Urban India 2011: Evidence - A publication by the Indian Institute for Human Settlements

This report published by the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS)  sheds light on the gradual urban transition that India is going to go through and presents an analysis of the transition by collating evidence from different sources, which can help in developing an understanding of the extent and the dynamics of this transition.

The report argues that it is important to understand the importance and extent of this transition as it can have the capacity to shift the country's social, economic, political and environmental trajectories and open up new challenges and possibilities in terms of creating setbacks by exacerbating existing poverty, replicating existing social stratification, leading to further destruction of the environment on one hand, or can work as a new opportunity for social transformation and poverty reduction.

The report asserts that this is a reality that we cannot afford to ignore and the opportunity is right to understand this rapid urban transition, identify new opportunities for development and eliminating poverty, inequality by identifying and paying heed to new opportunities and changes, while at the same time trying to deal with the problems arising out of urbanisation and finding appropriate and sustainable solutions.
 
The analysis pulls together available evidence from national surveys, census of India, remote sensing data on spatial dynamics as well as published and grey literature. It aims at presenting this information to policy makers by placing individual  experiences in a broader context and provides a starting point for developing a shared understanding of the underlying trends behind the everyday observations of how India and its urban areas are evolving.

The report is divided into the following chapters:

1. Urban dynamics: This section provides an overview of India's urban dynamics in both spatial and demographic terms

2. Economic geography: This chapter sheds light on how India's economic dynamism varies dramatically across the country and informs of how no comparable estimates are available for city economic output, in spite of urban areas producing close to two thirds of the GDP

3. Migration: This section estimates the patterns of migration in India, focusing on 2011, in anticipation of the release of the census 2011 data and also attempts to trace the patterns of people's movements between the states

4. Urban poverty and livelihoods: This section presents data on the persistence of poverty and inequality in urban areas by looking at the growth of slums and unemployment

5. Safety nets: This section maps the broad delegation of roles, priorities and target groups across ministries and programmes

6. Urban infrastructure and services: This section presents some selected highlights of research and data analysis from the last decade on India's urban infrastructure and services

7. Urban finance: This section examines the various aspects of urban investment, allocation and expenditure, revenue collection and finally JnURM, placing them in the context of observed needs for infrastructure

A copy of the report can be accessed at this link