Build cities
"Cities are the engines of growth since it is an urbanized population which has the productive capacity to create economic wealth and thus lead to development. India’s largely rural population has to be urbanized and since the existing cities are basically incapable of absorbing the population, new cities have to be developed."
Atanu Dey, in an excellent blog entry about Mukesh Ambani, which discusses, among other things, his vision to build two new metros outside of Delhi and Mumbai as part of a comprehensive makover plan for India.
Besides increasing productivity, cities also emancipate rural migrants from village caste hierarchies. In anonymity we stand a chance of being judged by our worth and not by an arbitrary birth order. Religion becomes charismatic and egalitarian, transmitted by television and open-air celebrations rather than by wandering gurus and seasonal fairs. And no one is denied entry to temples.
Ambedkar exhorted the Dalits to head to the cities, because, he felt, the village was a superstitious milieu where time and progess did not matter.
India’s metros have burgeoned into chaotic enormities. Mumbai is projected to have 30 million people in the next quarter century, half the population of Great Britain. Most of the second-tier cities are mofussil towns with superannuated infrastructure and provincial vibes. It’s time to usher in the new.
If you are quoting Atanu Day in the first paragraph of your post, the quotations marks are missing.
Thanks,
Ramesh.
Comment by Ramesh Tiwari — July 20, 2006 @