Getting a Grip on Green – Indian Cities and the Promise of Sustainability, Resilience, Inclusion

The shift to low-carbon urbanized lifestyles may remain a mere projection of national ambition unless India finds effective ways to address three fundamental development challenges. First is the challenge posed by the strategic management of urbanization in a nation that comprises a federation of states with hugely varying socioeconomic conditions. Second is the challenge of systemic inequalities that retard the achievement of just transitions. Third is the challenge of state capacity, which is severely limited and thus exacerbates other challenges. When combined, these suggest that the sustainable, resilient and inclusive cities that India has promised to its own citizens and the world will need more transformation than the statism and social reformism that underpins its current strategies.