Why Our Cities Failed - A Case Study

502 Economics Major

SUBMITTED BY
Rahul Bora
SM0120039
3rd Year, 5th Semester

National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam

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Table of Contents

Sl.No Headings Page No.

1 Introduction 2

2 Research Objectives 3

3 Literature Review

4 Agglomeration - Definition and effects

5 The case for agglomeration

6 Analysing the cost and benefit of agglomeration

7 Analysis of research objectives

8 Conclusion
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INTRODUCTION

A growing economy has to make a lot of decisions to make for itself. Some of those

questions are rudimentary yet of grave importance. One such rudimentary question is how

should a country strive for equal development of all its areas. The answer to such a question

is rarely easy and never simple. Indian urban clusters have become synonymous with being

massively polluted, insanely expensive and inaccessible due to the labyrinth that are Indian

roads.

It becomes pertinent to study the Indian mega cities and why they suffer from multitudes of

problems. Indian cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, while being in different parts of the

country, suffer from similar issues. The constant influx of people in the city defies logic as

the tradeoff from a life of relative peace in the countryside doesn’t seem to have any takers

among the masses. Therein lies the question of how do Indian cities attract so many people?

The author would attempt to take a holistic view of the current scenario, place them at a

historical backdrop and measure the present day success stories .

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RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

This paper will attempt to fulfil the following research objectives -

● A comprehensive explanation of failure of urban clusters.

● Analysis through a historical lens.

● Study into the success stories and possible remedial measures

The first point will set a basis on why our cities have failed and to ascertain if they

indeed have failed.

The second section will attempt to study the problem from a historical perspective and

how we arrived at the present day.

The third section will deal with remedial measures taken up by the certain cities and

how they have attained success while doing so.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Ms. Ananya Roy’s Paper “WHY INDIA CANNOT PLAN ITS CITIES:

INFORMALITY, INSURGENCE AND THE IDIOM OF URBANIZATION” 1 in the reputed

journal “Planning Theory” formed the basis for this research paper. The paper looked into

the aspect of lack of urban planning and infrastructure. The author also put forth the idea of

future proofing Indian cities and possible solutions of the vast wealth gap in a city. While

certain parts of this paper are beyond the scope of this current paper, there are many aspects

that the paper referred to which are important. This paper will attempt to fill some of the gaps

in Ms. Roy’s paper.

1 Gandhiok, J.P.A. (2020) Delhi air was dirtier this October than in 2019.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-air-was-dirtier-this-october-than-in-2019/articleshow/
79031656.cms.
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WHY OUR CITIES FAIL?

In an article published by TOI in 2020, it was reported that the average Air Quality Index in

October 2020 was worse off during the same period in 2019. Coincidently, this period is

marked by the celebration of Diwali, a festival that involves mass burning of firecrackers.

The burning of stubble in nearby states of Haryana and Punjab are also among the major

contributing factors for the increase in pollution. 2 The seasonal uptick is a sureshot affair in

the National Capital Region.

The yearly affair of the deathly smog points to the larger failure of Indian cities to provide a

clear environment to its residents. This problem is faced across the country even in cities such

as Mumbai3,Bangalore4 among others. The problem of any major city in India is however not

limited to just air pollution or pollution in general. Lack of housing facilities, absence of

leisure activities and deteriorating or absent infrastructure are also among the key pinches felt

in an urban environment. However, to truly understand how our cities failed, it must be

established that the existing system of development has failed.

To understand the issue at hand, the author has chosen the issue of air pollution and general

infrastructure

The World Health Organisation has defined air pollution as follows :-

2 Online, E. (2022) Mumbai’s air quality in poor category on day after Diwali.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/mumbai-news/mumbais-air-quality-in-poor-category-on-day-after-
diwali/articleshow/95078281.cms.
3 The Hindu (2022) Air pollution rises in Bengaluru on the last day of Deepavali festival.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/air-pollution-rises-in-bengaluru-on-the-last-day-of-deepavali-
festival/article66060137.ece.

4 World Health Organisation, Air pollution (2019), https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution.

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“Air pollution is contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical,

physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere.

