Learning from the mess that Gurugram now Is

In just three decades, the once-unremarkable Gurugram, dotted with agricultural lands and primitive infrastructure, has transformed into a corporate hub.

- AMITKAPOORAND NABHAJOSHI

The Millennium City represents India's most ambitious urban experiment, blending government planning expertise and facilitation with private dynamism and innovation.

As India races towards its Viksit Bharat goals, and as the development trajectory is catalysing urban transformations in multiple satellite and Tier 2 cities, it is imperative to take a closer look at Gurugram, a clear example of economic agglomeration principles in action, whose success story may be India's most cautionary urban tale.

The initial trajectory of Gurugram exemplified the textbook definition of agglomeration economics. Gradually, the city witnessed improved productivity through strategic investments, innovation, a favourable regulatory environment, and connectivity with Delhi and major urban centres. In the NCR region, Gurugram showed the highest increase in urban infrastructure development.

The built-up area, out of the total area of Gurugram, mushroomed from barely one-tenth (i.e., 50.6 sq. km) of the total area in 1990 to nearly half (i.e., 45.1 per cent, or 210.4 sq. km) in 2018, revealing the scale of transformation. The city reported success in most metrics, achieving India’s second-highest per capita income at Rs 9.05 lakh, only trailing behind Telangana’s Rangareddy at Rs 9.46 lakh.

The city of Gurugram also records one of the highest car ownership rates in India, of 323 vehicles per 1,000 residents. It attracts over 350 Fortune 500 companies alongside luxury residential developments and corporate offices that rival international infrastructure developments.

But this trajectory has eventually reached an inflexion point. The very factors that enabled Gurugram’s success, such as proximity to the national capital, the accelerated creation of urban spaces, and the massive influx of a working population, are now turning into constraining factors to liability and operational efficiency.