Cost of urban expansion

Sathya Prakash Varanashi explores the impact of urban growth on sustainability and advocates for simpler, more sustainable lifestyles.

Most of us have heard the story of Aladdin’s lamp, the tale of a poor boy from ancient China who is picked up by a sorcerer from the Maghreb to retrieve a magic lamp that grants every desire. Aladdin overpowers the sorcerer and lives happily with the lamp.

Metaphorically, we treat our cities like Aladdin’s lamp. They seem to provide everything we wish for, but unlike the lamp, which grants only what is asked, cities also give us what we don’t ask for. We get success and stress, fame and failure, power and pressure, love and loneliness, income and isolation, comfort and congestion, solutions and confusion, goods and garbage — the list goes on.

We view cities as oceans of opportunity, ladders to success, and engines of growth. But what if this relentless growth is leading us towards self-destruction? Aladdin’s lamp remains unchanged in the story, but can ever-expanding cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad sustain their vitality, or will they one day lose their sheen and decline? Can our decision-makers plan for the future?

Unlike rural economies, which draw from direct resources such as agriculture, animal husbandry, mining, and fisheries, cities thrive on secondary sources like services, sales, marketing, management, and governance. Urban centres are primarily consumers, especially of finite natural resources such as land, water, coal-generated power, sand, stone, soil, and timber.

The per capita consumption of these resources in cities far exceeds that in rural areas — not just through direct usage but also through indirect means: purchasing manufactured goods, residing in constructed buildings, travelling in fuel-powered vehicles, relying on air conditioning, dining out, and engaging in countless other activities.

Is limiting urbanisation essential for a sustainable future? This is a debatable question. Even if it is theoretically possible, will we do it? Current trends do not suggest any slowing down. By 2050, India’s urban population is projected to reach 68%. If we continue with our existing economic models, lifestyle choices, governance structures, pursuit of wealth, and relentless chase for comfort, urban expansion will only accelerate.

The least we can do — for the sake of future generations — is to adopt simpler, more sustainable lifestyles.