People from villages and smaller towns are migrating to urban areas in search of employment and better standard of living. As a consequence, urban areas are becoming overpopulated and are facing lot of problems, major ones being (1) shortage of housing space and (2) overcrowding transport system.
With increasing population in urban areas, there is a huge demand for housing in order to accommodate migrated population. We have often seen Government not being able to provide sufficient housing to its people. If I take my own example, I live in New Delhi and had booked an apartment through a private builder three years ago. However, due to shortage in supply of housing units, I have advised by the builder to wait for 3 more years before an apartment can be allotted to me. To tackle this problem, Government can launch large housing societies under public-private model. Government can also formulate lucrative schemes in order to encourage private builders to invest in new housing projects. We, as a citizen, can rent unused rooms in our apartments or houses to students or individuals thereby optimizing living space in the city.
Apart from housing shortage, overpopulation in urban areas has also put excessive burden on transport system. As a result, various modes of public transportation are overcrowded and people face lot of inconvenience during their daily commute. I have experienced this problem myself while commuting to work in Delhi Metro every day. Few years ago, I used to find a seat every time I travelled in Delhi Metro but from last one year or so, I hardly manage to get a seat for myself and most often I travel standing in Metro. Government must pitch in and introduce innovative modes of transport which have higher passenger carrying capacity and are fuel efficient. Also, Government must increase fleet size of already exiting modes of transport to ease the pressure on transport system. We, the people, can also help the cause by using our own modes of transportation, at least, while travelling short distances. This will leave the space in public transport for needy passengers.