Rural Empowerment and Reassessing Urban Migration

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In two or three decades, one out of every two Indians is anticipated to live in cities. This may run on multiple variables, such as the definition of the city itself, but India’s speedy development is undeniable. With rapid urbanisation, a significant population migration from rural areas to urban centres is expected. This leads to a disproportionate distribution of developmental resources and unequal access to social infrastructure, furthering the urban-rural disparities. Urban populations benefit more than rural communities despite constituting more population and land occupancy. Hence, as architects and urbanists, we must address two significant challenges regarding this urban influx: A. Building to fulfil the aspirations of this rapid growth, and B. Building consciously to minimise the possible damage to the existing environment, thereby promoting sustainable development.
Moving Beyond the Idea of Cities as Sole Engines of Growth
The two-fold explanation of the lopsided migration is closely linked. The mass migration for better socioeconomic conditions, opportunities, and social infrastructure splits families between cities and towns. Effectively, this creates a gap between the infrastructure in the towns they evacuate and overburdens the population density in the cities. The development again caters to this demographic, ignoring the need for development in the non-urban zones.
The fragmented governance infrastructure is unable to bridge this gap, given the evident lack of development in a large part of the nation and the centralised growth of only the urban concentrations. To be able to truly move forward from the set ideas of urban centres being the drivers of development, the decentralisation of growth must be brought into effect.
Empowering Satellite Towns—the Fringes of the City Centres
The satellite cities, owing to their proximity to urban centres, have an added advantage of access to these “developed” zones. By borrowing the standards of operation and growth from these city centres, the satellite fringes could expand and flourish. In an ideal scenario, when these satellite towns achieve the same levels of growth, efficiency, and access, the rhizomatic chain could expand and decentralise the growth from the urban cores.
A regional master plan expanding the Delhi metropolitan area to include satellite regions of Alwar, Meerut, Panipat, and Sonepat is in the works. Connecting them through transit routes will expand the effective region that shares opportunities similar to those in the capital city. This axis from Meerut to Delhi or Alwar to Delhi allows for the parallel growth of the tier-two cities alongside the tier-one communities. If this linear mobility expansion is combined with a responsible vision of sustainable growth, the entire model becomes close to ideal. Strategic greening along the highways would help blur the rural-urban landscape's boundaries and create avenues for social intervention between the two zones.
The empowerment of the rural pockets in isolation, however tactical, will not succeed if the urban-rural disconnect is not considered. By focusing on developing peri-urban areas—those on the fringes of urban centres—we can bridge this gap, strengthen rural communities, and decentralise urban growth.
As architectural boundaries continue to be pushed, luxury housing in India will undoubtedly remain at the forefront of architectural innovation, offering residents a life of unmatched luxe and style while enabling community living.