The Kerala Model of Urbanisation is a successful human-centric development model, characterized by high literacy, social reforms, and significant remittances. It has created a unique urban-rural continuum, overcoming concentrated metropolitan growth issues.
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Picture Courtesy: THEHINDU
Kerala’s Urban Policy Commission (KUPC) submitted its 2025 report, offering a bold roadmap for sustainable urban growth. With India’s urban population set to reach 600 million by 2036 (MoHUA, 2023), Kerala’s model provides actionable lessons to address rapid urbanization, climate risks, and governance gaps.
Climate-Smart Zoning: Map flood, landslide, and coastal risks to guide urban planning, ensuring proactive disaster prevention.
Data Observatory: Create a real-time data hub at the Kerala Institute of Local Administration using satellite imagery, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), and weather data for smarter city decisions.
Green Financing: Introduce green fees for eco-sensitive projects and parametric insurance for quick disaster payouts.
Municipal Bonds: Enable cities like Kochi to issue bonds, while smaller towns use pooled financing, as proposed in Kerala’s 2024 Budget.
Governance Reform: Form city cabinets led by mayors, supported by climate and tech specialists, and a “Jnanashree” youth tech program.
Local Identity: Revive wetlands, waterways, and heritage zones, while promoting Thrissur-Kochi as a FinTech hub and Kozhikode as a literature city.
Local Narratives: The KUPC integrates fishermen’s coastal concerns and vendors’ mobility issues into data systems, ensuring policies reflect lived experiences.
Climate-First Approach: Every recommendation embeds disaster resilience, unlike India’s project-based urban models.
Fiscal Empowerment: Green levies and municipal bonds give local bodies financial autonomy, reducing reliance on state funds.
Community-Driven Data: Municipal dashboards use community inputs, like tidal health for fishing zones, creating a feedback loop between citizens and governance.
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Read all about: URBANIZATION IN INDIA: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES |
Funding Shortfalls: Urban local bodies (ULBs) rely on state transfers, with only 0.6% of GDP invested in urban infrastructure (World Bank). India needs $55 billion annually for urban growth.
Weak Governance: Fragmented planning and low ULB autonomy hinder coordinated urban development.
Infrastructure Gaps: Shortage affordable homes fuels slums, with no Indian city in the top 100 of the Global Liveability Index.
Environmental Stress: Urban floods (e.g., Bengaluru 2024) and pollution (13 cities in the world’s top 20 most polluted) expose poor resilience.
Waste Crisis: Cities generate 62 million tonnes of waste yearly, with only 12 million tonnes treated.
State-Level Commissions: States should form urban commissions to create tailored plans, avoiding one-size-fits-all national models.
Data-Driven Planning: Build digital observatories linking satellite data, citizen inputs, and GIS for real-time urban management, as in Kerala.
Fiscal Innovation: Promote municipal bonds and green fees, like Indore’s municipal bonds, to fund sustainable infrastructure.
Community Engagement: Integrate local voices into planning, like Brazil’s Participatory Budgeting, to ensure inclusive growth.
Climate Resilience: Embed hazard mapping and green infrastructure, as in Ahmedabad’s lake revival, to combat floods and heatwaves.
Strengthen ULBs: Grant fiscal and administrative autonomy to ULBs, aligning with the 74th Amendment, to generate revenue and improve service delivery.
Scale Smart Cities: Expand Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) to Tier 2 cities, using AI and IoT for efficient governance.
Promote Green Infrastructure: Restore urban wetlands and green spaces, like Pune’s riverfront projects, to boost resilience.
Tackle Waste: Decentralize waste management, as in Bengaluru’s composting model, and enforce Extended Producer Responsibility for e-waste.
Engage Communities: Mandate ward committees and digital grievance systems to make planning participatory, inspired by Kerala’s approach.
Kerala's KUPC model demonstrates sustainable urban growth through data-driven planning, climate resilience, fiscal innovation, and community voices, urging India to adopt similar models for sustainable cities by 2030.
Source: THEHINDU
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