Household combustion devices, motor vehicles, industrial facilities and forest fires are

common sources of air pollution. Pollutants of major public health concern include

particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide.”5

Air pollution drastically affects the life of the residents of people in a city. The effects on

health are elucidated below :-

Numerous scientific studies have linked air pollution to a variety of health problems

including: aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases; decreased lung function;

increased frequency and severity of respiratory symptoms such as difficulty breathing and

coughing; increased susceptibility to respiratory infections; effects on the nervous system,

including the brain, such as IQ loss and impacts on learning, memory, and behaviour; cancer;

and premature death. Immediate effects of air pollution may show up after a single exposure

or repeated exposures. Other health effects may show up either years after exposure has

occurred or only after long or repeated periods of exposure.6

The loss of productivity due to exposure to air pollution can cause recurring problems. These

can aggravate the issue of loss of productivity. This has been proved by a study in China

where the effect of air pollution on worker effectiveness was studied. In a factory setting, a

5 University of Minnesota, Effects of Air Pollution on Human Health – Environmental

Biology. https://pressbooks.umn.edu/environmentalbiology/chapter/effects-of-air-pollution-
on-human-health/.

6 Mishra, A. (2020) 27 industrial areas in Delhi to get a makeover push. Available at:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/27-industrial-areas-to-get-a-makeover-push/articleshow/
79586973.cms.
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study of textile mill workers found lower fabric production when pollution levels rose in the

town. Every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 lowered the number of pieces produced by 1%.

In many towns in the developing world, PM2.5 levels are between 50 to 150 µg/m3. So by

using air purifiers in the factory, worker productivity can be quickly increased by 5 to 15%.

The relevance of this study cannot be questioned as India is a developing country and most of

its industries are cluttered in specific urban clusters.

The loss of productivity has a direct impact on the economy. The residue of the economies

machines that cities are the very reason why these clusters are on a rapid path of decay. The

benefit of urban clusters stem from agglomeration benefits, which in essence means the

means of production being near to each other result in greater economies of scale. However,

one of the tradeoffs include an increase in pollution due to many industries being

concentrated in one small area.

The best example of this is the capital city of India, Delhi. The city is surrounded by many

industrial areas7 which suffer from poor infrastructure. There has been a push to improve the

infrastructure of these areas so that they can function properly and take advantage of

agglomeration. The decay in infrastructure leads to inefficient production. This leads to

inefficient economies of scales, thereby defeating the purpose of forming such clusters. 8 The

continued existence of these clusters, with inefficient economies, lead to frustration of the

city’s resources and the consequent upheaval of all the disadvantages that come along with

7 IIM A, & Agarwalla. (2011, August). Agglomeration Economies and Productivity Growth in India (No.
2011–01–08). Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
https://web.iima.ac.in/assets/snippets/workingpaperpdf/2011-01-08Astha.pdf

8 BHUYAN, A. and SHARMA, C.K. (2019) The Great Loot: How Britain stole $45 trillion
from India. Available at: https://www.indiapost.com/the-great-loot-how-britain-stole-45-
trillion-from-india/.
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such a scenario. These disadvantages combined with a multitude of unrelated factors such as

farm fires in neighbouring states lead to a situation where the air pollution index quite

literally goes off the scale.

The continued existence of these inefficient clusters also feed into the vicious cycle of

generating more pollution as the travel to these areas from residential areas led to use of

motor vehicles. The use of transportation to deliver goods made at a rate far below capacity

means the locational advantage i.e agglomeration benefits due to location is lost.

As the effects of pollution and its effect on the economy has been established, it becomes

important to understand the reasons as to why our urban clusters became so polluted in the

first place. This requires us to look at the development of these clusters from a historical

perspective.

Understanding The Reasons Behind The Failures

The development of India’s megacities started much before the independence of the country.

Certain portions of the country had industrialised much before other owing to their contact

with colonial forces. The increase in the industrial capitals of these regions led to unforeseen

troubles for the masses. This has to be understood from a global perspective as well.

The British had a number of colonies it used to forcefully take a variety of goods. The true

extent of their loot of these various colonies might never truly be calculated. However, the

conservative estimates of the figure amount to something about $45 Trillion from India

alone.9

9 Indian migration and indentured labour (2022).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z7kvf82/articles/ztwyvwx.
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The global network of these colonies worked in congruence with each other. For example,

when the British empire abolished the system of slavery across its territories, they needed a

fresh set of labourers to work on their plantations in the Caribbean, South Africa, Mauritius

etc.10

The forceful transfer of people greatly affected the Indian cities and shaped the migration

patterns in the colonial era. The nature in which the British East India Company did business

with the locals shaped these patterns. The way the system worked was most wonderfully

explained by Aroonim Bhuyan in his paper “The Great Loot”,

“ Prior to the colonial period, Britain bought goods like textiles and rice from Indian

producers and paid for them in the normal way – mostly with silver – as they did with

any other country. In 1765, shortly after the East India Company took control of the

subcontinent and established a monopoly over Indian trade.

