Mathur Ritika Passi

FUNDING SHORTAGES,
INEFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION AND
MONITORING, WEAK ENFORCEMNT
OF LAWS, SKILL-DEFCIT AMONG
FUNCTIONARIES AND LIMITED
USE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
ARE AMONG A FEW CHALLENGES
PREVENTING DESIRED URBAN
TRANSFORMATION.
of Technology and Indian Institutions of
Management, that produce specialists in a
wide variety of fields. In addition, leading
domestic and foreign private companies
are operating in many cities. Judicious
utilisation of technical expertise available
in these institutions and companies would
help in overcoming many difficulties. The
problem of traffic congestion in cities, for
instance, is increasing by the day. Similarly,
citizens dependent on public transport
buses do not have access to advance
information about their arrival. Such
problems could be overcome to a great
extent by the use of appropriate digital
technology.
11.1 necessitates access to basic services
including water and sanitation, while target
11.b calls for mitigation and adaptation to
climate change).
As the world gears towards implementing
this goals and its targets, the indicators
proposed under each of the 10 targets
will need to be reviewed in the light of
conditions prevailing in India and the
availability of time series data. Considering
the fact that achievement of each target
will, among other things, depend upon
monitoring the status of indicators over
a period of time, followed by necessary
strategic revisions, it will be necessary to
determine and use the most appropriate
indicators. For example, population
density could be an important indicator
to understand its effects (such as
environmental, transport, energy) on the
sustainability of urban development.
Clearly, better performance by existing
institutions and innovative governance
approaches are urgently needed.
With respect to the scope of SDG 11, an
additional target could have been included
to address the problem of low income
and unemployment observed among a
significant proportion of the population
living in cities. The existing 10 targets do
not cover this aspect clearly. The inclusion
of such an objective would draw the
attention of urban policymakers and other
stakeholders towards this need, and make
them think about innovative ways in which
various income-generating activities can be
created. While the issue of employment has
been covered under SDG 8 14 (see Chapter
10), an additional such target under SDG
11 would have ensured that the matter
is given greater attention in the urban
context rather than its being handled in a
generalised manner. This has been the case
in respect of other SDGs (such as SDG
6 on water and sanitation, SDG 13 on
climate change), which have been included
as specific targets under SDG 11 (target
75