As more and more people flocked to national capital Delhi, the need for housing spaces increased. This led to the peripheries of the capital expanding, bringing cities such as Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Noida under its fold. Other metros, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, have a similar pattern. Also known as satellite cities, these developments in a city’s periphery are helping them house its population better.

What are satellite cities?

Satellite cities are planned cities, adjacent to a major city. Such cities manage or contain the urban sprawl. They are designed to help a major city extend in all possible ways. Satellite cities could be completely standalone cities, developed outside metros. They are self-containing, independent cities, unlike a suburb or a subdivision.

Are they future suburbs?

The purpose of satellite cities is to provide a perfect balance between the population and resources, with respect to environment-friendly development. The aim is to create affordable housing for a large section of the society.

Inclusive development :

There is an underlying need to develop satellite cities into smart cities. To ensure planned urbanisation and systematic development, a satellite city should be able to accommodate a smarter generation without compromising on ecology of the area.

Policymakers and government agencies need to keep in mind some key considerations:

Rounded plan: Demographic factors like socio-economic conditions, education centres, dialect of population are a few things that need to be kept in mind when planning a satellite city.

Security: Safety of its residents has to be a primary concern for planners. Security issues need to be carefully considered and ingrained in the planning process.

Heavy capital: Building a city requires huge capital. Apart from sourcing the required funds, the acceptability of the upcoming satellite city and its growth would depend upon how early it is able to become a self-sustaining unit.