Here’s how it worked. The East India Company began collecting taxes in India, and

then cleverly used a portion of those revenues (about a third) to fund the purchase of

Indian goods for British use. In other words, instead of paying for Indian goods out of

their own pocket, British traders acquired them for free, “buying” from peasants and

weavers using money that had just been taken from them. It was a scam – theft on a

grand scale. Yet most Indians were unaware of what was going on because the agent

who collected the taxes was not the same as the one who showed up to buy their

goods. Had it been the same person, they surely would have smelled a rat.

10 NCERT Class 7 Textbook, Chap 7a.pmd (ncert.nic.in)

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Some of the stolen goods were consumed in Britain, and the rest were re-exported

elsewhere. The re-export system allowed Britain to finance a flow of imports from

Europe, including strategic materials like iron, tar and timber, which were essential

to Britain’s industrialisation. Indeed, the Industrial Revolution depended in large

part on this systematic theft from India.

On top of this, the British were able to sell the stolen goods to other countries for

much more than they “bought” them for in the first place, pocketing not only 100

percent of the original value of the goods but also the mark-up.

After the British Raj took over in 1858, colonisers added a special new twist to the

tax-and-buy system. As the East India Company’s monopoly broke down, Indian

producers were allowed to export their goods directly to other countries. But Britain

made sure that the payments for those goods nonetheless ended up in London.”

In essence, this system of looting from the indigenous to buy goods from the indigenous set

up a vicious cycle of oppression. However, one lesser explored aspect is the creation of urban

centres of industry. By the late 19th century, the urban centres of production were well

developed.11 These centres specialised in production of goods that were to be exported or at

times to be sold in the country itself.

The British set up these industrial centres to fulfil imperial needs. However, one of the

unintended effects of this was the migration from the countryside to the urban centres. This

11 Public Perceptions of Urban Air Pollution with a Focus on Developing Countries Author(s): Sumeet Saksena
East-West Center (2007), http://www.jstor.com/stable/resrep16045
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was because there was a narrative that the cities were brimming with opportunities and

people could live a better life.

However, the proper infrastructure for people to reside in the cities was not developed. This

led to hordes of people coming into the city. They mostly resided in urban squalor. However,

this informal sector never truly got dealt with properly by the Government machinery.

The informal sector of the economy led to the private sector stepping in to fulfil this lacunae.

The informal nature of the economy was best explained by Ananya Roy as:-

“ Neither approach is able to pinpoint the ways in which informality is also

associated with forms of wealth and power. The splintering of urbanism does not take

place at the fissure between formality and informality but rather, in fractal fashion,

within the informalized production of space”

The non clarity as to these informal labour forces led to a large number of issues related to

housing and employment. This was also explained by Roy as follows :-

“ Urban planning in India has to be understood as the management of resources,

particularly land, through dynamic processes of informality. By informality I mean a

state of deregulation, one where the ownership, use, and purpose of land cannot be

fixed and mapped according to any prescribed set of regulations or the law.”

The squalors of the past had now become proper settlements complete with paved roads,

shops etc. The cities had developed to the extent that there was a need for transportation

inside the cities. The informal nature of their employment as well as their living conditions

led to a situation that there was no way the people could be taxed or benefit from the schemes

of the government. It is as if these people never exist. The woes of the colonial times carried

on to independence India where these cities continued to be thought as centres of

opportunities. One of the events that accentuated this issue was the partition of India, which
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saw an extremely large number of people coming into the country. The separation of the

western frontier of the country led to a large number of people leaking into the county. This

population was almost entirely absorbed by Northern India, particularly cities such as Delhi,

Ludhiana and cities in the NCR.

The population increase fed into the already unsolved problems related to the infrastructure

and living quarters. The increase in population along with the lack of infrastructure led to the

problem of pollution. The mad dash to fulfil the infrastructure needs of the cities led to a lot

of constructional activities that are still continuing to this day.

Possible Solutions

The solution to the conundrum is not easy. To not develop the infrastructure would most

certainly result in this problem not being solved ever. However, to continue the

infrastructural activities to deal with the growing population will accentuate the troubles of

the pollution. However, China has dealt with this issue with an iron hand of not allowing any

more pollution. India, too, has taken many steps to deal with this problem. The infrastructure

developments in today’s India will be used to future proof the country.

Some Long Term Solutions

● Development of transportation systems such as metros so that usage of cars reduces.

● Increasing the green areas of the cities so that green lungs of the cities remain healthy.

