DEVELOPMENT HAS ALWAYS had a very positive connotation. It meant getting power in regions that spent the night in lantern light; getting roads where accessibility was through animal-pulled carts; getting health centers in remote areas served earlier by witch doctors and quacks; getting hand pumps and water borings in places where well had been the only source of drinking water; getting schools that had four walls and classrooms, doing away with children’s education under the open sky or a tree. Development meant bringing to the area diverse facilities to improve the quality of people’s life.
The first to develop were regions where the concentration of people was higher and there were greater commercial activities. Because there were more people and more money, the growth in these areas outstripped the others that remained static with little or no changes. These economically more thriving areas, offering better opportunities in all spheres, emerged as urban centers. To sustain the ever-growing masses in these areas, there was a need for housing, road, power, civic infrastructure, and managing institutions, which were put into place as technology progressed. With time, the population in these urban areas burgeoned, with more and more people shifting their base from lesser-developed regions to these centers that offered greater economic opportunities. The urban scenario kept shifting with physical changes being effected to take care of the new challenge or the crisis. The old urban centers that flourished with few thousands of people, now have millions of settlers. This put pressure on the big cities’ civic infrastructure, which is now overloaded and squeaking under the enormous population weight. Modified and changed several times to cope with the crises, the city systems are cracking and lending a very negative aura to the word development, which is now getting more associated with planet’s defacement and concretization.
This merinews special takes a look into the mess that urban life has become in all parts of the world.
|
| |
| Bustling, Bursting Cities |
|
| City life: Travails and trappings |
|
| There is no running away from the bustling cities. For, that is where the monies are raining and people are rushing for their stomach and pocket. The gold rush has created civic problems that all world cities are grappling to solve. |
|
| Bibek Debroy: Call it disparity, not rural-urban divide |
|
| Well-known economist Bibek Debroy shares his views on rural and urban issues in an exclusive interview with merinews. |
|
| Slums: The marginalized mess |
|
| Slums symbolize the mess that urban life in India has become. It raises questions of civic planning, governance and the contrasting life of urban haves and have-nots. A look-in. |
|
| FM surprise: 102.6 RJ |
|
| FM radio isn’t often a pleasure to tune into with the same, repetitive Bollywood beat numbers being aired by turns by all the channels. However, the relegated AIR FM, is now offering contrasting radio relief through proficient RJs like Rajesh Lekh. |
|
| Asian cities overtake Mumbai |
|
| Mumbai, India’s economic capital, lags behind other Asian cities as far as management is concerned. Becoming like Shanghai seems impossible for a city, which is incapable of clearing garbage and laying quality roads. |
|
| Mumbai tosses off eco to become Shanghai |
|
| Mumbai seems to be in a tearing hurry to catch up with Shanghai. Development at the cost of the citizens seems to be the policy adopted by the government. The life of thousands of residents has been disturbed due to the highway constructions. |
|
| Demolition drive hits religious structures |
|
|
Manokamna Sidh Hanuman Mandir became a victim of DDA’s demolition drive. Politicians can use the demolition of religious structures as a tool to create religious tension. |
| |
| Sealing: Question of questions |
|
| Delhi traders’ violent backlash and causatives behind it warrant a deeper look into the angry accusations of hidden purse strings being behind the corrective rulings. |
| |
| Traffic: Hell of a drive |
|
| Driving in cities now is like going through a living hell and there is little that can be done to contain the ever-growing traffic with planners running out of options. Can technology help? |
| |
| Traffic-e-nawabi |
|
| The condition in some of our cities is such that people have actually forgotten the function of traffic lights. People who actually abide with rules are the ones who are viewed as defaulters. |
| |
|
| The plastic ban…one year later |
|
| Maharashtra imposed a "Plastic Ban" over a year back .. but the results are far from those desired. |
|
| |
| Building roads: A profitable business for all |
|
| In India building roads is apparently as difficult as making a rocket. It seems that our government’s desire to make Mumbai like Shanghai will only remain a dream. |
|
|
