India is urbanising at a rapid pace. It has long been recognized that cities are engines of growth at both regional and national level. To facilitate and sustain this growth, cities have to provide both a high quality of life and an efficient infrastructure for economic activities. However, today our cities are reeling under high pressures of rapid growth and struggling to provide the most basic facilities necessary for urban life. However, awareness regarding city-planning issues has improved, and this is reflected in the increased involvement of CBOs, NGOs and private sector. In the recent times, Madhya Pradesh has been fortunate to have attention of number of bilateral funding agencies like Asian Development Bank (ADB), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) etc., who have initiated number of programs in the areas of urban management and development. All these changes have helped to create a conducive environment in Madhya Pradesh for constructive work in cities.

Increasing rate of urbanization, dynamics of economics and the changing professional culture have added new parameters for More...