This forms a mosaic of growth and conservation, wherein, most often, the latter has to give way for the other, or vice versa. 

Land acquisition, cases pertaining to which have been mired in legal disputes, coupled with undue delays, has posed serious challenges to India’s policymakers, who have been trying to broaden the development and infrastructure framework.

The government is committed to spending ₹11.21 lakh crore or 3.1 per cent of its GDP for infrastructure development in 2025-26, and this is primarily to boost the transport and logistics segments.

The Land Dilemma

Land acquisition remains a key challenge, though. 

At the same time, it shouldn't come at the cost of community resources or the ecosystem, too. 

The recent allegations of an illegal approval for a ₹2,000 crore real estate project within the ecologically sensitive Pallikaranai marshland (a protected Ramsar site) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, once again brought to focus the implications of rapid urbanisation on the ecosystem, reimposing the importance of environmental clearance, civic participation, and regulatory norms, besides transparency, while implementing development projects involving urban or rural ecosystem. 

Similar cases, wherein development-related projects have run into either land disputes or legal hurdles, and even collective resistance, have been making the headlines. 

It is imperative, therefore, to find the ideal balance for the coexistence of commons and development.

Once policy measures are framed, keeping this principle in mind, the implementation of the projects will become smoother, ensuring efficiency

— Pooja Chandran of the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES)

With the unprecedented rise in demand for real estate, developers have been racing to acquire land, and this is supported by the ₹62,328 crore investment in land development.

Development, Conservation

This inevitably raises the question of commons conservation, making it imperative for policymakers to find a balancing ground between development and conservation.

Can they thrive in tandem, though?

While formulating comprehensive policies, policymakers should take into account the deepening dichotomy persistent in the urban sector, which is abounding in shifting dynamics, experts point out. If not, chances are that the policy framework would invariably pit development against conservation and, possibly, stakeholders against communities.

Dichotomy In The Urban Context

Despite the traditional binary perspective of the rural and urban sectors blurring in a fast-paced, growth-driven world, the dichotomy within the urban corridor has only deepened — mostly due to the concentration of capital and unresolved inequalities. This is why policymakers have to revitalise the policy framework and assiduously conceive a holistic approach that is not only sustainable but also inclusive.

This ensures that development and the commons thrive in tandem, transcending the prevalent dichotomy, and, most of all, overturning the either/or paradigm on which most development projects pivot.

"Development doesn't really need to be looked at as something that happens to communities. It needs to happen with them," Pooja points out. "A dichotomy gets created precisely because we have sort of built [growth and commons conservation] in a very siloed way, and are not looking at them together as an interconnected dimension; it needs to go together," she further says. 

The Significance Of "Commons"

In this context, it is imperative to get a clear picture of "commons" and their impact on the urban sector.

"In the simplest of terms, commons are understood as resources or spaces that are often shared or managed by communities in a collective manner. And we know that billions of people across the world, and especially in a rural context, rely on these resources for essential needs such as water, fodder, fuel, and even forest produce. And in India alone, it's been estimated that 350 million people depend on commons for daily livelihood needs," she highlights.

The rapid expansion of the urban corridor, coupled with migration (and reverse migration too), produces a complex tapestry of different elements, wherein it is no longer about a certain entity casting its dominance over the other, but a mosaic of contrasting aspects.

The commons are very vital for the survival of this mosaic. Is there a dichotomy? Or is there an antagonism between conservation and rapid urbanisation? If we look at it in more of a sort of an ever-evolving space, then what we see is that there is a middle ground, wherein urbanisation needs are there. But yes, we need the commons as well to really sustain this urbanisation

— Siddhartha Dabhi of C-GEM

Otherwise, the urban structure itself will collapse at a point, he says.

A Holistic Framework

A holistic framework that encompasses both development and conservation aspects — more of a balancing ground — is the need of the hour.

The fundamental aspect of a sustainable urbanisation effort, according to Siddhartha, revolves around policy-making, as a piecemeal framework would only backtrack on the progress made so far in terms of sustainability or climate goals. "This is not a plus-and-minus kind of a situation," Siddhartha underscores.

"With regard to land acquisition or any laws that deal with extraction, the real challenge lies in how well it is embedded within the framework," reasons Pooja.