BANGALORE: "Bangalore is no longer sustainable and its liveability and likeability have fallen as it has grown too big. Today, it is a pensioner's nightmare, a death valley, a polluted city." Painting this bleak, grim picture of the city was L.R. Vagale, former Chief Adviser to the United Nations on Urban Development.

Prof. Vagale came out with a slew of facts and figures to dismiss Bangalore's claim to fame. Bangalore dominated the State, with its over concentration of economic and social resources, which the speaker was sure would be a recipe to a culture shock.

The urban development expert was speaking on the topic, "Cities, magnets of hope", organised by the Institution of Engineers here on Tuesday.

Sixty-one per cent of employees in the State's large-scale industries were in Bangalore; 42 per cent of the small-scale industries' employees were in the city; 56 per cent of sales tax revenues were generated from the city; the city consumed 32 per cent of the power generated in Karnataka. If over concentration of resources was one factor, the city's woes only got worse with 8.5 per cent growth in traffic and fatal accident rate of 12.9 a lakh of population.

"The average life span of a traffic policeman in an intersection here is a mere 51 years," Prof. Vagale said.

The expert was not convinced by the Greater Bangalore project as well.

"The area of the city will increase. But can you provide the infrastructure required for the population?" he asked.

Ring towns or peripheral towns was Prof. Vagale's suggestion to manage the city's concentric growth. "They could be developed as counter magnets to Bangalore. Tokyo for instance has 10 counter magnets connected to the main city with good transport network."

The urban development expert did not think too highly of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), which he said "created only layouts." The solution: merge BDA and the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA); designate Bangalore as a national city and claim subsidies for its development; encourage the private sector to invest in its infrastructure; accord top priority to a mass rapid transit system.

Eventually, the liveability of the city had to be improved.

Prof. Vagale said the future of the world depended largely on the future of its cities. "There is a metropolisation today, the bigger the city the faster the growth.

There is megapolisation, mega cities are becoming dominating. By 2025, the world's urban population will be 7.5 billion.

By 2085, this figure will touch 10 billion. Demographers say, the urban population will stabilise only at around 12.5 billion."

Developing countries, he said, accounted for the largest number of urban people. "Out of the 117 developing countries, 64 will not be able to provide drinking water and housing. This is a frightening scenario," he added.

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