Reviving the Urban Core: Ludhiana City, Punjab, India

Abstract

The urban cores are considered as the most crucial clusters of the contemporary urban cities as they are the foremost economic growth poles that cater to the needs of the city population. These clusters are facing urban development issues like congestion, longer travel distances and time, pollution, etc., hence, transforming into a non-livable environment. Smart development has been identified as a world-wide solution to the existing urban development issues which focuses on promoting a sustainable and livable environment with the integration of ICT; acts as an implementation tool. Ludhiana; regarded as the Manchester of India, is the most industrialized city of the northern India. The city has a strong economic base due to the presence of commercial hub and small and large manufacturing industries which have acted as a catalyst for rapid urbanization. The city has witnessed immense population growth over the last 5 decades which has led to issues such as pollution, environment degradation,, emergence of slums and failure of physical and social infrastructure; thus failing to be a livable city. The paper intends to identify the urban development issues in Ludhiana city core and provide appropriate strategies based on the Smart Development principles.