From my recent trip to Bangalore, I felt I could well take back what I had commented earlier about the city's new airport, almost. The new airport in visual perspectives is a leap of infrastructure from what was. The distance from the town has triggered developments of transport system almost as a guilty over-compensation of a city, in having pushed its key artery way out. What was widely discussed as the major flaw as in being too far, seems its primary strength today. With the network and transport infrastructure developing well, surroundings may well benefit. With more improvements to follow, a ring road void of traffic lights, metro to the airport in another few years, things should get better. And when they do, the extended boundary of the city promises a new urban-scape and an opportunity to develop afresh. Along a distance of 30 KM out of city along N-S axis and a nearly unlimited horizontal spread in E-W axis, there is well an opportunity to build new self sufficient townships for several million more. In close continuity with a city that is already an economic powerhouse for the country.
How that opportunity is playing out is a bit different. Proper town planning in India has generally fallen by the wayside or was a flash in the pan whenever and wherever it was. Governments are generally paralysed and happy enough with monetising powers to license and authorise, than plan and complete developments for all sections of society. Builders see little benefit than in providing houses for the rich. With the result that the new areas along the way to Bangalore's new airport are developing as a disorganised, spaghetti patchwork of islands of fine, rich living amidst large tracts of what remains of villages and people deprived of their staple agriculture. Its a a skin deep statistic, easy to discover a kilometre or two into the by-roads from the airport expressways. You find housing pockets lacking clean water, electricity, healthcare and sanitation right alongside apartment and housing complex that pare with best in the world. The government and the political class benefit from both consumer groups. One segment seek hope in voting for change that new government promises and the rich seek comfort in paying off harassment that any government can enduringly provide.
Chandigarh, my hometown, was developed as a model township that future township developments could emulate. A grid based city with equitable housing allocation for all classes of society, allocation of schools, markets and healthcare facilities in order. A master blueprint available to all planners to emulate. The city now stands for an image quite different to what its founder envisioned. The model never got replicated and now exists in isolation as a one off precious artifact of global standard urban landscape in India. Not surprisingly, its property prices compare with most expensive areas in cities like London and Paris. A 2-3 bedroom floor unit of a 200 sq yard house costs anywhere in the 50 sq km block of Chandigarh costs upwards of £200,000. A 500sq yard house upwards of £600,000. In a country where per capita income is at £200 per annum, forget poor man, the place is out of reach for even the modern upper middle class. Even they are able to afford settlements in Bangalore-like spaghetti network townships bordering Chandigarh. And with the social housing pockets in Chandigarh proper having being saturated, the lower middle class and are now getting pushed out to far fringes, where schooling, healthcare, transport and good electricity and water are less certain in an anyways constrained system.
Situation in other cities are I believe no different. Better infra in town has come to mean more opportunity for government and real estate developers to make a big buck than share the infrastructure among all classes. In such backdrop, feel pessimistic about what even finest developments in infrastructure can sustainably provide in India. Photo ops for India shining story - yes, better traffic for few years - maybe, quality urban living for all sections of society - clearly not.
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