By IANS,
New Delhi: India has good policies but needs to implement them effectively to cope with the growing challenge of urbanisation, UN Under-Secretary-General Joan Clos said Monday.
“The pace of urbanisation in India will create demand for social infrastructure like schools, sanitation and energy,” Clos told IANS.
He was in the national capital to address a meeting on “Towards Sustainable Habitat – A Collaborative Approach” held jointly by the UN with Coca Cola India.
According to Clos, the government needed to invest in developing good cities which would prove to be engines of growth and prosperity.
“Investment in social infrastructure increases value of private assets and adds to productivity of the factors of production,” said Clos.
“Urbanisation without basic services would create slums and result in catastrophe. We need to overcome the fear of growing cities,” he warned.
He clarified this does not mean that all the expansion would have to be done in one go but the authorities should have a road map for future growth.
According to him, industrialisation in Asian developing economies brought jobs and integrated people with urbanisation.
“We are asking governments across the world to take adequate policy measures to meet the challenges of urbanisation,” said Clos.
Citing the example of sub-Saharan Africa, where 60 percent of the population lives in slums, Clos said this number was likely to double in the next 10 years.