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At present, the urban growth in India has been haphazard with a marked regional disparity in the levels of urbanisation.
Urban growth has been more in large towns and metropolitan towns than in small and medium towns. A national policy is required on urbanisation which will ensure a balanced urban growth.
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The National Urbanisation Policy (NUP) should deal with the following issues:
1. Location of towns:
A practical approach should be adopted to encourage a dispersed location.
2. Size of towns:
Taking into account the resource endowment of a particular region, optimum population levels should be encouraged.
3. Growth of urban centres:
Basic services and physical infrastructure should be planned keeping in view the probable future trends of urbanisation.
4. Policy on rural-urban migration:
This should address the issue of urbanisation in low- urbanisation states, may be through rapid industrialisation.
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5. Dealing with rapid growth of metropolitan cities:
A practical approach will be to encourage development of small and medium towns and satellite towns and focus on development of transport facilities, urban renewal and slum improvement.
6. Policy on peripheral growth:
This will cover the suburbs, city regions and the rural- urban fringe areas.
7. Development of growth centres:
Growth centres will act as the stimulating foci for rapid economic development, especially of rural areas, by virtue of high quality infrastructural facilities provided to them.
8. Housing policy:
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Such a policy will have to focus on provision of mass housing and on rationalisation of building and rent control measures throughout the country.
9. Urban land policy:
This will include the objectives of ‘socialising the urbanisable land’, conversion of freehold land into leasehold, restriction on building plot sizes and simplification of land acquisition procedures.
10. Administrative policy:
These will address the issue of giving power, function and financial resources to local bodies and administration and coordination of civil services.
11. Policies to check air and water pollution:
Such policies will ensure a check on air and water pollution caused due to industrialisation and overpopulation in urban areas.
It is necessary to provide proper infrastructural facilities to the people and address the problem of growing slum and squatter settlements. To rejuvenate the cities, there is a need to change the pattern of the local bodies.
Community groups should be involved in spreading awareness about the need to be clean and value hygiene, save water and other precious resources, desist from polluting the environment, dispose of the garbage in a proper manner and plant more trees. New areas need to be carefully planned through the system of master plans and zoning regulations.
Better town planning is necessary along with strict enforcement of laws which restrict unplanned development. Incentives to industries to disperse to smaller centres can lead to even distribution of urbanisation and migrating populations and thus to balanced economic development.
In some countries, ‘new towns’ have been built at a distance from the main urban centres. These towns, for instance, in Britain, have residential and industrial areas and provide better housing and employment opportunities to the people.