From Suburbanization to Counterurbanization? Investigating Urban Dynamics in the National Capital Region Delhi, India

Abstract

Despite the long tradition of planning to manage urban growth in the National Capital Region (NCR) Delhi, the region is often criticized by the scholars for facing severe urban problems caused not only by an increasing population but also by a lack of infrastructure provision coupled with outward spatial expansion. Identification of urban development stages provides policy makers with a tool to devise reforms in order to effectively and efficiently manage urban growth. In this article, taking NCR-Delhi as a case study using the urban growth model conceptualized by Klaassen–van den Berg as a cycle, we not only identify its urban development stage but also attempt to predict its future stage, in order to provide planners a platform to revisit the formulated policies to manage urban growth effectively. The investigations identified that NCR-Delhi has been in absolute suburbanization since 1981 and had sprawled over the decades. In the prevalent deficient infrastructure environment and institutional capacity it is most likely to skip counterurbanization and go directly to reurbanization.