Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Politics at the Central Level
- Politics at Provincial Level
- Politics at Urban & Town Level
- 5 Land Use in Bombay: Institutional Effects and Political Outcomes
- 6 Understanding Local Politics, Democracy and Civil Society: Environmental Governance in Urban India
- 7 Political Institutions, Strategies of Governance and Forms of Resistance in Rural Market Towns of Contemporary Bengal: A Study of Bolpur Municipality
- Rural Politics
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Glossary
- Index
6 - Understanding Local Politics, Democracy and Civil Society: Environmental Governance in Urban India
from Politics at Urban & Town Level
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Politics at the Central Level
- Politics at Provincial Level
- Politics at Urban & Town Level
- 5 Land Use in Bombay: Institutional Effects and Political Outcomes
- 6 Understanding Local Politics, Democracy and Civil Society: Environmental Governance in Urban India
- 7 Political Institutions, Strategies of Governance and Forms of Resistance in Rural Market Towns of Contemporary Bengal: A Study of Bolpur Municipality
- Rural Politics
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Glossary
- Index
Summary
Speaking on ‘The Future of Indian Cities: National Issues and Goals’ at a 1960 conference organised by the University of California at Berkeley, Asoka Mehta, then a Member of Parliament, noted:
Whether we think of patchwork improvement, of reorganisation of the cities that would involve displacement of some people and their moving to other areas, or of planning for future growth, it is patent that without widespread understanding of these objectives and the enlistment of popular interests – and, where possible, active cooperation – the major tasks will remain undone, or will be done badly. The governments and civic authorities have to discover methods of contacting, informing, and interesting citizens in the plans of change and development. A network of local organisations, neighborhood groups, and citizens' forums will have to complement a carefully thought-out program of public relations.
Since then, India has witnessed wide-scale urbanisation. The urban population has grown from 61.6 million in 1951 to 285.3 million in 2001. The proportion of the urban population to total population has risen from 17.6 per cent to 27.8 per cent during the same period, and the number of urban centres has increased from 2,795 to 5,161. The populations of large cities like Kolkata and Mumbai top 10 million. Indeed, the size of the urban population of India is more than the total population of the United States. According to United Nations' estimates, India will have an urbanisation level of 40.9 per cent in the year 2030.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Rethinking Indian Political Institutions , pp. 107 - 124Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2005
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