Paper looks at the option of adopting dual strategy , revolving round not only rationalising the development of cities but also promoting ruralisation through effective planning. New option will look at making villages more self-contained, self-sufficient, providing basic amenities and services besides generating employment for the rural inhabitants, creation of synergy between rural and urban settlements, rationalising planning, promoting accessibility, minimising mobility, planning for people not for vehicle and creating green built environment..

1. Indian Options for Managing Global Warming
Through Ruralisationand RationalisingUrbanisation
Prof. Jit Kumar Gupta
Ex-Director, College of Architecture,I.E.T, Bhaddal, Chief Town Planner, SPCL.
#344, Sector 40-A Chandigarh- 160036 Email: jit.kumar1944@gmail.com
Abstract
Globally, cities as areas of large concentration of population, infrastructure and activities, are known to
leverage economy, promote prosperity, generate employment, ensure growth and development of
communities and nations. Cities own large carbon footprints, the way they consume energy and resources
besides generating waste. Looking globally, the way urbanisation is being managed in developing
countries, its adverse impact is going to be highly pronounced, under the impact of unplanned, sub-
standard, haphazard and rapidly expanding footprints of cities, leading to increase in global
temperature. Global warming, emerging out of rapid and massive urbanisation, can be largely attributed
to the neglect of rural settlements. Majority of urban problems have their genesis in the current policies
and approach adopted for managing rural settlements. In order to make the world more livable and
sustainable, pattern of growth of human settlements needs to be, objectively and critically, looked at and
rationalised. Existing Development approach needs to be altered and new options will have to be
searched and made operational.
Paper looks at the option of adopting dual strategy , revolving round not only rationalising the
development of cities but also promoting ruralisation through effective planning. New option will look at
making villages more self-contained, self-sufficient, providing basic amenities and services besides
generating employment for the rural inhabitants, creation of synergy between rural and urban
settlements, rationalising planning, promoting accessibility, minimising mobility, planning for people not
for vehicle and creating green built environment..
Key words: Ruralisation , Compact City, Accessibility, Regional Planning, global warming
Introduction
Cities have been integral part of human history. They have existed in the past and shall continue to
define, script and showcase the unending and untold story of human origin, growth and development.
Cities, as physical, economic and social system in space, include large concentration of population and
activities in a limited area; principle centers of economy and polity; large consumer markets and highly
trained workforce and most viable and suitable places with significant, social and economic
achievements. Growth in size, number and spread of human settlements; increasing proportion of
population that lives in urban centres and transformation of the society based on making urban centres as
place of preferred residence besides following a pattern of life which has its origin and character in urban
environment, are the landmark developments that define the contemporary Urban world, As engines of
economic growth ,cities are known to contribute disproportionately to economic growth by providing
economy of scale and proximity that allows industry and commerce to flourish besides providing large
employment being centers of excellence and innovations. They also offer optimum location for services
and facilities, which require large population threshold and markets for its sustainance and operational
efficiency. Despite housing large population at higher densities, cities are known to offer opportunities
and quality of life better than its rural counterparts. Combination of these developments has created a
system which is both powerful, deep seated and self- reinforcing. It has rapidly changed the spatial
organization and economy, which has impacted both local and global environment.
Despite distinct advantages, cities are also known for their dualities and contradictions where rich and
poor, skyscrapers rub shoulders with slums . Cities are also known to be storehouse of large number of
physical, social and environmental problems where majority of urban residents lead a degraded life as
slums dwellers with inadequate/absence of basic infrastructure services and amenities essential for go0od

2. human living. Poor governance, haphazard, unplanned and sub-standard are the prevalent development
pattern of majority of cities in developing countries. Unplanned cities, has been observed to be the
repository of social ills, breeding grounds for poverty, exclusion of majority of people and areas of
environmental degradation. Looking at the entire context of growth and development of urban centres,
urbanization in the developing world can be, primarily and essentially, called as urbanization of
population; urbanization of poverty , urbanization of pollution and exclusion.
