HYDERABAD: Governor ESL Narasimhan has stressed the need for providing important urban-like facilities in rural areas along with promoting and protecting the village culture.Speaking at the inaugural of the 11th Asian Urbanisation Conference here on Saturday, he said this was necessary to contain the migration of rural people to cities in search of better livelihood and reduce additional burden on cities. According to a report more than half of the world population was expected to be living in urban and semi urban areas by the end of 2025. This was bound to put further pressure on the fragile urban habitats which were not designed for rapid urbanisation, he said.A solution to the problems of urbanisation could be found partly through the concept of Providing of Urban facilities in Rural Areas (PURA), advocated by former President Abdul Kalam, whereby rural communities would be provided with the entitlements and amenities which were now urban-centric, Narasimhan said.A multi-pronged approach and sustained efforts for better urban governance, capacity-building, creation of inclusive cities, provision of low-income housing and devolution of powers to local bodies and even beyond were also needed to tackle the problems of urbanisation, the governor added.Prof S Satyanarayana, vice-chancellor of Osmania University, Prof Ashok Dutt from the University of Akron, US, Prof Kalpana Markandey, Prof B Laxmaiah and B Srinagesh also spoke on the occasion.
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