The world is heading towards a demographic transition. Every year urban areas gain approximately 67 million people, i.e. more than one million people per week. Over the next 30 years virtually all population growth will take place in urban areas of developing countries which is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 2.4%, twice the overall annual population growth rate of 1.2% in the developing world. By 2015, the UN projects, 17 of the 21 'Mega cities' of at least 10 million people will be in developing countries. By 2030 about 5 billion people are expected to live in urban areas nearly 60% of the projected global population of 8.3 billion.

Urban areas in developing countries are at the crux of the struggle to achieve better living standards. Worldwide, urban areas, large and small, have become engines for economic growth in the global economy as well as centers of diversity and change. Yet, due to rapid population growth, rising poverty levels, many urban areas are hard pressed to provide infrastructure, housing, services, and other opportunities. If they are not able to meet people's needs, poverty and hopelessness will increase.

How can conditions improve for the growing millions of urban residents? Meeting the challenges posed by rapid urbanization will be as important to the future as addressing rapid population growth itself has been in the past half century.

What is urban? What is city? The terms "city" and "urban" are often used interchangeably and there is no international agreement on the definition. Almost all countries agree that settlements of 20,000 or more are urban. However, most people reserve the term "city" for urban centers with large populations.

In the next 30 years the urban population of developing countries is projected to double, from just under 2 billion in 2000 to nearly 4 billion by 2030. In contrast, the urban population of developed countries is projected to increase hardly at all from 900 million in 2000 to 1 billion in 2030. The developed countries are already 75% urban. In 2000 there were 388 cities in the world with 1 million or more residents. By 2015 there will be a projected 554 such cities. Of these, 426-over three quarters-will be in developing countries. The United Nations (UN) coined the term 'Megacities' initially to describe cities with 8 million or more inhabitants; the UN's present threshold for megacity status is 10 million. Currently, the UN lists 17 megacities, all but 4 in developing countries. The status of Indian 'Megacities' vis-à-vis global megacities is as under:

SNo.	City	Population 2001 (million)	Rank amongst Mega cities	Population 2015 (million)	Rank amongst Mega cities	% Growth
	Tokyo	26.5	1	27.2	1
1	Mumbai	16.5	5	22.6	3	36.96%
2	Kolkata	13.3	7	16.7	9	25.56%
3	Delhi	13.0	9	20.9	5	60.76%

Big cities capture attention. Still, most of the world's urban population lives in smaller urban settlements. In 2000 about 53% lived in urban centers with fewer than 500,000 inhabitants. The UN projects that the largest share of the increase in the urban population through 2015 will be in such smaller urban areas, reflecting both population growth and reclassification of rural areas to urban. Large differences in urban patterns exist within countries. Generalization about urban areas is often difficult because each urban center has its own unique social, political and economic setting that helps shape its future growth and development.

As noted, most of the world's urban population -like most of the world's total population- lives in developing countries. In 2000, for example, China had 464 million urban residents, India had 279 million and Brazil 138 million-together almost as many as in the entire developed world. With the exception of Latin America, however, the developing world remains much less urban than the developed world. The level and pace of urbanization will vary substantially among developing regions and countries. Over the next 30 years the already urbanized Latin America and Caribbean region is projected to gain only another 217 million urban residents. In contrast, Asia will gain over 1.3 billion of which India's urban areas will grow by a projected 297 million residents. By 2030 Africa, with a projected 787 million urban residents, will be second only to Asia's 2.7 billion in the size of the urban population. However, some researchers contend that urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa has slowed in recent years in response to the region's depressed economies.

Settlements expand and become urban for different reasons such as the area becomes prosperous from agricultural exports, tourism, industrialization etc. However, in developing countries the population growth reflects 3 basic factors (1) migration from rural areas; (2) natural population increase (births minus deaths) among urban residents; and (3) reclassification of previously rural areas as urban as they change character.

Because so many people in developing countries are moving from the countryside to urban areas, population growth in rural areas is at a virtual standstill. Among regions, only in Africa and Oceania will rural populations grow in the future. In contrast, Asia's rural population is projected to decrease from an estimated 2,297 million in 2000 to 2,271 million in 2030. Certain countries in Asia, however, are projected to have continued rural population growth including Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. People will continue to leave rural areas and move to urban centers to escape adverse rural conditions (push factors). At the same time, many urban areas will continue to attract people from the countryside because they generally offer more opportunity (pull factors).

