Five Factors that will Shape Well-Being in Indian Cities

India’s urban population increased over the period 2001-11 primarily on account of formation of 2,532 new census towns all over the country. Since a census town is a non-statutory town its investment needs for provision of public goods and services are not given the same importance as cities covered under the national mission. This has adverse implications for millions of dwellers in the cities not covered by the mission. This paper highlights five factors that will shape the well-being of city dwellers in India. First, will there be a concerted effort to tackle urbanization of poverty? Second, how will rising housing rents across the different cities be addressed? Third, housing rents will continue to increase since income elasticity of demand for rental housing is greater than one. Fourth, the redistribution of economic activities across rural-urban areas coupled with the absence of a robust economic base of most cities and towns of India will lead to an increase in number of workers commuting across rural-urban boundaries. Fifth, in light of lagging investments in Indian cites there are valid concerns that India will witness exclusionary urbanization.