Cities, Youth and Development of a Nation
Two days ago, I came across a very pertinent news article in Hindustan Times of May 16, 2011 titled as 'Our Forbidden Cities'. In my Environmental Planning class, for Masters students in Architecture, I make it a point to point out that Cities are Beautiful and Cities are the future! I often get glances from students suggesting why I should prefer rural over the urban, as most of 'us' fondly remember our sojourns to villages and yearn for the calm pace of life it offers. But it is necessary for India to accept the fact that cities are here to stay and sooner we accept this, better equipped we will be to tackle the so called monster of 'urbanization'. The author Francesco Giavazzi of 'Our Forbidden Cities' argues the case that today a youth in Mumbai gets a heavy pay packet to carry home, promising a comfortable lifestyle in India, yet the yearning to choose Singapore or Dubai or even London is because this representative Indian youth is looking for a c