This book discusses population growth and the resultant problems, and highlights the need for immediate action to develop a set of planned satellite towns around Indian megacities to reduce their population densities and activity concentrations. It addresses problems like unplanned spatial expansion, over-concentration of populations, unmanageable situations in industrial growth, and poor traffic management, concluding that only megacities and their satellites, when planned properly, can together mitigate the urgent problem of urban concentration in and around the megacities.
Identifying the general problems, the book develops a quantitative and spatially fitting regional allocation model of population and economic activities. It also offers a policy-based planned program of development for the selected megacities in India along with their satellites and fringe areas to ensure a healthy, balanced and prospective urban scenario for India in the coming decades.
Dr. Amit Chatterjee has extensive teaching, research and industry experience and is presently an assistant professor at the School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal, India. His research is primarily focused on future cities and urban sustainability models. Dr. Chatterjee served the industry in various capacities and has had the experience for working for mega planning projects, including Navi Mumbai Special Economic Zone, Dholera town planning scheme, besides formulating the twin city development plan, highway projects in PPP mode, slum-free city planning under RAY across various cities in India. Dr. Chatterjee has completed successfully a number of international collaborative projects, including those on urban co-benefits (UNU, Japan), low carbon cities (British Council), urban biodiversity (UNU, Japan) and is currently involved in the projects “Shelter for All”, “National Rurban Mission” and "Development Plan of cantonment Area". Dr. Chatterjee had edited the peer-reviewed journal“SPANDREL” dedicated to the theme “Making Cities Smart and Competitive”. In addition to attending national and international seminars, Dr. Chatterjee contributes papers and reviews to reputed international journals in planning.
Prof. (Dr.) R. N. Chattopadhyay is an emeritus professor/fellow in the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur). Prof. Chattopadhyay received his Master of Regional Planning (MRP) and Ph.D. degrees from IIT Kharagpur and pursued his postdoctoral research in regional science under a Fulbright Senior Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, USA (1977–78). Prof. Chattopadhyay taught postgraduate courses in city & regional planning, urban & regional geography, and rural development at IIT Kharagpur and nearby universities for 33 years. Prof. Chattopadhyay has successfully completed more than 37 sponsored/consultancy projects sponsored by international & national agencies and local bodies, mainly as a principal investigator. He is the author of 4 books and manuals, 9 book chapters, 4 entries in the Directory of Rural Technologies, 10 study series, 75 papers in journals and 68 papers in conference/workshop proceedings. He has 4 patents (jointly) related to rural technology development and dissemination.