It has been said that genesis of majority of the urban ills, arising out of forced and compulsive
urbanization, lies in the neglect of large number of their counterpart rural settlements, having large
proportion of national population due to low priority they occupy in the national growth agenda. It is
rural poverty which is migrating to urban centres because of push factors arising out of large
unemployment, under-employment, disguised employment prevailing in rural areas due to prime
dependence on agriculture; small land holdings; outdated agricultural practices and low yield; large
dependence on rains and poor irrigation facilities; absence of opportunities for gainful employment, low
skill development and absence of rural industries; lower level of literacy ; poor connectivity; lack of
basic infrastructure; poor education and healthcare facilities; disconnect with urban settlements,
infrastructures, services and urban economy; inadequate marketing facilities of agricultural produce,
presence of large number of middlemen and disconnect with national marketing system etc. Despite these
critical limitations, rural settlements offer distinct advantages of rational growth and development by
virtue of their limited population, size, needs of transportation/ mobility/ accessibility; availability of
resources, energy; close proximity to nature, small footprints of buildings etc which are the prime reasons
of causing the global warming, due to their small carbon footprints. Villages, in addition, also has the
capacity and capability to support their urban counterparts by reducing their problems of uncontrolled,
haphazard and unplanned growth/ expansion; lower population pressure due to reduced migration; lower
traffic and transportation needs, services, infrastructure, slums; energy; land; shelter due to reduced
population pressure etc. In the given context, it will be appropriate that all developing countries, which
have large rural settlements and population living in rural areas, should explore the option/opportunities
offered by rural settlements to make the urbanization process rational . In fact ruralisation and
urbanization processes should be integrated to create a sustainable settlement structure at the local,
metropolitan, regional and national levels to rationalize their urban growth and reduce the carbon
footprints of human settlements.
Indian Urbanisation
With 378 million persons (2011 census) residing in 53 metros and 7935 urban centres, India has emerged
as the second largest urban system in the world after China despite level of urbanization placed at 31.1%.
Looking at the Indian context urbanization is, primarily and essentially, characterized by its massiveness,
population, poverty and pollution besides duality and contradictions. Despite the fact that level of
urbanization merely stood at 31.11% in 2011, number of urban dwellers were placed at 377 million. For
the first time in the demographic history, Urban India added more population (91 million) as compared to
Rural India (90 million) during the last decade (2001-11), putting India on the fast trajectory of
urbanization. In addition, Urban India added large number of centres with their numbers going from
5161(2011 census) to 7933 (2011 census), recording an increase of more than 52%. Number of
metropolitan centres increased from 35 to 53 during the last decade indicating concentration of population
in large urban centres holding more than 40% of urban population.
During last 11 decades (1901-2011), urban population has multiplied by 15 times from 25.8 to 377.1
million with urbanization level going up by three times- from 10.84 to 31.15% whereas number of urban
centres merely growing 4 times from 1917 to 7933. Considering the massive differential between urban
and rural growth rate (2.1% against 0.7%), number of urban dwellers will share parity with rural
population by 2050 AD.Next four decades are likely to witness enormous growth in terms of numbers of

3. urban centres, their size and population. It is estimated that by 2050 AD number of Metro Cities will go
beyond 100 and 10 million plus cities will be 8 with Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi occupying distinct place
and rating among the largest urban centres at the global level. In the given context urban centres are likely
to emerge as major settlements, housing large proportion of Indian population. As per UNO, urban India ,
which housed 11% global urban population in 2015, will be home to 13% population in 2030. Urban
India besides housing large population concentrated in a limited area, also made sizeable contribution to
the national economy which was placed at 60% in 2011 and going up to 75% in the year 2031
Urbanization and Global Warming
Cities are known to be large consumer of energy and resources. Accordingly, they are known to have
large carbon footprints and are closely associated with the climate change. Under the impact of rapid
climate change, the average global temperature has increased at the fastest rate in recorded history and
trend is accelerating due to rapid urbanization during the last 50 years. All but one of the 16 hottest years
in NASA’s 134-year recorded history, have occurred since 2000. Antarctica has been losing about 134
billion metric tons of ice per year since 2002. This rate could speed up if we keep burning fossil fuels at
our current pace causing sea levels to rise severalmeters over the next 50 to 150 years .
Urbanization, scholars contend, is an essential condition for growth and poverty reduction. Urbanization
produces economies, knowledge, and innovations, which contribute to economic growth and reduction in
poverty levelsWhile the urban centres act as the generators of economic growth; rapid pace of
urbanization creates burden on the existing natural resources. Cities are more dependent on energy than
rural areas and create considerable amount of ecological footprints. Accelerated urbanization creates
demands for mass transportation, increment in commercial and industrial activities, and pressure to use
the vacant urban land. These activities are often undertaken at the cost of natural landscape, water bodies,
increased energy consumption, etc., creating severe damages to the quality of air, water and other natural
resources. Along with these, climate change makes human settlements more susceptible to natural
disasters, especially for the economically weaker sections of the society, who are more often exposed to
and affected by vagaries of extreme weather conditions. For any city, the scale of damage is directly
connected to rate of urbanization, demand for utilization of natural resources and imbalance between
environment and development.
