Urban development of the Western side of Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Abstract

Indian cities have considerably expanded in the past ten years. Local urban bodies legitimacy was recognized in 1992 through the 74th Constitution Amendment Act, which promoted decentralization and municipal decision- and project-making. The awareness about urban planning and cities management has been increasing since that point of time, and cities are today regarded as the cornerstones of Indian economic growth. Nevertheless, political authorities also tend to realize that Indian cities are involved in a global competition and that their infrastructure and provision of services are to be improved to sustain the comparisons and attract investors. The paper analyses the recent urban development of the western side of Ahmedabad , the largest city in the western state of Gujarat and the seventh largest city in India.In the past twenty years,Ahmedabad has witnessed a major Economic transition, from an industryial area to a service-oriented city.As a casequence of its flowurishing economy, the city has been growing at a constant pace since the eighties and currentntly faces a major construction boom. Gujarat, and therefore Ahmedabad, has one of the most efficient planning systems in India: city development plan combined with town planning schemes as currently designed and implemented usually lead to win-win situations regarding the land ownership and uses. In comparison to many places in India, the state, and the munciple governments have been relatively dynamic and proactive for the planning process of Ahmedabad.However, questions can be raised regarding the efficiency of the planning system in terms of time management and financing capacities. Ahmedabad is not a user-friendly city as of now and does not seem to be able to improve radically in the next few years.In fact, amdavadis have to face daily traffic congestion, air and water pollution, noise, deficient drainage and sanitation networks, as well as the lack of houses and green spaces. As attractive as Ahmedabad may be today because of its successful economy, negative externalities could lead to a reversal in the city’s situations. The major issues about Ahmedabad’s future lie with the inequalities in the development between the eastern and the western parts of the city.Western Ahmedabad is actully mostly developed by and for upper and middle class people.Large malls and multiplexes are mushrooming; private schools, colleges and health facilities are designed for the cities. The gap between rich and poor, as well as that between communities, has been widening for the past few years and is spatially obvious in Ahmedabad: Most workers and most Muslims live in the eastern side.There are few interactions betwwen both sides: The western part, modern, well planned and developed, tend to disconnect itself from the other side of the river, and the new bridges will not change anything in the people’s mentalities.The major challenge of the local authorities for the next few years should, therefore, be to create a balance in the development of the two sides of Ahmedabad. The data for the report has come from both primery as well as secondary sources.The primary sources include one to one meetings with local experts in the urban sector.The secondary sources were basically available official literature about Ahmedebad development and planning.