V Nilesh By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Ranked at 143 in Mercer’s 2019 list of world’s most liveable cities, what does Hyderabad need in order to enter the top 50 bracket.

In a freewheeling chat with Express, the independent urban consultant, Sunil Dubey shared insights on how it is indeed possible for the city of pearls to carve out a spot for itself in the Top 50 which is currently populated by western cities.

Dubey, who has worked with many cities as an advisor on urban innovation, believes that it would be wrong to emulate developmental models of cities in the western nations.

Instead, Dubey enlisted three focus areas that are required for transforming any Indian city, including Hyderabad, namely: improving the common civic sense among the city’s residents through sustained education; cultivating good city leadership; and strengthening urban development institutions.

In order to improve the common civic sense in the citizens, Dubey pointed out how the government needs to incentivise people to be responsible for their actions, like the need to segregate waste at homes.

He added that the government should also conduct sustained campaigns to educate people on the need to act responsibly, starting at the school level.

On the need for city leadership, he said, that the country is devoid of good city leaders. In his opinion, not only politicians but also leaders from public or social sectors can also lead to change in a city.

Talking about the poor capacity of urban institutions in Hyderabad, Dubey pointed out, “Resources of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) have not expanded in the same proportion as the city has grown in the last few years.

The city newspapers are covered with issues such as non-functional streetlights, unattended garbage dumps, and damaged roads. Solving these issues would be a good starting point if the city wants to improve its image. Urban institutions should be decentralised while being capable enough to resolve such issues in real time.”

Pointing the delay in infrastructure projects, he said, “The time frame of infrastructure development projects in Indian cities is three to four times that of the average time in China. This gap needs to be brought down. Also, latest technologies from abroad should be utilised for this. Usually, the time it takes to induct new technologies in India is so much that by the time they are put to use, they are already old.”

Why Hyd can reach top 50

Pointing out the two main strengths of Hyderabad, when compared to other Indian cities, Dubey said that while other cities have developed with the efforts of people from different states, Hyderabad has come this far mainly due to the investment and entrepreneurial nature of the locals.

ASCI to start city transformation project

The ASCI is planning to initiate a project in coordination with urban development experts, including Sunil Dubey, and various organisations, to develop an urban transformation plan for Hyderabad. Speaking on the aim of the project, he said, “One aim of this project will be to prepare a white paper on how to transform the city and how to push Hyderabad on the global stage of urban diplomacy”