UN Habitat Report states, ‘The effects of urbanization and climate change are converging in dangerous
ways. Cities are major contributors to climate change: although they cover less than 2 per cent of the
earth’s surface, cities consume 78 per cent of the world’s energy and produce more than 60% of all
carbon dioxide and significant amounts of other greenhouse gas emissions, mainly through energy
generation, vehicles, industry, and biomass use”. Inter-governmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report, 2013 also concluded that "It is extremely likely that human
influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.". As cities
are the known to be major cause of climate change, they are also going to be major casualty of the
adverse impacts of such a change and its associated impacts . The adverse climate change impacts have
been enumerated in terms of ; warming global temperature, rapid melting of snow , rising sea levels and
the abandonment of populated coastal areas ; droughts, threat to food security from decreasing crop
yields ; heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall ;ocean acidification; and species extinctions due to
shifting temperature regimes and expansion of deserts.
Climate change has been found to have local footprints with global impacts. So what is happening at the
local level is getting accumulated at the national and the global level. Contributions made by different
countries to global warming have been found to be at variance closely connected with pattern of
urbanization, urban planning and urban development; energy consumption pattern and systems of energy
production; level of development and economy; population growth; pattern of traffic & transportation etc
Among nations which are major contributors to global warming pollution , China has highest ranking
producing about 28 percent of global CO2 emissions. The United States ranks next,despite making up
just 4 percent of the world’s population, produces 16 percent of all global CO2 emissions—as much as

4. the European Union and India (third and fourth place) combined. In USA burning of fossil fuels used for
making electricity is the largest source of heat-trapping pollution, producing about two billion tons of
CO2 every year. Coal-burning power plants are by far the biggest polluters followed by the transportation
sector,which generates about 1.7 billion tons of CO2 emissions a year.
Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming
should be limited to well below 2.0 °C (3.6 °F) compared to pre-industrial levels with efforts made to
limit warming to 1.5 °C ( 2.7°F). Looking at the above context, it becomes critical that there is an urgent
need to to link climate change to local environmental and other developmental priorities pursued by
nations. As pattern/sources of energy generation remains most critical elements of global warming, it will
be appropriate that strategies that make certain alternative sources of energy more attractive to users than
fossil fuels needs to be put in place. In addition, since urbanization is known to be closely associated with
global warming, accordingly new pattern of urban planning and development has to be evolved and put in
operation which should include better planned city with reduced urban sprawl; making cities compact ;
designing greener buildings, making public transport green to reduce city’s carbon footprint and
provide better quality of life for its citizens and an environment. Besides, options of promoting
ruralisation through planned and rational development of villages to make them self- contained and self-
sufficient in shelter, economy, infrastructure, services, employment ,day to day needs and linking rural
and urban economy/development is likely to usher an era of global and local sustainability besides
making urban settlements and urbanisations more sustaibanable and rational.
Stand Alone Goal On Cities – Goal 11 “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient
and sustainable”
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has also given a prominent role to urbanization and cities
with the inclusion of a stand-alone goal for cities and human settlements. This comes as recognition that
cities are a string that connects all other goals together; their density and economies of agglomeration link
economy, energy, environment, science,technology and social and economic outputs.
.
Redefining Planning
Creating sustainable cities with lower carbon footprints, would require new order of urban planning,
considering the contours and complexity of such a city. New order of planning would involve making
planning people centric, transparent, community oriented, resource/energy efficient, sustainable and
flexible. Its focus shall be to minimize prevailing urban dualities and contradictions and to promote
development based on equity, inclusiveness and providing opportunities to all. Master Plans, which have
been used by planners as the panacea to overcome all the urban ills, will have to be redrawn /redefined
with appropriate innovations/ changes made in the intent, contents and scope of such plans. New order of
Master Plans will not be merely land-use plans, defining/freezing the city future once for all for next two
decades, indicating the use of every parcel of land in the city. It will take a ‘whole city’ approach to
planning and will focus on the urban form, shape and typology of the city. Since cities are dynamic
entities, ever changing, ever shaping, ever evolving and devolving, they will require plans which would
provide inbuilt flexibility to cater to ever changing urban dynamism. The master plans would accordingly
be dynamic in nature, growing and evolving with the growth of towns. New breed of Master Plans would
be based on state of art technologies and a distinct vision, evolved after detailed study, analysis and
understanding of the city fabric and its growth potential duly supported by detailed planning and
development guidelines. The vision shall be achieved through well defined missions for different facets of
city involving planning and development. Each development project shall be evaluated in the context of
defined vision and guidelines, by a multi-disciplinary team of experts by involving stakeholders before
accepting. The city planning shall not be dictated exclusively by planners but will involve larger set of
experts representing different shades of city planning, growth and management to rationalize decision
making. Architects, urban designers, landscape experts, service providers, environmentalists, transport

5. experts, conservationists, art and culture historians and sociologists etc. will have major role in planning
the sustainable cities.
