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ABSTRACT
Railway transit hubs do play a very critical role in the contemporary urban development discourse as the places of social, economic, and environmental interests. They stimulate the construction of community places around their location. Thus, a railway station, in its own right, can generate a city within a city, often recognised as a “Railopolis”. This paper aims to attempt a brief discussion on the notion of “Railopolis” in the Indian context. India is a country that poses a substantial size of urban population along with several acute urban issues that are challenging the sustainable urban development goals in the country. Transit-Oriented Development is adopted as one of the most powerful tools to make Indian cities more liveable, sustainable, and inclusive. Thus, the emergence of “Railopolis”, as a mini smart city, within an existing city, is expected to comply with the sustainable urban development goals that aim to make Indian cities more competitive in terms of liveability, at the global scale. The study is principally grounded on theoretical reflections and draws inferences on the notion of “Railopolis” by taking evidence from contemporary Indian initiatives. The paper concludes with a synoptic discussion on the potential issues that can confront “Railopolis”, during implementation and some crucial research-worthy questions on the subject of the future of TOD in India.
Acknowledgements
The author wants to express his heartiest gratitude to Late Prof. Ravi S. Singh for his constructive suggestions and support. I want to convey my thanks to Dr. Apala Saha for her valuable suggestions. I thank the Department of Geography, Banaras Hindu University for the material resources (library support, internet), and the University Grants Commission for the Junior Research Fellowship granted to the author for his Ph.D. work (Ref No. 190510006296). Finally, I am indebted to the respected reviewers for their valuable comments on my manuscript.
Disclosure statement
I, the author of this manuscript, have not misrepresented research results, which could damage the trust of the journal, the professionalism of scientific authorship, and ultimately the entire scientific endeavour. This manuscript has not been submitted currently to any other journal. This work is original and has not been published elsewhere. No data, text, or theories by any other author are presented as if they were the author’s own. Proper acknowledgements to other works have been given. I have no conflict of interest to declare. Subject matter and materials discussed in this manuscript have no association with any organisation for financial or non-financial interest.