The number of vehicles on Mumbai’s roads multiplied 33 times in 50 years, while the road network length only doubled.

If the above statistics are any indication of the way urban transport and space are being planned in the country, a sure shot recipe for disaster is surely on hand. Speaking to The Indian Express, Urban Age associate, executive director Philipp Rode said cities like Delhi and Mumbai had saturated completely, signalling a breakdown of the planning process. “Take the case of Delhi. The Delhi Master Plan tries to fix many details on a city level, instead of having a strategic plan defining the density and work corridors, similar to the concept of Boroughs in London.”

In the same vein, the capital’s experiment with the Metro rail system, with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore, finds disfavour. “Was it the most effective way? The subsidy per commuter is enormous. If equal money had been put into Bus Rapid Transport, you would have covered the entire city with buses shuttling between Delhi and Gurgaon every 10 minutes,” he added.

The report suggests formation of a single urban development department. To avoid bias towards a particular transportation system, it suggests formation of Multi-modal Transport Agency. The study looks at issues of governance and problems of planning — spatial planning and transport in detail. However, it refrains from suggesting a model of transport or urban planning that can be applied in India.