Human Settlements and Development Issues in India

India in all measures is one of the countries which has been facing human settlement issues abundantly and seriously ever since the independence. It has not met most of the human basic necessities even after seventy years of the planned development approach adopted. This situation is pertinently for three reasons (a) lack of comprehensive understanding of the human settlement issues in the national and regional perspectives for most part of the period of development; (b) absence of the comprehensive development policies keeping in view the rural-urban settlement dynamics; and (c) owing to ad hoc policies (limited public intervention for targeted people and areas, as and when need arise) adopted in the absence of the comprehensive policies. Major lacunae have been that the ad hoc approach did not look at neither the human settlement attainments nor its problems from the view point of their totality. It must be noted that meeting human basic needs have direct influence on the human settlement standards of the country, which was not given adequate attention. Among many other critical parameters (like development of critical sectors of the country, catch up with the urban trend, social achievements, development governance and sustainable development), housing development and improving housing conditions for the homeless people and families are the identified key issues of human settlement - according to the United Nations (Habitat 1996). Especially, with regard to housing development and improvement of the existing housing situation, India’s performance has been dismal as well as far from satisfaction even to date for various reasons. However, the period from late 80s has been a windfall in housing development for all those countries, including India, which have responded positively to the international declarations like “International Year of Shelter for the Homeless - 1987” and “Global Housing Strategies for All - 2000” by the United Nations general assembly...

Dr. M Mahadeva, PhD (Economics)
Professor and Dean Research
Institute of Finance and International Management (IFIM)
8 P and 9 P, KIADB Industrial Area
Electronics City Phase I
Bengaluru – 560 100
KARNATAKA, INDIA
Compendium of Post-Doctoral Research Work of the Candidate Submitted in Fulfillment
for the Award of D.Litt. (Doctor of Literature) Degree in Economics from the
European International University, 59 Rue, Lamarck 75018,
Paris - France.

Human Settlements and Development Issues in India

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