The World Cities Day observed on October 31 every year.
This year theme was “Financing Sustainable Urban Future for All.”
A report released by The Energy Policy Institute at Chicago (EPIC) shows that out of the 50 most polluted cities in the world, 39 are in India.
Pollution directly affects the health of people, and an average Indian loses 5.3 years of his life expectancy due to this.
The residents of Delhi, it is 11.9 years.
This data only highlights the need for policy shifts to ensure better and liveable futures.
Flawed urbanization, Air pollution, and its impact on life expectancy
The overall development strategy of urban development in India needs a paradigm shift.
The need now is to turn to sustainable and “ecological urbanization”.
The trajectory of urban development, where the focus is more on real estate development, a widening of roads, allowing large fuel guzzling vehicles.
These acts in turn squeezing the space meant for pedestrians.
Redevelopment are the major reasons for increased pollution in Indian cities.
Road dust, concrete batching, polluting industrial units and their extension in the cities, and vehicular emissions are key factors of pollution.
It is estimated that motorised transport alone is the cause for 60% of urban pollution.
The green lungs of the cities, water bodies, urban forests, and green cover on urban commons, and urban agriculture have all reported shrinkage.
The grey infrastructure has seen rapid expansion.
Gray infrastructure is traditional stormwater infrastructure in the built environment such as gutters, drains, pipes, and retention basins.
During winter in North India, burning of paddy straw (called Parali) as being the cause for smog.
India’s automobile market has risen in value from $100 billion now and $160 billion in 2027.
Widening roads, in turn inducing people to buy more cars, while ignoring the fact that traffic snarls are increasing each day.
Construction activities, contribute to roughly 10% of air pollution in the NCR.
There are hardly any steps being taken to monitor and control construction activities.
Solutions
Solutions such as smog towers or even watering roads are just cosmetic.
People’s empowerment through the city’s governance architecture is a firm step forward. Pollution guides and SOP for various line departments and agencies must not only be made readily available to the people.
When certain SOP were enforced without being challenged during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
People Ain’t come forward now and support implementation of the odd number-even number.
There must be a strong GRAP-like SOP.
Need for addressing urban financial issues
Urbanization is happening at an unprecedented rate. The world is rapidly urbanizing, with more than half of the global population now living in cities. This rapid urbanization is putting a strain on urban infrastructure and services, and leading to a number of challenges, such as poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation.
Cities are the engines of economic growth. Cities are responsible for the majority of global economic output and job creation.In order to this, cities need to invest in infrastructure and services that support people.
Urbanization is a major driver of climate change. Cities are responsible for a significant portion of global greenhouse gas emissions.Cities can also be at the forefront of the fight against climate change by investing in renewable energy, sustainable transportation, and other climate-smart solutions.
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