Government of India/state policies, programs, mission and agenda must move providing basic essentials to all its citizens through an efficient, objective and transparent system of governance. For making cities livable and empowering people; right to basics/essential of human living including; Right to shelter, food, clothing universal access to healthcare, education, employment , infrastructures, amenities and mobility; should be made integral part of Indian Constitution by embedding it as Fundamental Rights/Directive Principles of state policy besides making them integral part of planning, development and management/governance process of all human settlements.

1. Random Thoughts-1- 24/3/24
Agenda, Approach and Options for Rationalising and Redefining
Future Indian Cities
Jit Kumar Gupta
Jit.kumar1944@gmail.com
Looking at the context of Smart City Mission, it can be visualized and concluded that
cities remain complex, full of dualities and contradictions. Promoting economy,
generating lot of wealth, creating large proportion of employment and housing
large number of slums, poverty, pollution, houselessness, lack of infrastructure and
unauthorized development, cities are also known for its positivities and negativities.
Looking at the entire domain of operation, Cities remain difficult to define in terms
of its growth and development for the reason cities are never static
. Being dynamic entities, cities are always evolving and devolving, never fixed and
never finite. Accordingly, freezing cities in the name of planned development, shall
be a fallacy and a mirage, for making cities sustainable. It will be doing injustice to
the cities and the people, if cities are put in a water tight framework of planned
development. Accordingly, it needs to be ensured that cities will have to be planned
and designed with inbuilt flexibility to evolve an devolve, but still adhering to and
remain committed to follow, all the principles of planned and sustainable
development, based on well defined, norms and standards.
Since Cities comprise of human beings and accordingly, all efforts to reform cities
must focus on making people happy, healthy, more productive and more efficient.
Cities must be able to empower its citizens, including poorest of the poor to lead a
dignified life. Cities must be able to skill all its citizens to make them more
productive. Cities must create enabling environment which will lead to inclusivity
and care of all its residents. Cities must be able to promote planning which will lead
to universal good and not good of few selected and rich people. Cities must be able
to create universal opportunities of gainful employment for all. Making people
happy and healthy, by creating an enabling environment and creating appropriate
level of healthcare institutions should be made integral part of city planning,
development and management process of cities. In addition to generating wealth

2. and promoting economy, cities must ensure that wealth generated must be
equitably distributed among all its residents to enable them to meet their basic
and essential requirements, in an effective and efficient manner.
Accordingly , cities must be planned, designed, managed differently and distinctly.
In order to make cities better places to live and work. Accordingly, planning ,
development and management of cities must be critically reviewed, objectively
revised and rationally redefined in order to empower cities to create opportunities
of universal good of all its residents. Government policies must move from making
cities smart to making cities sustainable, happy and healthy places to live, inclusive
and safe, both physically, socially, economically and environmentally. This would
require that cities will empower its residents and ensure the provision of Roti,
Kapra, Makan to all its residents besides providing universal access to healthcare,
education, employment , infrastructures, amenities and mobility; as integral part
of commitment of city to its residents. If these basic essentials are not made
available to all its residents, no city has the right to call it a sustainable and livable
city and achieving agenda. defined in SDGs, will remain a fallacy, illusion and
misnomer.
Government of India/state policies, programs, mission and agenda must move
providing basic essentials through an efficient, objective and transparent system
of governance. For making cities livable and empowering people; right to
basics/essential of human living including; Right to shelter, food, clothing universal
access to healthcare, education, employment , infrastructures, amenities and
mobility; should be made integral part of Indian Constitution by embedding it as
Fundamental Rights/Directive Principles of state policy besides making them
integral part of planning, development and management/governance process of all
human settlements.