Smaller metros shine

It comes as no surprise that the cities of Hyderabad and Pune are ranked far higher in the latest ‘Mercer’s Quality of Living’ rankings than India’s major metros, like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru. While the big cities suffer problems on a far larger scale than growing metropolises, the more compact cities continue to combine the best of modernity with traditional living spaces. Hyderabad’s lower crime rate and lesser air pollution are two major factors that weighed in its favour as it kept its ranking as India’s most liveable city. Modern cities tend to get rated on liveability as measured against more and varying parameters, including the quality of nightlife, but the world over mega cities are losing out to relatively smaller urban agglomerations.

Managing the air is going to be the definitive criterion of the future and in this regard the compact cities will also be facing bigger challenges. There is no greater warning sign than in Bengaluru which about five decades ago would have been the highest rated city for its ambience of a “retirement” town. From there to becoming the fastest-growing city in Asia changed its sylvan face into an urban concrete jungle now struggling to keep its air clean and its public transportation working to cope with rising demand. The city epitomises the problems of growth, like burgeoning crime rates and an alarming drop in air quality made considerably worse by diesel. Extreme warm weather — already experienced by Hyderabad and Bengaluru even before March — is something all cities will have to learn to face as they compete to offer an acceptable quality of life.