Develop Growth-ready Smaller Cities in Each State
1. Three Types Of Cities
- Large cities already grown and growing, where growth needs to be better managed
- Smaller cities
- Growth-ready, which can develop fairly quickly without much government expenditure. Focus of this proposal
- Lagging, which have to be made growth-ready
2. Two Overlapping But Distinct Objectives
- Equitable regional economic development in the State
- More inclusive, gives more people a chance to share in emerging prosperity
- Reduce pressure on over-crowded larger cities by giving future out-migrants from villages an option to move to cities other than large cities
- Better life and productivity in larger and smaller cities
3. Criteria To Select Smaller Cities Should Reflect Objectives And Ground Realities.
Objective based
- Leave out the 5-10 (depending on State) most populous cities. The rest are eligible
- Goal is to select 1-3 cities from each administrative division (higher than district level). This ensures equitable regional distribution.
Ground reality
3. Structural Features – Should Have Reasonable
- Health and educational facilities
- Digital infrastructure, electricity supply, road connectivity
- Land and water available for expansion
4. Economic Features – Should Have Reasonable
- Ongoing economic activities
- MSMEs, not large companies necessarily
- Connectivity to larger markets
- Interested business people
5. Political/Admin
- No need for major government expenditure to upgrade facilities
- Existing or formable interested private firms and NPIs
- Reasonable local government admin
- Interested political and social leaders/prominent people within the area or outside by looking to help.
