by Rashid Faridi

Levelling  is a branch of surveying, the object of which is to

  1. Find the elevation of a given point with respect to the given or assumed datum.
  2. Establish a point at a given elevation with respect to the given or assumed datum.

Levelling is the measurement of geodetic height using an optical levelling instrument and a level staff or rod having a numbered scale. Common levelling instruments include the spirit level, the dumpy level, the digital level, and the laser level
 

Method Of Levelling :-

  1. Rise and fall method
  2. Height of collimation method

 

  1. Rise and fall method :-

                                                  In this method, the difference of level between two consecutive points for each setting of the instrument, is obtained by comparing their staff readings. The difference between their staff readings indicates a rise if the back staff reading is more than the fore sight and a fall if it is less than the fore sight. The algebraic sum of rises and falls, gives the difference in level between the starting and closing points.

  1. Height of collimation method :-

                                                            In this method height of the instrument is calculated for the first setting of instru­ment by adding the back sight to the reduced level of the given Bench Mark. The reduced level of the first station is obtained by subtracting its fore sight from the instrument height (H.I.).

      Arithmetical checks :-

∑ B.S.- ∑ F.S. =∑ Rise – ∑ Fall = Last R.L. – First R.L.

 Comparison of Line of Collimation Method with Rise and Fall Method :-

Height of collimation method Rise and fall method
1. It is more rapid and saves a            considerable time and labour.

2. It is well adopted for reduc­tion of levels for construction work such as longitudinal or cross section levelling opera­tions.

3. There is no check on reduc­tion of R.L.S. of intermediate stations.

4. There are only two arith­metical check i.e.,, the dif­ference between the sum of the back sights and the sum of the fore sights must be equal to the difference in R.L. of the last station and first station.

5. Errors if any in inter­mediate sights are not detected.

 1. It is laborious as the staff reading of each station is com­pared, to get a rise or fall.

2. It is well adopted for deter­mining the difference in levels of two points where precision is required.

3. There is a complete check on the reduction of R.Ls. of inter­mediate stations.

4. There are three arithmeti­cal checks i.e. the difference between the sum of the back sights and the sum of the fore sights must be equal to the difference between the sum of the rises and the sum of the falls as well as it must be equal to the difference in R.Ls. of the last station and first station.

5. Errors in intermediate sights are noticed as these are used for finding out the rises or falls.

 

 Sprit level:-

The spirit level is on a tripod with sight lines to the two points whose height difference is to be determined. A graduated leveling staff or rod is held vertical on each point; the rod may be graduated in centimetres and fractions or tenths and hundredths of a foot. The observer focuses in turn on each rod and reads the value. Subtracting the “back” and “forward” value provides the height difference.

 Refraction and Curvature:-

The curvature of the earth means that a line of sight that is horizontal at the instrument will be higher and higher above a spheroid at greater distances. The effect may be significant for some work at distances under 100 meters.

The line of sight is horizontal at the instrument, but is not a straight line because of refraction in the air. The change of air density with elevation causes the line of sight to bend toward the earth.

The combined correction for refraction and curvature is approximately.

 Or

For precise work these effects need to be calculated and corrections applied. For most work it is sufficient to keep the foresight and back sight distances approximately equal so that the refraction and curvature effects cancel out. Refraction is generally the greatest source of error in leveling. For short level lines the effects of temperature and pressure are generally insignificant, but the effect of the temperature gradient dT / dh can lead to errors.

Dumpy level :-

 The dumpy level was developed by English civil engineer William Gravatt, while surveying the route of a proposed railway line form London to Dover. More compact and hence both more robust and easier to transport, it is commonly believed that dumpy levelling is less accurate than other types of levelling, but such is not the case. Dumpy levelling requires shorter and therefore more numerous sights, but this fault is compensated by the practice of making foresights and back sights equal.

Precise level designs were often used for large leveling projects where utmost accuracy was required. They differ from other levels in having a very precise spirit level tube and a micrometer adjustment to raise or lower the line of sight so that the crosshair can be made to coincide with a line on the rod scale and no interpolation is required

Reading the staff :-

The staff starts at zero, on the ground. Every 10 cm is a number, showing ( in meters to one decimal) the height of the bottom of what appears to be a stylised E (even numbers) or 3 (odd numbers), 5 cm high. The stems of the E or 3 and the gaps between them are each 10mm high. These 10mm increments continue up to the next 10 cm mark.

To read the staff, take the number shown below the reticle. Count the number of whole 10mm increments between the whole number and the reticle. Then estimate the number of mm between the last whole 10mm block and the center of the reticle. The diagram above shows 4 readings:- 1.950, 2.000, 2.035 and 2.087.

The person holding the staff should end heavour to hold it as straight as possible. The leveller can easily see if it is tilted to the left or right, and should correct the staff-holder. However, it cannot easily be seen that the staff is tilted towards or away from the leveller. In order to combat this possible source of error, the staff should be slowly rocked towards and away from the leveller. When viewing the staff, the reading will thus vary between a high and low point. The correct reading is the lowest value.

Digital levels electronically read a bar-coded scale on the staff. These instruments usually include data recording capability. The automation removes the requirement for the operator to read a scale and write down the value, and so reduces blunders. It may also compute and apply refraction and curvature corrections.

 LEVELLING PROCEDURE :-

A typical procedure is to set up the instrument within 100 meters (110 yards) of a point of known or assumed elevation. A rod or staff is held vertical on that point and the instrument is used manually or automatically to read the rod scale. This gives the height of the instrument above the starting (backsight) point and allows the height of the instrument (H.I.) above the datum to be computed.

The rod is then held on an unknown point and a reading is taken in the same manner, allowing the elevation of the new (foresight) point to be computed. The procedure is repeated until the destination point is reached. It is usual practice to perform either a complete loop back to the starting point or else close the traverse on a second point whose elevation is already known. The closure check guards against blunders in the operation, and allows residual error to be distributed in the most likely manner among the stations.

Some instruments provide three crosshairs which allow stadia measurement of the foresight and back sight distances. These also allow use of the average of the three readings (3-wire leveling) as a check against blunders and for averaging out the error of interpolation between marks on the rod scale.

The two main types of levelling are single-levelling as already described, and double-levelling (Double-rodding). In double-levelling, a surveyor takes two foresights and two back sights and makes sure the difference between the foresights and the difference between the backsights are equal, thereby reducing the amount of error. Double-levelling costs twice as much as single-levelling.

Safety and precautions in leveling :-

While leveling, the following precautions should be taken:

  • The staff should be held vertical while taking the reading;
  • The bubble in the level tube is to be brought to central before taking any reading;
  • Readings should be taken in the proper direction depending on the type of staff;
  • Balancing of sight is to be maintained as far as possible;
  • Reading and recording of observation correctly.

 

 Link(s) andSource(s):

parorocks

Datum

Differential Levelling

Posted in Class Notes, earth, Geography Practicals/Lab and Statistical Techniques | Leave a comment

Liberty in the Time of Coronavirus

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Rashid Faridi

Never before has ‘freedom from’ so worryingly related to ‘freedom to.’ Nearly three billion people currently live under lockdowns enacted by governments. In these uncertain times, most of us remain confined to our homes and accept these unprecedented restrictions as a temporary but necessary sacrifice in the fight against a deadly virus. We understand that lockdowns are part of a short-lived trade-off between liberty and safety. But how comfortable are we with the idea that this state of emergency could last long enough to leave a permanent imprint on the social, economic and political fabric of our communities? What could be the institutional aftermath of this pandemic?…..

Read here in this thought-provoking  Article by Aris Trantidis

Posted in opinions | Leave a comment