Factors that push people out of the countryside include the deteriorating quantity and quality of agricultural lands, poor market infrastructures and lack of supporting institutions, such as sources of credit for small-scale farmers. In Latin America and India unequal distribution of land- mainly a legacy of colonialism but also due to commercialization of agriculture has pushed many rural residents into urban areas. Factors that pull residents to some urban areas include access to better jobs, education, health care and higher living standards. Large urban areas have achieved better average living standards mainly because of their economies of scale in providing infrastructure and basic services. High population densities lower the per capita cost of providing clean water, sanitation, waste collection, electricity and telecommunications. For similar reasons, many large cities have succeeded in attracting business investment.

Most poor people in developing countries live in rural areas. But urban poverty is widespread, too and it is growing. The World Bank estimates that, worldwide, 30% of poor people live in urban areas. By 2020 the proportion is projected to reach 40% and by 2035 half of the world's poor people are projected to live in urban areas.

Sub-Saharan Africa has some of the world's highest levels of urban poverty, reaching over 50% of the urban populations in Chad, Niger and Sierra Leone. In Asia the highest percentages are in India at 30% and Mongolia at 38%. Experts believe that these income-based statistics should be interpreted cautiously; the true extent of urban poverty is greater than they suggest. Moreover, urban poverty may be even more debilitating than rural poverty because in urban areas unlike rural areas, access to virtually all goods and services depends on having a cash income. Urban residents have to buy most of their food while rural residents grow a substantial portion of their own food and food prices often are higher in urban areas than in the countryside. Urban households spend 60% to 80% of their income on food and pay up to 30% more for it than rural households.

Many developing countries experienced economic crises during the 1990s. Consequently, poverty has spread as wages have fallen and the prices of goods and services have risen. As wages slip, people buy less and the falling demand for goods and services puts even more people out of work. In addition, prices of food, utilities and essential imported consumer goods have increased as currency values have fallen. Most urban poverty results not from unemployment but instead from the lack of well-paying steady jobs. The unemployment rate itself is relatively low in urban areas of most developing countries. For example, in 155 surveyed cities in developing countries three-quarters had unemployment rates at or below 15%.

As economic conditions worsen a growing percentage of people shift from employment in the formal economy to work in the informal labor market. In 30 of 40 developing countries surveyed by the International Labor Organization in 1999, employment in the urban informal sector constituted over one-third of total urban employment. Within the informal sector the urban poor work in a variety of jobs, for example, as street vendors and petty traders, as taxi drivers and in other small transport, in personal services such as shoe shining, in security services such as night watchmen or car parking attendants, in janitorial services and also begging and commercial sex. These diverse activities share the common thread of low status, low wages, long hours and often dangerous and insecure conditions.

Around the world over 1 billion urban residents live in inadequate housing, mostly in slums and squatter settlements, where living conditions are poor and services are insufficient. One-quarter of all urban housing units in developing countries are temporary structures and more than one-third do not conform to building regulations. An estimated 20 million to 40 million urban families are homeless, some because they have been evicted and some because they cannot afford any housing, even illegally. It is particularly difficult for the urban poor to obtain tenure because property registration processes are complicated and expensive. The process is even more difficult in the case of informal settlements. Many governments hesitate to legalize them for fear of encouraging more illegal settlements.

Housing, however, is too expensive for the urban poor, or it is scarce. Outdated government regulations controlling land acquisition and construction of housing coupled with rapid urban population growth have made land scarce which in turn has inflated housing prices. Estimates from various countries show that it would take low-income households 15 to 30 years of saving 30% to 50% of their income to afford a house meeting regulatory norms and minimum standards. In reality, most of the urban poor earn too little to save any money at all. Furthermore, they lack access to credit from commercial lending institutions.

People in slums often pay more for services that other urban residents and they receive services of lower quality for example, in Istanbul water from private vendors costs 10 times the public rate while in Mumbai vendors charge 20 times more. Poor households often spend 5% to 10% of their incomes to buy water.

On average, the health of urban residents in developing countries is better than that of rural dwellers, mainly because urban areas usually offer better health care and healthier living conditions than most rural areas. Infant and child mortality rates are lower in urban areas than in the countryside. However, health conditions for the urban poor are sometimes even worse than the rural poor. In large cities of developing countries, child mortality is highest among children whose mothers recently migrated from rural areas and those who live in low-quality housing.

