NITI Aayog suggests to build 500 ‘healthy cities’

NITI Aayog released its “Building Urban Planning Capacity in India” on September 16, 2021.

About the report

The ‘Building Urban Planning Capacity in India’ report comprises of a set of recommendations on several aspects of urban planning like:

1. Interventions for planning healthy cities
2. Optimum utilization of urban land
3. Ramping up human-resource capacities
4. Strengthening urban governance
5. Building local leadership
6. Enhancing the role of private sector and
7. Advancing the urban planning education system.

Key recommendations of the report

• As per report, India needs a Central sector scheme to build 500 ‘healthy cities’ over the next five years as well as a thorough revamp of town-planning acts in states in order to meet future challenges of urbanisation.
• As per the NITI Aayog, the Central sector scheme for building 500 healthy cities will have to be initiated by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs in association with the states & Union Territories.
• NITI Aayog also emphasised on the need of reducing carbon footprint in urbanisation and urban India will be power India’s economic growth.
• According to NITI Aayog, there is a need to plug the gaps in urban-planning capacity in India. Otherwise, the opportunity for rapid, sustainable & equitable growth will be at risk of being missed.

Background

In October 2020, NITI Aayog had constituted an Advisory Committee on ‘Reforms in Urban Planning Education in India’. This Committee has concluded its mandate with the “Building Urban Planning Capacity in India”  report.

The NITI Aayog

It is the public policy think tank in India that was established in 2015 with the aim of achieving sustainable development goals with cooperative federalism. It seeks to involve State Governments in the economic policy-making process, following a bottom-up approach.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2021