Sustainable Urban Development for Poor

Cities in India today are drivers of economic growth. About 70% of GDP is accounted by urban areas. Today cities remain the home of an increasing numbers of urban poor living in the informal settlements, with large infrastructure backlog, poor service-delivery, extensive housing shortages, and weak urban management and governance systems. Hence, there is a strong reliance on improving informal settlements as a strategy to address urban poverty.

A recent report by the Committee on Slum Statistics/Census estimates that 93 million people currently live in slums in India, and this number is expected to increase to 104 million by the end of the 12th plan period in 2017.  

Govt. of India launched The JNNURM in 2005 a flagship program aimed at creating economically productive, efficient, equitable, responsive and inclusive cities. The program is considered to have been more successful in its infrastructure investments than its urban reform agenda. To complement this The RAY program was launched in June, 2011 but after a research, it has been found that a new program needs to be introduced to incentivize and support selected states and cities towards the implementation of their slum-free city strategies through cost effective solutions i.e. in-situ upgrading of tenable slums, alternative approaches to new housing delivery such as sites and services, and support pilot integrated urban livelihoods activities. The major component of the program include financing of selected physical infrastructure investment,  support to community mobilisation, project implementation  and technical assistance to implementing agencies at city and state level.

This is expected to augment and complement the Rajiv Awas Yojna which focuses on primarily on the Housing for the slum dwellers. Thus improving the overall infrastructure & the life style of the people staying in the slum.