The urban poor are more vulnerable to poor health and environmental hazards because it is more likely that they will lack adequate housing, sanitation and other basic services. Basic services needed for good health often do not reach the urban poor because municipal authorities do not recognize many informal settlements for political and administrative reasons and thus these areas are not eligible for services. In some cases, slum areas are not classified as urban precisely because they lack services. Also, as noted, the urban poor often settle on land not suitable for housing and extending infrastructure such as roads, water mains and sewer lines can be difficult. Moreover, such neighborhoods are often developed haphazardly, without any planning or proper space allocation for infrastructure. In order to lay water or sewer pipes the utility authorities often have to remove or relocate many households.

Urbanization can dramatically increase per capita use of freshwater. The number of urban residents without access to improved water sources rose from 113 million in 1990 (5% of the total urban population) to 173 million in 2000 (6% of the total urban population) according to a study by WHO and UNICEF. WHO and UNICEF define "improved" water sources as those that are better than previous sources. The term does not necessarily mean that they are safe for household use. Water is often scarce in urban areas of developing countries. At least one- third of urban water supplies in Africa and Latin America and one-half in Asia operate only intermittently.

Few cities in developing countries have adequate sewerage systems which are usually limited to more advantaged areas. Purification and recycling of wastewater in sewage treatment plants is rare. In Asia, for example, treatment plants process only an estimated 35% of wastewater and in Latin America and the Caribbean, about 14% only. Worldwide, about 2.3 billion people suffer from diseases that are linked to water problems. Water- related diseases kill millions of people each year, prevent millions more from leading healthy lives and undermine development efforts.

Pollution causes many deaths and much illness among urban residents. Particularly in developing countries, urban water supplies are often fouled with wastes and clean water is scarce. A pall of atmospheric pollution hangs over many big cities both in developed and developing countries. Indoor air pollution is also widespread not only in rural areas of many developing countries but also in urban areas.

The air in large cities is often unhealthy. Many Latin American cities struggle with high levels of ozone. The ozone concentration in Mexico City, measured in 1995, was 10 times the natural atmospheric concentration. Ozone is a secondary pollutant formed when oxides of nitrogen and unburned volatile organic hydrocarbons, mostly from vehicle exhausts, combine in the atmosphere with oxygen in the presence of sunlight. Ozone is a main component of atmospheric smog. Many Asian cities face similar pollution problems. In 1991 the following Asian cities exceeded WHO thresholds for suspended particulate matter and sulfur dioxide for much of the year: Beijing 272 days; Jakarta 173 days; Mumbai 100 days and New Delhi 294 days. In New Delhi vehicle exhausts account for 70% of air pollution according to a 2000 estimate.

WHO estimated that worldwide 1.5 billion urban dwellers face levels of outdoor air pollution that are above the maximum recommended levels. More than 70% of deaths from outdoor air pollution occur in the developing world. In India alone air pollution causes an estimated 40,000 premature deaths each year.

Indoor air pollution is particularly a health problem in rural areas. However, some estimates suggest that, worldwide, urban indoor air pollution kills about 600,000 people annually. Indoor air pollution is a major health problem because, worldwide, almost 3 billion people rely on biomass fuels -mostly wood, charcoal, and animal dung for household cooking and heating. In China, India and sub-Saharan Africa more than 80% of households use biomass fuels for cooking. These fuels do not burn cleanly. They emit large amounts of smoke often directly inside dwellings without adequate ventilation. Women and children suffer most from indoor air pollution because they spend many hours each day in their homes where often the air is polluted.

Most urban air pollution initiatives focus on curbing outdoor pollution. Cleaning up indoor air, however, is also a compelling public health need. A number of approaches could help. Technical approaches include attaching hoods and chimneys to stoves to remove smoke, stove improvements that reduce emissions through more complete combustion; changing the design of kitchens to increase ventilation and promoting the use of kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas and electricity. Behavioral approaches include promoting awareness of long-term health effects and encouraging people to keep children away from direct exposure. Policy approaches include appropriate fuel pricing to encourage use of leaner fuels and subsidies for the purchase of clean burning appliances and clean fuels.

As urban areas in developing countries become ever more crowded over the next quarter century governments and citizens will face a growing challenge: how to make urban areas work. Increasingly, according to the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), cities will become the "test bed for the adequacy of political institutions, the performance of government and the effectiveness of programs to combat social exclusion, protect and repair the environment and promote human development".

In fact, many urban areas are growing in population so fast that their economies, services and infrastructures cannot keep up. Most developing countries lack the resources and ability to solve the complex and massive problems of their urban areas any time soon. Nevertheless, steps can be taken to address urban problems better. Among other measures they can improve urban governance, upgrade slums and provide alternatives to the creation of new slums, curb pollution and manage waste disposal better.

