THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- October 24, 2016- Topic 1
The challenges of a rapidly
urbanising world and of providing people with equal opportunities in cities
were the central themes at the just-concluded UN Conference on Housing and
Sustainable Urban Development, Habitat III, in Quito, Ecuador. As a
once-in-a-generation event, the Habitat conference sets a guiding compass for
member-countries for the next 20 years, and attracts wide governmental and
civil society participation. Yet, the process has to be strengthened to
evaluate how countries have fared since the two previous conferences on issues
such as reducing urban inequality, improving access to housing and sanitation,
mobility, and securing the rights of women, children, older adults and people
with disability. Moreover, as services come to occupy a dominant place in the
urban economy, the divide between highly paid professionals and low-wage
workers, the majority, has become pronounced. All these trends are relevant to
India, where 31 per cent of the population and 26 per cent of the workforce was
urban according to Census 2011, with more people moving to cities and towns
each year. Urban governance policies, although mainly in the domain of the
States, must be aligned with national commitments on reduction of carbon
emissions under the Paris Agreement, and to achieve Sustainable Development
Goal 11.
India’s ambition to harness
science and data for orderly urbanisation is articulated in a set of policy
initiatives, chiefly the Smart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission for
Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation. There is little evidence so far that
these could achieve the scale needed to address the contradictions of building
21st century cities for 20th century industrial technologies. Today, these
conflicts are reflected in the lack of adequate parks and public spaces,
suitable land for informal workers who offer services in a city, egalitarian
and non-polluting mobility options and new approaches to low-cost housing. In
the national report prepared for the Quito conference, the Ministry of Housing
and Urban Poverty Alleviation identified subsidised redevelopment of slums
(which represented 17 per cent of urban households in 2011) involving private
agencies, and low-cost, disaster-resistant, prefabricated constructions as key
to the ‘Housing for All’ policy. This important programme should be pursued
with a vigorous annual review that ranks States on the basis of performance.
The Centre should also take its own National Urban Transport Policy on
developing cities around mobility networks seriously, and liberate cities from
the tyranny of traffic. UN Habitat plans to review country-level progress on
its New Urban Agenda in Kuala Lumpur in 2018. India’s performance on improving
the quality of life in its cities will be watched.
Vocabulary
Compass: an instrument containing a magnetized pointer that shows the direction of
magnetic north and bearings from it.
Example: Point the binos in any direction and a digital compass takes a bearing.
Habitat: the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism.
Example: wild chimps in their natural habitat
Synonyms: natural environment, natural surroundings, home, domain
Evaluate: form an idea of the amount, number, or value of; assess.
Example: when you evaluate any hammer, look for precision machining
Synonyms: assess, judge, gauge, rate, estimate, appraise, analyze, examine
Dominant: most important, powerful, or influential.
Example: They are now in an even more dominant position in the market
Synonyms: presiding, ruling, governing, controlling, commanding, ascendant
Align: place or arrange (things) in a straight line.
Example: Gently brush the surface to align the fibers
Synonyms: line up, put in order, put in rows/columns, straighten, place
Harness: put a harness on (a horse or other draft animal).
Example: Two horses were harnessed to a small cart that rattled along near the back
of the single-file.
Synonyms: hitch up, put in harness, yoke, couple
Egalitarian: of, relating to, or believing in the principle that all people are equal
and deserve equal rights and opportunities.
Example: A fairer, more egalitarian society
Prefabricated: manufacture sections of (especially a building or piece of furniture) to
enable quick or easy assembly on site.
Example: Prefabricated homes
Tyranny: cruel and oppressive government or rule.
Example: People who survive war and escape tyranny
Synonyms: despotism, absolute power, autocracy, dictatorship, totalitarianism