Metropolitan cities of India: Demographic, economic and social structures, and the status of basic infrastructure and housing

This report is a culmination of research conducted at the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), New Delhi, under the Phase I of the HUDCO Chair project during the period 2012-13. The report titled “ Metropolitan cities of India: Demographic, economic and social structures, and the status of basic infrastructure and housing” is a part of a three-year study which looks at the size class wise differences across urban settlements in India. Phase I of the study is based on an in-depth analysis of the available secondary data of all the metropolitan cities; and discussions with several stakeholders, officials and functionaries responsible for designing, implementation and management of basic infrastructure, including housing, in the two study cities of Jaipur and Bhopal, to generate a more granular picture.

The report documents the challenges faced by the metropolitan cities of India, by building up a comprehensive portrayal of the metropolitan cities after analyzing the trends of urbanization, agglomeration economies, economic growth, structural transformation, employment and wage differentials, poverty, inequality, basic infrastructure, housing, and levels of the social indicators.