Restricting the growth of cities will improve quality of life

The Economist magazine is organizing an online debate on “Restricting growth of cities will improve quality of life”. Prof. Paul James of Global Cities Institute, RMIT University, Australia  and Prof. Chetan Vaidya, Director, NIUA are contributing to the discussion. The debate is online from Tuesday January 11 till Monday January 17 at www.economist.com/debate.

Prof. Vaidya has argued against the issue by stating that cities bring great benefits to humans, and as for problems, it is far from clear how the growth of cities can be restricted. He suggests that rather than restricting city growth, urban strategy should focus on harnessing the benefits of urban growth by managing it well, ensuring improved and equitable service provision and promoting good governance. Whereas, Prof. James has supported the motion. He suggests that sprawling and bloated cities with their slums, will be unable to give humans the best quality of life.