The Many Challenges India's Megacities Face
The United Nations has identified 19 of the world's biggest megacities with a population of 10 million and above. Four of these megacities —Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru—are in India. All these will soon be home to many more people. According to the United Nations World Cities Report 2016, for instance, another 9.6 million people will call Delhi their home by 2030.
Who would not love to move to bigger cities full of opportunities, after all? Now, beware! Megacities do present opportunity, but the challenges they face are alarming, too.
Livable cities or slums?
A city is home not only to engineers, doctors and others who have white-collar jobs; there are the plumbers, grocers and cleaners, electricians, too, who often do not earn enough to be able to afford a decent living. When the underprivileged come together to live, work and earn, ghettoisation is inevitable. Ghettos often turn into slums as well with livability taking a big hit. A fine example is Mumbai's Dharavi slum which, according to estimates, houses as many as one million dwellers.
“Most slum-dwellers, at least from what I have seen in India, move to the megacity not for the bright lights, but to escape hopeless poverty in their village. Some argue that these migrants are better off than previous slum-dwellers since they ride motorcycles and have cell phones,” writes Joel Kotkin for Forbes.
Two more to come
The United Nations study also predicts that two more Indian cities will become megacities by the end of 2030. These are Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. Hyderabad with its strong IT hub and tourism centre is expected to become home to 12.8 million by 2030 while Ahmedabad with its textile industry may house 10.5 million people. Their addition into this list is important as we find more people moving to urban areas for financial security, quality of life, job opportunities and education.
Persistent problems
According to the World Cities Report, there are some rampant issues that authorities would need to work towards in megacities. These include climate change, international migration, growth of informal settlements, change in family patterns, insecurity, exclusion and inequality and other aspects of urban growth.
More of these in developing nations
While megacities may be a reality, it also presents a stark and dismal reality. The UN report also says that 79 per cent of these megacities of the world are in Asia, Latin America and Africa. This is “an indication that the centre of gravity of the urban world is moving to developing countries,” reads the report.