Toward a Sustainable Development of Asansol City, West Bengal: An ‘Eco2 City’ Approach

Cities in developing countries are becoming increasingly susceptible to environmental crises due to adverse impacts of activities related to urban growthUrban growth and urbanizationUrbanization. The environmental problems caused by these activities render the city dwellers vulnerable and cities unsustainable. To tackle these problems, the World Bank has advocated the “Eco2 CityEco2 city” approach (i.e., developing simultaneously an economic and ecologically sustainable city) forUrban planning urban planningDevelopment, development, and management. It considers the ecological city as the economic city. The present paper focuses on the sustainable developmentSustainable development of Asansol, the second-largest city in West Bengal. The total population of the city has grown nearly seven times in the last sixty years and the areal extent expanded over 20 times. The city has undergone economic functional changes–mainly from a mining and transport town to an economically complex city. In the process experienced profound implications in land useLand use and environmental sustainabilityEnvironmental sustainability. The emerging land use pattern of the city is characterized by the expansion of built-up area and consequent shrinkage of the area under vegetation, agriculture,Agriculture and water bodies. Further, due to the expansion of the industrial footprint, the problems of air and waterPollution pollution have become a major concern in the city. Due to the discharge of untreated effluents by industries directly or indirectly into the main riversWater pollution, water pollution has become a major concern. Further, in the absence of soak pits in the city, domestic sewage flows through open drains, resulting in unhygienic and unclean surroundings. Against this backdrop, the chapter advocates for adopting the “Eco2 City” approach by meaningfully integrating the major economic and ecological concerns in the planningDevelopment, development, and management of Asansol City.