Metropolitan and Peri-Urban Governance in India: Case Study of Chennai Metropolitan Area
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120906586 |
| Published date | 01 March 2020 |
| Date | 01 March 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Metropolitan and Peri-
Urban Governance in
India: Case Study of
Chennai Metropolitan
Area
Chetna Singh1
Abstract
The rapid growth and economic importance of metropolitan cities is a known
fact world over. These cities have increased in number over a period of time
and have immense economic importance for their countries. They account for
more than half of the world’s wealth. Moreover, some of the larger metropolitan
cities in South Asia account for one-third and even more of the national GDP.
The fast pace of growth of metropolitan cities and their peri-urban areas and
the resulting spatial transformation is one of the most striking features of India’s
urban scenario. In this context, planning and basic service provisions are the two
components that warrant special attention in metropolitan regions for organised
spatial, economic and social development. The present paper emphasises on the
need for better service provision in peri-urban areas. It recommends a strategy
to govern metropolitan regions so that the peri-urban areas can also get equita-
ble treatment in the development process.
Keywords
Peri-urban, metropolitan, governance, planning, service delivery
Introduction
Cities have long been seen as having a far-reaching developmental impact not
only for itself but also for its surroundings, both immediate and distant. The rapid
urbanisation is resulting in the complex process of ‘peri-urbanisation’ on the
peripheries of the large metropolises in developing countries.
Article
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
66(1) 60–76, 2020
© 2020 IIPA
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DOI: 10.1177/0019556120906586
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1 School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, India.
Corresponding author:
Chetna Singh, School of Planning and Architecture, IP Estate, New Delhi, Delhi 110002, India.
E-mail: chetna.prakash@gmail.com
Singh 61
Peri-urban has been defined differently by different scholars but there are
certain aspects that come out very clearly while defining a peri-urban area. A
peri-urban area, as a place, lies outside the municipal boundary but can be consid-
ered as an extension of the cities they surround. As a process, it undergoes con-
tinuous transformations with respect to physical, socio-demographic, economic
and environmental aspects. As a concept, it is a dynamic mixed space with both
urban and rural settlements and activities being carried out. (Based on a study of
Aguilar, 2008; Arabindoo, 2005; Cadene, 2005; Dupont, 2005; Kundu, Pradhan,
& Subramaniam, 2002; Marshall et al., 2009; Mc Gee, 1991; Moench & Gyawali,
2008; Narain, 2010; Oliveau, 2005; Rohilla, 2005; Shaw, 2005; Webster, 2002).
The accompanying economic developments in peri-urban areas are creating a
strong pull force, not only for the population from adjoining districts but also for
far-off areas in other poorer states of the country. Providing for the daily needs
and service requirements of this additional population and ensuring systematic
planning becomes a challenge for metropolitan areas.
Seoul, Jogjakarta, São Paulo and Bangkok are examples of metropolitan econ-
omies with a core primate city (central city with dominant demographic and eco-
nomic position) that has created a number of dormitory, secondary and edge cities
into its orbit (Yusuf, 2013). A metropolitan region comprises of the core city/
central city (with dominant economic and demographic status) and other urban
and rural settlements outside it, which by virtue of being in the vicinity of the
core city are experiencing demographic growth, spatial expansion and economic
development. The core city has been the primary reason for these transformations
in the peri-urban areas. However, these transformations are both positive as well
as negative for the peri-urban areas. The positive ones being greater economic
opportunities, better connectivity with the core and access to many higher-order
services located in the core city. The negative ones are greater exploitation of
environmental resources like water and land in peri-urban areas, rapid unplanned
development in peri-urban areas, stress on already existing service provision and
infrastructure and declining political representation. These negative transforma-
tions result in various conflicts and contestations between the core city and the
peri-urban areas. This calls for taking a look at the peri-urban areas from a spatial
equity perspective or a balanced spatial development perspective. Peri-urban
areas thus entail a greater role for the state government to manage, facilitate and
regulate the increasing physical, demographic and economic developments.
This necessitates a debate on the governance of metropolitan regions for
efficient, cost effective, and equitable provision of services and the way plan-
ning needs to be perceived for these peri-urban areas. This paper draws upon the
gaps and challenges with respect to service provision and planning in peri-urban
areas, based on both, secondary as well as primary sources of data. These are then
utilised to build a strategy that can be efficiently applied for better provision of
services and planning in peri-urban Chennai in particular, and other metropolitan
peri-urban areas in general. The debate on polycentric metropolitan governance
versus monocentric metropolitan governance and the concept of ‘Home Rule’
as given by Bahl (1992) and Bahl and Linn (2013) will also be drawn upon to
contribute to strategy building for better service delivery and planning of metro-
politan areas.
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