New order of planning will be geared to make the city compact to reduce travel and extent of service
network to bring economy and operational efficiency in the city. In this context, the focus of the city shall
be people. Planning shall also promote better relationship between living and working by adopting the
mechanism of transit oriented development and mixed land use. In this pattern, the focus shall be to
provide housing, offices, work areas, commercial and institutions along the mass transport network
provided within walking distance. Green spaces on the defined norms shall form integral part of urban
living and working in order to promote highest order of environment and ecology. Cities will be planned
with minimum carbon footprints on the basis of inclusiveness, self-reliance and self-sustainability, having
minimum impact on local and global environment and ecology. Considering the major implications of
urban areas, being largest consumers of energy and resources, generators of waste and emitters of green
house gasses , largely due to transportation and built environment, the new regime of planning will focus
on minimising travel and create buildings which are least consumers of energy and resources. Smart
planning will focus on creating cities which are highly energy efficient made possible by adopting shape
and size of the city which involve minimum travel and services.
Globally large number of efforts are being made by different nations to rationalize urbanization and to
plan cities based on the new order. To achieve the objective of sustainability and for ensuring appropriate
quality of life to the residents on sustained basis, planning of Tianjin city in China- a joing effort of
China and Singapore governments, reckoned to be most energy efficient and sustainable city in making -
is based on 22 quantitative and 4 qualitative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which define the
development standards for the city in terms of amenities, services, air-quality, environment, ecology,
noise, carbon emission, wetland, buildings, plantation, green spaces, mobility, energy, traffic and
transportation, accessibility, housing and employment following the system of TOD, mixed landuse ,
energy efficiency, green buildings and green transportation . Masdar city near Dubai has also been
planned to be zeo carbon, zero car and zero waste city. Considering Tianjin and Musdar, as role models,
cities needs to be planned as a combination of Three Harmonies involving social harmony, economic
vibrancy and environmental sustainability to make them eco-friendly and mitigators of global warmings.
Making Cities Compact
As consumers of large proportion of global energy and generators of green house gas emissions, cities
are primarily known to be responsible for global warmimg . Cities and towns are also heavily
vulnerable to climate change with millions of people in urban areas likely to be adversly impacted by
rising sea levels, increased precipitation, inland floods,frequent and stronger cyclones and storms, and
periods of more extreme heat and cold .The prevailing pattern of current rapid urbanization of the
developing world, emerging out of absence of urban planning strategies, planning frameworks, and
population growth is bringing numerous dualities , contradictions and challenges in majority of cities in
terms of spatial distribution of people and resources; use and consumption of land; less dense and more
inefficient land use patterns; car-centred urban models with pure land use zoning dividing urban spaces
into residential, commercial, and industrial areas. All these have led to melting of cities in all directions,
resulting in large conurbations and urban sprawl, as residents spill from the core municipalities to occupy
land in surrounding rural hinterland, often lacking accompanying services, amenities, and infrastructure.
With increase in population over a period of time,cities are subjected to large negative externalities in the
shape of congestion, infrastructure, pollution, and social disaggregation making these horizontally
spreading cities large consumers of energy and resources making them operationally inefficient and
non- sustainable over a period of time.
No horizontal and outward looking city can be efficient and productive. Horizontally spread cities are
known to be cost intensive, energy and land inefficient because of low densities, larger spread of services

6. and road network. Horizontal spread and low density cities promote larger travel demand and make
trips longer, calling for the provision of large and complex mechanized transportation, making the city
large consumer of resources and energy leading to increased carbon footprints. generating green house
gasses, promoting global warming, creating more pollution, adversely impacting the health, hygiene and
quality of life of the residents. Horizontal cities invariably lead to numerous operational and management
problems besides making the city environmentally unsustainable and socially disintegrated. It also
reduces the productivity and operational efficiency of the city due to large time and resources spent on
travel.
Our cities must become spaces that facilitate social, economic, and environmental progress. For cities to
develop in a sustainable and inclusive way, they must become more compact, absorbing population
growth by increasing their density. Cities have to be compact with smaller land footprints in order to be
efficient. Compact cities offer distinct advantages in countering the global warming by saving precious
land resource, promoting economy in development, accommodating growing population with a smaller
ecological footprint, providing agglomeration advantages ,lowering on with least dependence on
personalized vehicles. Compact cities are known to make city life supportive of social living and
overcoming the two worst gifts of urbanization including travel and traffic. Promoting non-mechanized
travel has distinct advantages in improving the health of residents besides making cities more humane and
livable due to large personal contacts. costs of providing infrastructure and services, strengthening social
interactions and reducing mobility demand, ensuring energy efficiency, promoting pedestrianization,
cycling and mass transportation. Only through agglomeration will cities have the power to innovate,
generate wealth, enhance quality of life, and accommodate more people in a sustainable manner ,with a
smaller environmental footprint through lower per capita resource use and lower per capita emissions than
any other settlement pattern. Compact cities also make business sense because of lower cost involved in
making provision of basic services and their effective maintenance.
