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Urban Density: Balancing Growth and Sustainability
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Urban density, a concept borrowed from physics, becomes complex when applied to cities.
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- It encompasses residential density (dwellings per hectare), building density, job density, and fluctuating density, which reflects daily population changes in cities with high commuter activity.
- Internal density refers to the number of people inside a building, while terms like “too dense,” “Goldilocks density,” and “optimal quality density” highlight varying perspectives on what constitutes ideal urban density.
Population Density in India
It is defined as the number of persons living per unit area, typically expressed as the number of people per square kilometer (sq km). It provides a measure of how crowded or sparse an area is, helping to understand the spatial distribution of the population in relation to land. The average population density of India was 382 persons per sq km (2011 Census). Delhi, with 11,297 persons per sq km has the highest density while Arunachal Pradesh, with 17 persons per sq km has lowest.
Urban Density and Population Growth
- Cities grow through natural population increase, geographical expansion, reclassification of rural areas, and migration.
- Urban density is often measured by population density, focusing on residential populations rather than floating populations.
- For example, Mumbai’s Dharavi, one of the world’s densest slums, houses 340,000 people per square kilometer, while Baku’s Garadagh district has only 66 people per square kilometer.
- Globally, urban density is asymmetrical, with developing nations hosting most of the world’s densest cities.
Promoting or Discouraging Density
- Urban density can be incentivised through betterment levies, public-private partnerships, tax incentives, and raising the Floor Space Index (FSI).
- Conversely, it can be discouraged via tax disincentives, FSI restrictions, and zoning.
- For instance, U.S. cities like New York and San Francisco have adopted anti-density zoning to curb population growth, validated by the Supreme Court as constitutional under public welfare considerations.
Benefits of High Urban Density
- High urban density fosters economic growth through agglomeration economies, enabling shared infrastructure, diverse labor pools, and knowledge spillovers.
- Cities like Tokyo, Shanghai, and Mumbai contribute disproportionately to their nations’ GDP despite occupying minimal land.
- Density also enhances innovation, with patent intensity correlating positively with employment density.
- Compact urban forms reduce land conversion, preserve agricultural areas, and promote efficient resource use.
- Higher density supports public transport viability, reduces commuting times, and lowers per capita infrastructure costs.
- It also boosts consumption, with urban areas spending significantly more than rural ones.
Challenges of High Density
- Overcrowding can lead to psychological stress, lack of privacy, and increased disease susceptibility, as seen in Mumbai’s slums.
- The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of dense cities to infectious diseases.
- High density also drives up land prices, making housing unaffordable for many, as evidenced by Delhi’s Master Plan 2041, which estimates 85% of residents cannot afford regular shelter.
- Traffic congestion, reduced open spaces, and environmental degradation are additional challenges.
- Climate change exacerbates these issues, with dense cities facing greater risks from floods, heatwaves, and air pollution.
Future of Urban Density
- While Western cities advocate for higher density to counter population decline, Indian cities are already extremely dense and face sustainability challenges.
- Technology offers solutions, enabling remote work and decentralising urban growth.
- Decentralised urbanisation, with investments in smaller cities, could alleviate pressure on megacities.
- Optimal urban density should balance economic benefits with quality of life, ensuring adequate open spaces, climate resilience, and infrastructure capacity.
