Delhi as the role model

Delhi as a 21st century city is far from perfect. Yet, by default and by design, it has emerged as the pre-eminent urban centre in India. Adding to its historical draw as the host to India's political power and the nerve centre of north India's vast consumption market is its added draw of a city that creates more jobs than any other.

The types of jobs created range from whitest of the white collar to the bluest of the blue collar. According to the Human Development Report of 2006, Delhi got 665 migrants a day compared to Mumbai's 236 a day. Since the 1990s, it's also the city that foreign businesses and expats have preferred to settle in and around (National Capital Region). That's as much to do with lower cost (real estate and labour) as with relatively better quality of life.

If the city has drawn inhabitants, it has also built faster and better infrastructure than most other Indian cities—though most residents of the city will find this hard to believe. That's thanks to the focussed attention of policymakers and one-time boosters like the Commonwealth Games this year and the 1982 Asian Games.

What can other cities replicate from Delhi? A local government, the survival of which depends solely on its ability to cater to the needs of the city's residents. Delhi, with its fragmented power structures, is not quite the paragon, but it is unique in being the only metro to have its own state government. Delhi's tax collections are used by the government for the well-being of the city.

Other cities also need a local government that has power to tax and impose adequate user charges and is obligated to spend the revenue thus generated for the city's needs. Delhi's budgets for the past several years have largely been in surplus (barring the most recent years).

Though there are areas of the city that are totally funded by the central government, the city does strike a better balance between its revenues and expenses than the local governments of most other cities. In planning for the future, though, Delhi is only as efficient as any other city. For role models on this, better to look outside the country.

• THE METRO
  Local transport in Delhi was the weakest of all big cities. The Delhi Metro network, which will be 200 km by October, made a difference. It connects all the major transport hubs in the city.
• AIRPORT
  Delhi overtook Mumbai as the busiest airport last year. The new terminal, operational by July, will up passenger handling capacity by 40 per cent over Mumbai. The new 4.4-km runway is Asia's longest.
• HOUSING
  Though the city has little space for new housing— barring projects like Commonwealth Games Village—the seamless expanse of suburbia in all directions and adjacent states offers a solution.
• ROADS & FLYOVERS
  Delhi has the widest roads and most flyovers, but the vehicular population boom has outpaced efforts at decongestion. Parking is still disorganised though nine automated car parks are being built.
• LOW FLOOR BUSES
  The city's buses have been notorious for discomfort and danger. The expanding fleet of low-floor buses holds promise. By October 2010, Delhi will have 11,000 buses and 5,000 radio taxis.
• STADIA
  Delhi has many stadia and golf courses—adding to its appeal of better life after work and making it the venue of first choice for international sports events such as the Commonwealth Games.