Rural Infrastructure Development

COVER STORY The inward migration of massive chunks of population from rural areas and peri-urban areas to urban areas in search of livelihood and better living conditions is continually exacerbating the shortage of housing in our cities, writes A SHANKAR. Urbanization is central to a country’s economy – and in India, the urbanization rate corresponds to 60% of the country’s GDP. For smoother transformation of a developing nation like India, the need of the hour is to manage the process of urbanization. The rapid pace of urbanization has given rise to many grave issues – one of them being housing shortage. Urban land in India, constituting 3.1% of the country’s land area, presents a complex situation where high urban densities

COVER STORY In its seven decades of journey since independence, the real estate and housing sector, has come a long way from early years of restrictive policies, deficient planning and highly inadequate resources, to reach a progressive, planned, organised and reformative stage, facilitating urban transformation and speedy economic growth. The present government’s vision is to ensure long term inclusive development through good governance and transformative reforms to boost real estate, housing and infrastructure – the vital sectors that hold key to economic development. It is a far cry from early years after independence (1947 – 64), when not much attention was paid towards housing/urban infrastructure due to lack of resources and staff capacity to design and deliver. But, it was