Chief Secretary P.K. Mohanty’s new book Cities and Public Policy: An Urban Agenda for India was released by eminent economist Isher Judge Ahluwalia during the Conference on Financing Metropolitan Governments in Developing Countries held at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Urbanisation makes all cities socially equitable, economically viable and environmentally sustainable, Dr. Ahluwalia said, pointing out that the book had elaborated on a roadmap for urban reforms so that Indian cities become the engines of economic growth and poverty alleviation.
Participating in the function, Roy Bahl, Regents Professor of Economics, Georgia State University and Johannes Linn, eminent economist at Brookings Institute, United States, described the book as a ready reckoner for urban planners, policy makers, researchers and students of economics and planning.
Through the book, Dr. Mohanty has called for a national debate on proactive urbanisation and made a case for restructuring the current model of master planning. The book suggests regional planning, transportation-land use integration, transit-oriented development, inclusionary zoning, use of urban land as a resource, role of institutional framework and good urban governance in effectively managing urban growth.
Arguing that the “over-urbanisation hypothesis” and “urban bias theory”, advanced by some scholars in the past and articulated a negative view of urbanisation, are rooted in weak foundations.
Dr. Mohanty’s other publications include Municipal Finances in India: An Assessment published by the RBI and Urbanisation in India: Challenges, Opportunities and the Way Forward published by Sage Publications and co-authored by Isher Judge Ahluwalia and Ravi Kanbur.