Planning compact cities would however, require new state of art approach to planning. Present approach
to city planning would have to be re-defined with new order of development controls put in place. It
would also require new planning norms and standards for land use and supportive amenities and basic
services . Planning compact cities would ensure that basic principles of city planning are not sacrificed
and city would be planned and designed to promote highest order of quality of life, provide high order of
productivity and ensure availability of basic services/ amenities to lead an optimum life.
For making a city compact, it has to be planned, designed and developed as a vertical and inward looking
city. Planning compact city essentially involves promoting high density development for providing large
built up area using minimum land, making provision of enough land and spatial structures to support
urban development which minimizes travel, reduces service network and delivery costs, optimizes the
use of land, supports the protects the environment and rationalises urban open spaces.Planning strategies
for compact cities should include suburban densification, area redevelopment, layout of new areas with
higher densities, brownfield development – the rehabilitation of land previously used for industrial
purposes – building conversions, and transit-oriented developments.. Planning of compact cities must
invariably incorporate densification strategies . allowing mixed land use and taller building structures and
providing adequate public spaces such as parks, green areas, and streets. Well-designed public spaces not
only contributes to improving the overall visual character, invigorates economic activities but also
enhances the functionality of the city. High density neighbourhoods with adequate public space,
infrastructure and public transport facilities encourage walking, cycling, and other forms of eco-friendly
non-motorized mobility, reduces reliance on fossil fuels. thereby reducing carbon emissions and global
warming.Furthermore, the provision of pedestrian friendly streetscapes and public structures where
residents can gather for sports, recreational, or cultural activities — will promote social connectivity and
diversity, thus making neighbourhoods more cohesive, lively, and ultimately more attractive to residents

7. and investors alike. From an environmental point of view, city planning should focus on minimising
dependence on fossil fuels, incorporating low emission strategies so as to make city development
resilience to climate change.
Cities of Singapore and New York have clearly demonstrated the distinct advantages of vertical
development in promoting quality of life and higher order of operational efficiency. In search of optimum
solutions to make the city development inward and vertical, Singapore adopted the mechanism of using
digital survey of the city, identified buildings which were low rise, evolved a policy and provided
incentives to owners to put high rise buildings to replace the low intensity development in order to
overcome the problem of high cost of living besides providing more housing space in the city. City of
New York permitted the sub-division of land and construction of studio apartments on the terraces of the
existing buildings to create more housing space in the city. Though the system of redensification of the
existing cities may be slow and cumbersome but new and green field cities offer enormous opportunities
to be planned and developed as vertical cities for making them smart. Planning compact and vertical
cities would be most desirable and essential because India has only 2.4% of global land with 16.7% of
global population to hold/support, which would require land resource to be preserved, conserved,
protected and used in a most optimum manner for ensuring sustainability and survival of the country.
Planning Smart/Sustainable Mobility
Urbanization is known to bring increased mobility, followed by congestion, requiring related
infrastructure to support it. In urban India growth in numbers of automobile is growing faster than the
population; automobile-ownership growth rates are of the order of 15–20 per cent per annum in most
cities (Indiastat.com, 2008).With traditional fuels, transport sector in cities alone contributes 25% of total
carbon emissions. Challenges posed by transport sector accordingly remain daunting and formidable in
creating climate resistant cities. To overcome these challenges one of the best option would be to promote
sustainable urban transport in order to make cities cleaner and greener. Promoting sustainable urban
transport would accordingly form integral and essential part of any strategy to promote Sustainable and
low- carbon cities , which would have different order of priority for transportation led by
pedestrianization, cycling and public transport with least priority going to personal transport.
Sustainable cities will be planned on the principle of planning for people and not for vehicles and
promoting accessibility rather than mobility. sustainable transport would essentially call for minimizing
use of personalized vehicles; promoting non- mechanized/ non-fuel based options for travel; using public
transport with large capacity, run essentials on non-polluting fuels /electricity; using state of art
technologies, making vehicles zero-emission; making cities more compact to limit the need of
mechanized travel; using mixed land use planning to rationalize the travel pattern etc. It would also
involve use of information technologies as one of the mechanisms to reduce travel by using homes as
offices, schools, libraries etc.
