Indian urbanisation is generating wealth at one end and slums at the other. Examine the structural reasons for this dual outcome with reference to migration, housing and urban local governance.

Introduction:

India's urban share, last measured at 31.16 per cent in Census 2011, is projected by the World Bank's 2025 urban report to reach about 951 million urban Indians by 2050. As Mike Davis warned in Planet of Slums, the same growth engine can generate skyscrapers and informal settlements on adjacent plots — and India is now its leading test case.

Migration:

Census 2011 recorded 45.36 crore internal migrants; PRS Legislative Research data show over 80 per cent of urban informal workers are migrants. Bengaluru's Mahadevapura ward — an IT corridor abutting informal settlements — is the visible illustration of this dual pattern.

Housing:

The National Buildings Organisation estimated the urban housing shortage at 1.88 crore in 2012, with 95 per cent in the EWS and LIG categories. PMAY-Urban (launched 25 June 2015) and PMAY-U 2.0 (September 2024) have sanctioned around 3.53 lakh houses by mid-2025, but Dharavi redevelopment and the Chennai Perumbakkam resettlement after the 2015 floods show how supply still lags need.

Urban local governance:

The 74th Constitutional Amendment of 1992 devolved 18 functions to Urban Local Bodies via the Twelfth Schedule, but state finance commissions remain weak; municipal own revenue is about 1 per cent of GDP against the global benchmark of 7 per cent, starving cities of capital.

Conclusion:

Isher Judge Ahluwalia's HPEC 2011 estimate of ₹39 lakh crore in urban investment over 20 years remains the benchmark. Without genuine fiscal devolution to ULBs and an in-situ upgrading approach to slums, India's dual city will harden into permanence.