Around the world, a new consensus is emerging that national governments should not retain direct control over the planning and management of urban areas. Instead, national governments should act as enablers, creating legislative and administrative environments in which a wide range of local governments, private-sector firms and community organizations can deliver infrastructure and services to urban areas. Decentralizing power, authority and responsibility from national to local governments can enhance local participation and encourage democratic practices. Decentralization can improve the effectiveness of public policy implementation and produce policies and programs that are both more efficient and more responsive to local preferences and needs.

Governments can effectively address some aspects of poverty at the community level despite the limited ability of communities to generate economic growth. Improving housing conditions and providing affordable and adequate basic services such as water and sanitation are among the most important ways to improve living conditions. Also, when housing and services are provided efficiently people can spend less of their incomes on these necessities and thus have more for other essentials. Two of the most important components of policies to avoid slums are providing both access to land and financing for the poor. Governments often need to reform laws and regulations concerning markets for housing, land and infrastructure. Also, reforming housing finance systems can give the poor more access to credit.

Fundamental to the success of a slum upgrading program is extending security of land and housing tenure to those who lack it. Once people feel secure in their neighborhood they are more likely to invest in their communities. Granting security of tenure rights typically motivates occupants to invest two to four times the amount of money that the government invests in infrastructure improvements. Assuring tenure rights also results in more private investment.

Community groups can often provide housing and services more cost-effectively than governments or private developers by pooling their resources and supplying their own labor. For example, in the Philippines it costs the government 250,000 pesos (US$l equals 55 pesos) to build a 22 square meter dwelling in a relocation colony. The Philippines Homeless People's Federation, in contrast, can build a dwelling twice this size for 60,000 pesos. Furthermore, the federation can build roads, drainage, electricity and water supplies for only 50 to 100 pesos per square meter of developed land whereas private developers charge 550 pesos per square meter for the same work.

The scale of urban population growth and the problems of urban poverty are unprecedented. Addressing them requires a long-term approach that emphasizes institution-building to increase the capacity of urban areas to respond. Urban planners increasingly agree with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that 'good governance is perhaps the single most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development'. Donor agencies/developmental agencies can support better governance and where government institutions are weak, increase funding to non-governmental institutions to ensure that low- income groups benefit as intended.

With community participation, municipal governments can improve water supplies and sanitation. Providing an adequate water supply and improving public sanitation are the two steps most needed to prevent the majority of water-related diseases and deaths in urban areas. For better sanitation, constructing sanitary latrines, building sewers and treating waste water to biodegrade human wastes will help curb diseases. Such simple technologies as hand-pumps and improved latrines have benefited millions of people across the world.

From both economic and environmental standpoints, saving water is more effective than trying to find or develop new sources of water. Managing the demand for water contributes to more efficient and equitable provision of clean water supplies. Municipal governments often can improve water availability quickly by fixing leaky valves and water mains and cutting back on illegal taps since up to 70% of the water pumped into cities in the developing world is lost before it can reach the intended consumers. Leakage is often a sizeable source of water loss it results from either lack of maintenance or failure to update old systems.

Pricing water to reflect its value as a scarce resource is crucial to saving water. Pricing water minimally or not at all encourages wasteful use. Tariff structures designed to conserve water must penalize overuse but not restrict access for the urban poor. With tariffs in place, high-volume consumers to some extent, can help to subsidize water for the poor.

Transport systems need to be designed to move people not vehicles. Reducing the dependence on private vehicles is a fundamental step that all urban areas can take to reduce vehicular pollution. In response to mounting health and environmental problems a number of cities have taken steps to reduce air pollution principally by providing better public transportation systems and reducing traffic.

Finally, it can be said that no single set of policies can meet all the challenges of an urban future. Rather, a sensible approach to managing urban governance is necessary in which full range of policy and program options are considered.

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While the material prosperity of urban life has risen, environmental conditions in most cities through out the world have deteriorated over the past decades. The shaded dirt pathways have given way to tarmac and sun scorched streets, putting the unwary pedestrian at risk. The torrential rains can not penetrate the city of concrete. Urban population of most of the developing countries is growing much faster than the national population. This population growth will certainly place severe strains on the urban housing stock, public transport system, water supply, rubbish collection (solid waste), sanitation and sewerage systems. A comprehensive solution is urgently required. Urban areas can not be left to develop in a random and ad hoc way. Housing developments need to be planned, and facilities such as water, sanitation, rubbish collection, roads and drainage need to be provided. It may be noted that with increased income and possessions, the average urban dweller in urban areas will be in a better position to pay for the amenities.