Green transport Study recently made by Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), has revealed that Delhi
Metro, having daily ridership of 27 lakhs, has helped in replacing 3.9 lakh vehicles off the Delhi roads in
2014 besides saving Rs 10,364 crores in terms of fuel, pollution and passenger’s time. In absolute terms,
the annual reduction in fuel consumption has been recorded at 2.76 lakh tonnes, as against the
corresponding figures of the year 2011, besides bringing down the travel time of commuters by 32
minutes. In addition to promoting operational efficiency and making Delhi cleaner and green, study
furthers states that metro has made the city safer by reducing the number of fatal accidents. Delhi Metro
Draft Concept note evolved by the Ministry of Urban Development for the Smart Cities has defined the
transportation parameters for a smart city in terms of maximum travel time of 30 minutes in small &
medium size cities and 45 minutes in metropolitan areas; creating continuous unobstructed footpaths of
minimum 2m width on either side of all street with right of way of 12m or more; dedicated and physically

8. segregated bicycle tracks with a width of 2m or more, one in each direction, provided on all streets with
carriageway larger than 10 m; high quality and high frequency mass transport within 800 m (10–15
minute walking distance) of all residences in areas with density of over 175 persons / ha of built Area and
access to para-transit within 300 m walking distance, in order to promote the use of mass transport for
meeting the travel demand of residents with least dependence on individual mechanized transport.
Increased use of environment-friendly public transport systems and halting of urban sprawl in cities can
substantially reduce emissions at city level and make cities cleaner, greener ,sustainable and global
warming resilient. However, creating sustainable urban transport would require a multi- pronged strategy
based on leveraging the advantages of all modes of travel, involving communities and stakeholders
besides professionals engaged in urban/transport planning, development and management Our capacity to
create sustainable urban transport, through state of art cleaner and greener technologies with innovative
city planning, development and management, would hold the key to leverage the productivity, economy,
quality of life, sustainability and operational efficiency of human settlements besides minimising carbon
footprints of the cities.
Creating Smart Buildings
Buildings have critical role in making the cities smart. No city can be made smart unless it is supported
by built environment, which is energy efficient and intelligent because buildings use over 40% world’s
total energy, 30% raw materials, 25% timber harvested, 16% fresh water withdrawal and are responsible
for 35% of world’s CO2 emission, 40% municipal solid waste, 50% ozone depleting CFC besides making
30% residents having sick building syndrome. With number of people rushing, towards urban centres,
energy requirements of cities due to buildings, is going to rise sharply in future.As per McKinsey Global
Institute Report (April, 2010), ‘India Urban Awakening: Building Inclusive Cities’, India would be
required to create on annual basis buildings to the tune of 700– 900 million sq m (equal to the built up
volume of Chicago City in USA) to meet the needs of urban India. Despite huge projected requirements,
very little focus is being given to mitigate the adverse impact on the environment caused by rapid and
uncontrolled growth of building industry. Thus building as a sector would require close scrutiny and
monitoring for effecting overall economy in the levels of energy consumption and making cities smart
and sustainable.
Green buildings experience and studies have shown that adopting an integrated approach to design can
reduce energy implications of buildings. Integrated approach to building design would essentially revolve
round, rational site planning, re-defining shape and size of the buildings and built form, reducing surface
to volume ratio; promoting building efficiency, rationalising ratio between length and depth of the
building, using simple techniques of building structure, efficient structural design; adopting principles of
solar passive techniques, using energy efficient equipment, controlling lighting, heating, ventilation; using
solar energy/air movement, reduced use of transportation energy, low energy components; minimising
waste, using local materials, optimising landscaping etc. Orientation is the most critical factor which
needs to be effectively used in all building designs in order to evolve energy efficient building design by
making use of solar light/heat/ radiation and the wind energy. However, requirements of building design
would vary from region to region, state to state and within regions and states. Accordingly, buildings with
regard to sun and wind will have to be oriented differently in different regions.
