Review—urban planning from
last week
Chandigarh Assembly Building
Chandigarh, rock garden
The Vision, some Issues
• Notion of a “public” space and “green” space run
into problems of social access
– Class issues of “leisure time” and transport
• Some designs not suited to the ecology of the
regions in which they are placed
– Problems with cooling systems/resource use
– Notions of cultural comfort zones
– In green spaces, issues of irrigation, imported species
and daily care
• Disregard for the “low-tech” or geographically
adapted, but devalued forms of building
Green Revolution and Social
Change
Indian and Pakistani Punjab,
c.1960s-90s
Green Revolution in S. Asia
• India and Pakistan both welcomed GreenRevolution technology soon after Independence
– Attempt to reach food security at a time of rapid
population growth and food scarcity following
independence
• Major site for each country was the former
province of Punjab-due to its historical profile
– Already had been a site for such governmental
agricultural experiments such as the canal colonies
– Large presence of “peasant” castes and tribes
believed to be entrepreneurial
– Consistent supply of irrigation water and good roads
Northern Pakistan
Northern India
Inputs necessary for G-R crops
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Consistent availability of irrigation
Nitrogen-heavy chemical fertilizers
Soil with good drainage
High-yielding varieties of dwarf wheat
(from Mexico) and rice (Philippines)
• Use of machines such as tractors,
threshers, electric pumps
• Bigger farms
Punjab v. other areas as sites of GR
• In Pakistan, Punjab is the only viable
choice due to issues of irrigation/water
• In India, Punjab is also considered ideal,
Bhakra Nangal dam project underway
• Uttar Pradesh is also seen as viable area
– Problems of small-size holdings
• Gujrat emerges as a possible third choice
by the 1970s
– Operation “Flood” or the “white revolution”
Government local investment
• Other than irrigation projects to ensure the
needed water supplies, India and Pakistan also
invest in the following:
– New ag. Universities with programs in genetics, crop
development
– Gov. lending schemes to provide money for
mechanization, seeds, fertilizers
– In India renewed interest in Co-operative societies to
provide micro-finance and harvest sale, distributions
– Better roads and storage facilities
Initial Success
• At first the pay-off from both projects appeared to be
substantial
– Food grain yields increase by some 48%
– India and Pakistan become food self-sufficient and even make
modest exports by late 1980s
– Rural and urban incomes in G-R areas climb
– Per capita caloric intake increases by 20% 1980s-2000s
• By 1990s yields begin to decrease from averages of 2.7
% to 2%
– Issues of land quality and fluctuating water supplies
– Prices of agricultural goods and inputs become unaffordable for
many farmers
• By early 2000s economists and other scholars begin to
question the mixed results of G-R changes
Roots of Problems in Indian
Agriculture
• Small farm size, population pressure on land
– 50% of farms less than 3 acres (avg. 5 acres)
– 1/3 of peasants are landless laborers
– 3/5 of crops are food grains, farmers retain 60-70%
for their own use
• Water table dropping to dangerous levels due to
over-tapping of aquifers past re-chargeable
levels
• Rising level of agrarian debts drives out smaller
farmers, w/o inputs productivity declines
• Competition from subsidized industrialized
farmers in US,Europe, Latin America
In Pakistan, similar problems
• Although the Pakistani gov. under Gen.
Ayub, Zulficar Bhutto, and Gen. Musharaf
has attempted to break down large farms,
larger estates have survived and smaller
farms continue to disappear
• Problems with drought and water supplies
• Worsening problems with soil alkalization
• Rural unemployment and
underemployment remain large concerns
Water logged soil (l), salinization (r)
Political structures and G-R
• In both areas, local governments have committed to
subsidizing electricity and water
– Local parties seek agrarian votes in India, good relationships
with rural magnates in Pakistan
• New wealth in both countries associated with new
political formations and sometimes with political
instability
– Punjab militancy of 1980s-90s (India); ethnic tensions in
Pakistan—Punjab v. Sind
• Prosperity for the mid-to-top level of farmers obscures
worsening debt and income situation of majority of
poorer farmers
• Remains unclear if gains will be sustainable
Issues to Consider for the future:
• Growing population continues to be an important
concern in both countries—land is already under heavy
population pressure
• Water scarcity in both countries growing—
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aging canals/dams have less capacity due to silt build up
S. Indian rivers have less flow
Growing drought concerns in Pakistan
Ground water scarcity growing in both countries
• Even if food production can be sustained, affordability
and access lead to food insecurity for poor
• Rising fuel costs a concern even for wealthy farmers