● Registering the people in the city so that they fall under the tax brackets and can be

used to tackle the issue.

● Solving the problem of stubble burning through stringent laws.

Some Short Term Solutions

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● Usage of schemes such as odd-even number plate systems.

● Power usage in cities be regulated so that wastage and leakages of power can be

stopped

● Mandating the usage of sustainable practices such as rain water harvesting

CONCLUSION

The pollution paradigm of urban India is a wholly subcontinental issue. Studies have stressed

the role of practical everyday experience in how people perceive the quality of air. Most

studies have highlighted the role of vision. These studies suggest that people are concerned

about the potential for pollution to cross political, social and personal borders. Sensory visual

perception of air pollution appears to increase with higher concentrations of suspended

particulates within certain size ranges (Schusky 1966) and with greater dustfall (Stalker and

Robinson 1967). 12

To act upon this issue, the purpose of the schemes of the government should be to increase

the need of the people to work with the government in solving the issue. There must be a

concerted effort to push the government to work on the problem with support of the general

public. Infrastructural developments of the government must be streamlined to deal with the

issue of pollution. The schemes must be handled with precision so that the net increase in

pollution is negligible.

On a more abstract point, the pollution conundrum is an issue that troubles all the entire

country and discriminately harms the poorer amongst us more. Moreover, with the majority

of the Indian population stated to be huddled in cities by 2030, the aspect of loss of a working

12 WHY INDIA CANNOT PLAN ITS CITIES: INFORMALITY, INSURGENCE AND THE IDIOM OF
URBANIZATION, Ananya Roy Source: Planning Theory , February 2009, Vol. 8, No. 1, Special issue:
Strangely familiar: planning and the worlds of insurgence and informality (February 2009), pp. 76-87 Published
by: Sage Publications, Ltd.: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26165886
 13

population of a country cannot be ignored. Ignorance of the issue will lead to a whole

generation of people losing out on their golden years of the Indian economic boom due to

loss of productivity due to health problems. The youth of the country steeple in the urban

centres as the majority of the opportunities are present only in these places. However, life in

the city deals a major blow to their health, decreasing their life expectancy and most

importantly their quality of life. The youth must not be made to choose between economic

opportunities and a healthy life. Inevitably, their life will be concentrated in the urban centres

and therein this hobson’s choice is given to them. The only way to stop this is to make our

cities livable vis-a-vis successes.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Articles :-

● Gandhiok, J.P.A. (2020) Delhi air was dirtier this October than in 2019.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-air-was-dirtier-this-october-than-
in-2019/articleshow/79031656.cms.
● WHY INDIA CANNOT PLAN ITS CITIES: INFORMALITY, INSURGENCE AND THE IDIOM OF
URBANIZATION, Ananya Roy Source: Planning Theory , February 2009, Vol. 8, No. 1, Special
issue: Strangely familiar: planning and the worlds of insurgence and informality (February 2009), pp.
76-87 Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd.: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26165886
● Online, E. (2022) Mumbai’s air quality in poor category on day after Diwali.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/mumbai-news/mumbais-air-quality-in-
poor-category-on-day-after-diwali/articleshow/95078281.cms.
● The Hindu (2022) Air pollution rises in Bengaluru on the last day of Deepavali
festival. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/air-pollution-rises-in-
bengaluru-on-the-last-day-of-deepavali-festival/article66060137.ece.
● University of Minnesota, Effects of Air Pollution on Human Health – Environmental
Biology. https://pressbooks.umn.edu/environmentalbiology/chapter/effects-of-air-
pollution-on-human-health/.
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● Mishra, A. (2020) 27 industrial areas in Delhi to get a makeover push. Available at:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/27-industrial-areas-to-get-a-makeover-
push/articleshow/79586973.cms.
● IIM A, & Agarwalla. (2011, August). Agglomeration Economies and Productivity
Growth in India (No. 2011–01–08). Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
https://web.iima.ac.in/assets/snippets/workingpaperpdf/2011-01-08Astha.pdf
● BHUYAN, A. and SHARMA, C.K. (2019) The Great Loot: How Britain stole $45
trillion from India. Available at: https://www.indiapost.com/the-great-loot-how-
britain-stole-45-trillion-from-india/.
● Indian migration and indentured labour (2022).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z7kvf82/articles/ztwyvwx.
● Public Perceptions of Urban Air Pollution with a Focus on Developing Countries
Author(s): Sumeet Saksena East-West Center (2007),
http://www.jstor.com/stable/resrep16045