As city limits become overcrowded and land prices hit the roof, satellite townships have come up as a solution to the haphazard development of suburban areas. According to a study done on satellite townships by Jones Lang LaSalle, a global real estate services firm, for every 1,000 houses that the city of Mumbai builds each year, its suburbs build about 5,000, while the satellite towns of Thane and Navi Mumbai build 18,000. In Chennai, of the 18,000 houses built annually, only 3,000 are within city limits; the remaining 15,000 are in the suburbs and satellite towns.
The idea behind satellite townships is to bring up planned habitations to ease the population growth in towns. All major towns in Tamil Nadu are at present marred by unplanned growth that puts stress on all public utilities. Affordability drives many to these townships. With many industries setting up factories far away from the cities, developers go in early to tap the market. The problem though is that they start before any infrastructure is built. This causes the satellite townships to be devoid of connectivity and other basic facilities. The inhabitants invest their money, expecting things to get better in 15-20 years, but that’s a lot of time to wait for development.
Satellite towns need to be well-connected and self-sufficient. In simple terms, they should be small cities in themselves. Urban government agencies should be innovative and use market dynamics to raise and deploy funds for infrastructure. State governments can provide mini buses between these towns, and improve the quality of commuting. In addition to road transport, connectivity via metro rail must also be extended. Many flyovers are built without logical connectivity, while it is better to have fewer of them, but at important places. High quality roads must be put in place, while facilities for water supply, electricity, and sewage systems must also be established.
ADVERTISEMENT
While the developers are upbeat about integrated townships, the governments, both central and state, have to do more to promote these satellite townships. Without better facilities, they cannot expand and provide a solution to the issue of urban crowding.