In order to ensure that buildings make best use of solar and wind energy, it would be essential that
majority of buildings would have the site advantage of having best orientation where such buildings are to
be constructed. Accordingly, in this context town planners have important role cast for themselves for
ensuring that while preparing the layout plan of the area, highest consideration is given to orientation so

9. that maximum number of plots have the advantage of best orientation. Once this is ensured at the
planning level, it would be much easier for the Architects to evolve a design which would be energy
efficient. Further, the planners should ensure that ratio of plot width and depth is fixed in such a manner
that the entire depth of built up area permitted on a plot should have access to natural light during the day,
minimizing the requirement of artificial lighting. This would be particularly important in case of row
housing where plots have the option to draw light from front and the rear only. Designing with nature by
making best use of existing natural elements/sources and vegetation, offers the best option of creating
green buildings. In order to ensure that buildings are designed as energy efficient, they must be designed
to conform to the norms and standards laid down by the IGBC/LEED. In addition, concerted efforts
should be made to promote retrofitting of existing buildings to make them energy efficient. Singapore has
already drawn a master plan to make all the existing buildings green through a collaborative policy
framework involving residents, property owners and the government. Retrofitting of Empire State
Building of New York has led to achieving reduction of electricity load for the building to the tune of 3.5
MW and reduction of green house gas emissions by 1,00,000 tonnes over a 15 years period. The
payback/recovery period for the $13.1 million spent on retrofitting of building, has been laced at 3.5 years
due to saving of energy.
RegionalPlanning
In addition, to looking inward, new regime of urban planning will also be looking outward so as to link
the city with its surrounding areas/settlements. No city exists in spatial isolation. Every city has its
periphery/area of influence to support it. This zone of influence varies with the size, location, primacy,
accessibility, population, nature of specialisation, administrative status, amenities, services etc. The
existing pattern of urban planning ignores the critical role and importance of periphery in
sustaining/rationalizing the city growth and development. In order to minimise prevailing urban ills, new
regime of urban planning will involve an approach which would involve inward and outward looking at
the cities.
Most efficient cities in the world have adopted Regional perspective and not just looking at cities growth.
The Regional approach/model has helped them in promoting co-operation and collaboration; minimizing
local competition and conflicts, over/under investment in infrastructure, infrastructure optimization
between neighbouring cities/rural settlements, for the establishment of locations of strategic facilities,
optimization of resources , preventing disasters, promoting and protecting ecology and bio-diversity,
providing recreational activities.and overcoming confusion over role and responsibilities of various
agencies. In the process, it has promoted higher order of co-operation and growth, of not only of the city
but of the rural settlements and the region. Balancing the economic and environmental aspirations of the
wider area at the regional level, urban planning has to partner the regional and metropolitan plans to
promote the sustainability. Looking outward can also help in achieving the objectives of integration and
decentralized planning, enshrined in 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, which calls for integrated
development of the urban and rural settlements through the mechanism of preparing District Development
Plans at the District level and Metropolitan Area Plans for the Metro Region.Regional Planning looks at
optimizing the regional resources by promoting synergies between rural and urban areas and connecting
them through a well dfined settlement hierarchy based on the developmental potential of each settlement
to make them more sustainable with least consumption of resources and energy.
Ruralisation
If India, as a nation, has the distinction of being second largest global urban system, it also holds the same
rank among nations in rural settlements after China ( One million ) . Rural settlements remain critical for
the rational growth and development of India with 638596 villages holding 69.9% of 1.21 billion

10. population( 2011 Census), providing basic essentials for human survival ; making fair contribution to
national economy, sustaining large chunk of employment; holding large reservoir of manpower and
providing raw material for industries. Villages shall continue to dominate Indian scenario in terms of
population, food and promoting industry using agricultural produce as their basic input. Despite distinct
advantages, rural areas are fast losing to urban counterpart, primarily due to improved agricultural
technology, ever changing industrial technology and desire to improve the economic status, which is
leading exodus of rural population to urban areas.
Looking at the entire developmental context, it can be seen that most of the urban problems have their
genesis in the neglect of the rural areas because Rural-Urban migration constituted more than 21% of the
urban population growth in India (Census2011). Growth of slums in Urban India has its roots in rural
poverty migrating to urban areas. In India, cities can never become sustainable, rational, and orderly or
slum free, unless planning and development of villages is put on a fast track. Thus it becomes critical that
rural areas are properly planned, rationally developed and objectively managed. Mahatma Gandhi, father
of nation, had stated the role and importance of villages in the context of national development, saying
‘India lives in villages.If villagesperish,India will perish too’.
Rural settlements also holds the key to reduce the carbon and ecological footprints of human settlements
and promoting sustainable development of urban areas because of their small size; less population;
compact development; less transportation needs; lower energy and resource consumption. Villages live
with nature, using natural resources causing minimum damage to air, water, environment and ecology.
