INDEX it is!

There are different indices to rate countries globally like Human Development Index (HDI), City Prosperity Index(CPI), Happiness Index, Corruption Index etc. Out of these, HDI is most looked up to. India is ranked 130 (medium human development) according to the 2015 edition of Global Human Development report, released by UNDP. City Prosperity Index is a new tool created by UN in 2012 to measure sustainability of cities. It is accompanied by a conceptual matrix, the Wheel of Urban Prosperity and includes parameters like infrastructure, quality of life, equity and inclusion, environmental sustainability and governance and legislation. 

All these indices give a national picture (with exception of CPI ) and not very useful while dealing with city planning. An index is a very strong tool while planning for a city as it gives the areas which needs action and helps in assessing the improvements over the year. In our Sustainably Smart Pune study project, we plan to use socio economic equity index as it helps us to analyse how equitable the city functions. By understanding the inequities, we could identify the critical areas which needs first attention. Currently most of the master plan exercises do socio economic surveys just for namesake and neither infer anything form it nor use it in their proposals which is a main reason why many sectors are overlooked. 

Initially as part of our study, we tried to use gini coefficient to represent inequity but did not find it apt for the study. Hence we have decided to create a new city level index which holistically measures the inequity in a city. This index has horizontal and vertical dimensions which spans across entire section of people and covers various city sectors and could be replicated for any city. Formulation of the index is in progress and we invite researchers, planners, economists, sociologists or anyone interested to collaborate or share any socio economic data, primary surveys, research or study you have related to Pune. Feel free to write to us, if you would like to know more and contribute to this effort.

Anu Kuncheria

anukuncheria@gmail.com

MUSING FROM PRIYADARSHINI KARVE: Measuring Sustainability...

In the last couple of musings I have talked about GDP and GINI coefficient. But both of these indices only assess the economic aspect of development. Sustainability is about achieving economic growth with social empowerment and preservation of the environment. Are there any indices that help us assess how we are doing on all three fronts?

There have been a few attempts in this direction. The main difficulty is how do you put numbers on social empowerment and protection of the environment? One attempt that tries to measure the various aspects of development in a partly quantitative and partly qualitative manner is the Happiness Index. Our neighbouring country of Bhutan invented this parameter in the 1970s. However, its measurement is based on subjective assessment through surveys of citizens rather than on hard and impartial data. Therefore, this index is not accepted worldwide. 

A more scientific and universally accepted index is Human Development Index or HDI. The formula for calculating HDI is based on the following parameters: 

–Average life expectancy at birth

–Mean and expected years of schooling (number of years spent in school by a 25 year old, number of years a 5 year old is likely to spend in school)

–Gross national income per capita

Thus, HDI takes into account some parameters that are indicative of social empowerment and economic prosperity of a country. However, the environmental parameter is totally left out from this index. There are now attempts to expand the formula to include some measurable indicators of overall environmental health. 

It might interest the readers to know that the concept of HDI was put forth by the Nobel Laureate Indian economist Dr. Amartya Sen, and the actual formula was developed by a Pakistani economist, Dr. Mahbub ul Huq. 

Mixing the social factor with the economic factor too helps in getting a more realistic picture of the living conditions in a nation, than just looking at GDP. 

Food for thought: At this point in time - 

•Top Rankers in GDP: USA, China, Japan

•Top Rankers in GDP growth rate: China, Brazil, India

•Top Rankers in HDI: Norway, Australia, USA

Priyadarshini Karve

Director

Samuchit Enviro Tech

#BeModernBeResponsibleBeRespectful

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