As urban areas expand the economic growth continues at a rapid pace, the need for urban environmental infrastructure in the water, waste water and solid waste sector is growing dramatically. Although many governments has invested heavily in the development of urban infrastructure, increasing demand for new infrastructure is overwhelming the productive capacity of traditional governmental mechanism for building and financing infrastructure.

Economic growth and new job creation will be restrained without a satisfactory infrastructure base. Lower economic growth results in the need for government to provide more services to the unemployed and decreased government resources available for investment. The environmental and health consequences imposed on society through deficiencies in the environmental sector can be overwhelming and the resultant effects of contaminated ground water and poor air quality imposed enormous direct and indirect cost to the government and societies.

Fortunately, many developing countries in the globalized scenario are cognizant of the need to upgrade and expand their urban infrastructure and moving on many fronts to develop systems that will facilitate corrective action. Contracting with private corporate entities through public private partnerships between government and business is a complex undertaking in which some of the governments of the developing countries have little or no previous experience. It has already been proven when public private partnerships are successfully implemented; local governments in many countries can achieve significant overall economic growth substantial improvement in the life of the urban population.

The countries huge investment requirements in urban infrastructure sector and the need for private sector participation can hardly be over-emphasized. Yet, private sector investments have barely scratched the surface and projects in sectors like water, sewerage and urban transport are even today largely funded through public means. This is mainly because the highly subsidized user charges do not even cover operating costs at current levels.

The Asian Development Bank's exposure to the urban infrastructure in India has increased to 30% of its yearly portfolio. Today, it cumulative exposure to the sector stands close to $2 billion.

Now-a-days, most reputed financial institutions such as World Bank, ADB and JBIC are concentrating on infrastructure projects because the social infrastructure component has become integral part to their strategies. A noticeable trend is the shift towards developing "integrated urban development projects" covering a variety of sub sectors such as housing, water, sewerage and environmental rather than focusing on just one sector.

Integrated Urban Infrastructure Development Programme

This aims to redirect the process of development planning and implementation by introducing a "bottom-up" approach and decentralizing power and financial decision-making to the municipality level. This process is assisted by the UNDP/UNCHS(Habitat) project "Planning and Programming of Integrated Urban Infrastructure Development". IUIDP is based on the assumption that local rather than central government knows better what local people need and can afford. It aims to give local administrators a chance to plan and implement their own programmes by building on the strengths of the programme, expanding it from its neighbourhood focus to the whole city.

Each city is to have a comprehensive infrastructural investment programme which takes into account population trends, infrastructure needs, institutional capacities and available finances. Initially, the programmee may be limited to eight aspects of urban infrastructure- roads, drains, sanitation, rubbish disposal, markets, flood control and water supply- which will fall within the public works sphere of authority. Later, it may extend to other spheres of urban development such as communications, bus terminals and electricity. A coordinating committee may be set up to co-ordinate the process of decentralized urban policy making and implementation. Urban plans, action and finances will be determined on a city wide basis. The links between one field of activity and another will be clearly recognized. Project activities such as the laying of water pipes, drains and sewerage systems will be done in the right sequence so that each supports rather than disrupts the other.

Local government will have to play a larger role in raising resources to ensure that the resources are spent more carefully. If the local authorities have to contribute a substantial part of their own resources for the Programme they will ensure that what is built is appropriate to the town's needs. The Central Government will be left to play a largely supervisory, technical, advisory and monitoring role. Local officials will have to train in town planning, mapping, water supply, financial analysis etc.

They knew what the problem of their cities were but did not know how o sole them, or knew how to solve them, but lacked the technology, skill and access to resources to do so.

The introduction of any new programme is bound to involve teething problems, especially when it involves a dramatic break with past practice.

Urban Water and Sanitation

It is a fact

·	that roughly one sixth of the world's population do not have access to safe water.
·	that 2.4 billion people in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation.
·	that patients suffering from water-borne diseases occupy half the world's hospital beds at any one time.
·	that an estimated 25% people in developing countries cities use water vendors purchasing their water at significantly higher prices than the piped water.