The distinct advantages offered by villages must be leveraged to minimize the climate change and
reducing ill effects of urbanization. This would require a new approach and policy framework to be put in
place providing dedicated support to development of villages through creating synergies between urban
with and rural settlements. This calls for connecting all villages, to the extent possible, with adjoining
urban settlements in order to have access to urban infrastructures by eliminating the existing disconnect
between cities and villages. Where not feasible, large villages should be identified as growth centres
where urban amenities could be provided for the benefit of adjoining smaller villages by adopting a
cluster approach. India has 4681 villages with more than 10,000 population and 14,799 villages with
population of 5000(2001) and above, which can be taken up for development and provision of
infrastructure on the pattern of urban areas. All urban villages and villages falling in the peri-urban areas ,
should be planned and developed as integral part of the towns/cities, where they are located.
Considering large number of existing villages numbering over 0.638 million, India needs to prioritize
the rural development in order to reduce migration , rationalize the urbanization and reduce global
warming.Strategy of rural development must revolve around with preference going to states having low
urbanization, large number of villages, high poverty rate, large unemployment and maximum share in
national rural-urban migration. States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa,
with more than half of total villages and large share of out-migration needs to be taken in the first stage
to reduce migration and make urban centres more rational. In addition to adopting state centric and cluster
approach, villages at individual level have to be planned and developed to make them self-sufficient ,
sustainable and independent economic entities in terms of employment, basic infrastructure, services
and day-to-day needs Every village should be provided with potable water supply, sanitation, shelter for
all its residents and infrastructure to take care of healthcare and education needs. Rural industries should
be promoted to make value addition to agricultural produce besides connecting villages with the formal
marketing system to receive optimum returns of the agricultural produce by eliminating middle men. Skill
development and technology centres should be created to create skilled manpower, generate employment
and improve the quality of manpower. All village internal roads should be paved with drainage provided.
Houses need to be planned and designed to have good air, light and ventilation through the construction
of model housing using local materials and improved local technologies. Animals should be separated
from human living and placed outside the human habitation area, for their care and creating milk co-
operatives for generating resources and employment. All village activities should be managed through a
co-operative system with employment, income and resources provided to all. Villages should generate its

11. own electricity through renewable sources and bio- mass available locally to meet its day- to-day needs of
agriculture, lighting and cooking. Village ponds should be protected and developed to preserve the source
of water and promote recreational activities. Villages should have community centre for holding public
functions, community deliberations,socialization, creating awareness, promoting innovations, new ideas
and new technologies.. Technical institutions should be actively involved in creating skilled manpower
for promoting the planned development of rural areas. Such an approach would make villages and
ruralisation an effective tool in mitigating global warming
Conclusion
Threat of global warming is looming large and becoming a distinct reality. Looking at the causes,
urbanization has been the major contributor and promoters of global warming. Accelerated urbanization
adversely impact climate by creating demand for large mobility, increased commercial/ industrial
activities, large built space, higher energy consumption and natural resources In order to mitigate the
global warming, we have to make the process of urbanization more rational and sustainable by designing
urban and rural settlements using state of art technologies involving communities. Combined with modern
technology, better urban planning can solve many of the problems that cities are facing, and lead them to
prosperity(UN-Habitat)
Nations across the world have important role to play in minimizing the global warming in general and
developed / developing nations in particular. India with large carbon footprints,have major role cast
along with China and USA, to achieve the objective of minimizing global warming. Accordingly, India
has to rationalize its process of urbanization by adopting state of art urban planning , promoting
ruralisation by orderly planning and development of rural settlements and creating synergies between
rural and urban settlements through Regional planning. Aim shall be to create cities and villages with
minimum carbon footprints by adopting an approach revolving around redefining urban and village
planning, planning compact cities, promoting regional planning and ruralisation. Making this vision a
distinct reality, India has to put in place appropriate policy, legal and institutional framework duly
supported by adequate and dedicated manpower, resources, academics, industry, capacity building
programs and involving CBOs, NGOs, communities and all the stakeholders. How quick, effectively and
efficiently , we do these tasks shall hold the key to make India , as a nation, a role model of creating
sustainable human settlements with minimum carbon footprints.
Biblography
 McKinsey Global Institute: India’s Urban Awakening: Building Inclusive Cities, Sustaining
Economic Growth, Report April, 2010.
 United Nations, New York : World Urbanization Prospects- The 2014 Revision, 2014
 Urban News Digest, Volume III, issue 9: www.urbannewsdigest.in, November,2014
 Government of India, Census Report. 2011
 UN Habitat Report, State of World’s Cities 2008/2009- Harmonius Cities, defines the cities in
their basic characters and growth pattern :
 Global Warming Facts, Definition, Causes and Effects NRDC
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/global-warming-101
 United Nations : Urbanisation and climate change;
 unhabitat.org/urban-themes/climate-change/2012
 Government of India, MHURD:India Habitat III- National Report, 2016
 Government of India, MHUPA:Report of the Working Group on Migration, January ,2017

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