  
Over the next 25 years, 95 percent of the urban population growth will take place in developing countries. The urban population will roughly double in size, to nearly 3.5 billion people. By 2015, one of the five people will live in the cities with populations of over 10 million, as compared to one of nine, now. There are 19 ten million-plus mega cities (15 in the developing world) and even more challenging perhaps is that 411 cities around the world have more than one million people. These will grow to 564 by 2015. The growth rates of mega cities with more than 5 million population will decline, but the number of people being added to these cities will accelerate as growth is added to an already large size. After 2020 population growth in developing world will occur mainly in urban areas. Cities are increasingly forced to transport water from longer distances, often beyond natural watersheds and even across national boundaries. In other cases, over-exploitation of groundwater has resulted in major environmental problems. Mexico City, for example has sunk more than 10 meters in the last 70 years. Thailand is facing irreversible damage to freshwater aquifers from salt water intrusion caused by over-obstruction of ground water.

Pollution is one of the contributors to urban water problem. It effects reverse lakes and ground water and much of it comes from poor sanitation and uncontrolled solid waste disposal. Industrial influents is another major source of pollution, diarrhea, resulting from the lack of water and poor sanitation causes deaths mainly of children. The paradox is that while nearly half of the population in developing countries, cities remains unserved by municipal supply, upto 50% of the water treated at a high cost in these cities remains unaccounted for because of leaking pipes and pilferage. Then there is the profligate use of water by the affluent sections of the society. With little disincentive for wasteful use, many use treated water for non-essential purposes, such as car washing and gardening.

The solution to water crises is closely linked to improving the governance of cities. A paradigm shift is urgently needed in urban water governance. What is needed is a broad based partnership of public, private and community sector. The private sector brings in efficiency gains in water management. Community participation facilitates transparency, equity and sense of ownership and help in cost recovery.

Data from many developing country cities show that the substantial progress in improving water and sanitation in recent decades is now being reversed. For example, in Asia, people in mega cities do not have superior access to potable water and private toilets than people in smaller towns. Similarly, in Africa, residents of the many rapidly growing small cities have worse water and sanitation conditions than people in the countryside. Without increased investment in water and sanitation, city waste and pollution levels will multiply and affect the countryside. Potable water supplies will diminish, and urban infrastructure will decay under the strain of population pressure. Future water and sanitation policies and strategies will increasingly need to be directed to urban areas and particularly to semi-urban areas and satellite towns where the poorest urban residents live.

There are three stages of integrated water planning and management, namely:

i)	mobilization
ii)	distribution
iii)	sanitation and waste management

In order to address the problem of water and sanitation conditions, following strategies may be thought of:

i)	Holistic, systematic approaches based on integrated water resource management;
ii)	Participatory institutional mechanisms;
iii)	Full cost pricing of water services, with targeted subsidies for the poor;
iv)	Institutional, technological and financial innovation
v)	Effective, transparent and enabling regulatory frameworks for private action;
vi)	Getting more precise figures for water quality and quantity;
vii)	Identifying financial resources and investment needs;
viii)	Installing adequate incentives to make the investment happen.

The technical means are available to bring about the necessary reversal of current trends but the solution lies in fundamental changes in approach and much higher levels of investment.

Integrated financial management of capital and operational expenditure is a way of achieving a sound economic balance. Risk is clearly mitigated through balanced contracts based on long term commitments, which gain the confidence of international funding institutions.

Urban Transport System:

Transportation of men, material is an essential infrastructure for socio-economic development of cities in particular and state & country in general.

It is a fact that the people spend an extra ordinary amount of time every day using some type of transport, whether it be walking, cycling or riding a bus, train or a private car. Moreover, the urban transport systems that have been created are characterized by astonishing numbers of deaths caused by traffic accidents and environmental pollution. Many of these modes of transport also lead to lost productivity and unlivable cities.

One of the most salient features of urban life has been the rise of the private automobiles which has completely reshaped the urban life. Annual increases in rates of motorization in many developing countries have approached 10 per cent. In the developing world cities, transport already account for 70-80 % of total emissions & that contribution is rising exponentially. According to the international energy agencies, world emission of CO2- the principal green house gas will rise by 60 % over 1997 - 2010. On the health front according to the Red Cross, due to the bed roads fatal accidents occurs frequently. The current urban transport system often discriminates against women, who because of their multiple roads as income earners & care givers, tend to use transport differently. Particularly in a developing countries context, women who have child care & other re responsibilities are often left stranded as the commercial urban transport system cannot adequately served them as their trip destination very & their travel times can easily change.

Many cities in the developed world, after spending extravagant national resources on massive highway infrastructure investments, have learned that quite often, as soon as the new road is constructed it is simply filled up due to latent demand for travel. For this & other reasons they are revisiting idea of not only public transport friendly infrastructure but recognizing the strong roll non-motorized transport can play in many urban trips.

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§ The standard disclaimer applies