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Urban Sustainability in North-East India: A Study through the lens
of NER-SDG index
Shrutidhara Kashyap
Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Arya Vidyapeeth College (Autonomous), Assam, India.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51244/IJRSI.2025.120800065
Received: 06 Aug 2025; Accepted: 11 Aug 2025; Published: 04 September 2025
BACKGROUND:
Urbanisation is an inevitable outcome of modernisation and economic development. As world civilisation
progresses, all nations have experienced concentration of urban population. In 1800 A.D., only 3 percent of the
world’s population lived in cities, but this figure reached to 14% and 47% in 1900 and 2000 respectively
(United Nations Population Division, 2001). The report published in 2022 further reveals that the world’s
urbanisation level has reached 57%, developed (79.7%), developing (52.3%) and LDCs (35.8) which is
estimated to be 60 % worldwide in 2030 (World Urbanisation Prospects, United Nations Population Division,
2022).The trend of urbanisation in India as reflected in the latest census (2011) shows that the level of
urbanisation has increased from 27.7% in 2001 to 31.1% in 2011. Major components of urban population
growth in Indian cities are natural increment in population and urban agglomeration or outgrowths (Bhagat,
2018). Urban sustainability is adversely affected due to large scale land use land cover conversions to built up
and residential areas and demand-supply gap in the provisioning of civic urban amenities (Kumar, 2009; Bera,
2020). It has a far-reaching effect on India’s efforts on reaching Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by
2030.
In this context, it is very relevant to explore the status and components of urban sustainability in North-East
India, being the corridor to South-East Asia. The paper intends to study the urban sustainability components
and challenges in achieving SDGs in urban centres of north-eastern states.
The paper is divided into five sections. Background of the paper in the first section is followed by the reviews
of literature in the context of measuring urban sustainability in the second section. The methodology part is
presented in the third section. The fourth section captures the results and discussion on evidences of urban
growth and analysis of urban sustainability attainment levels of North-East region of India. The paper
concludes with relevance of the study for future research, limitations of the study and policy recommendations
in the fifth section.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
Measuring Urban Sustainability
The issue of ‘urban sustainability’ has grabbed attention worldwide in the ‘UN conference on environment and
development’, popularly known as the Rio Summit, held in 1992 with the participation of 178 countries. The
challenges posed by rapid urbanisation are entrusted by the United Nations in its Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) in the year 2000 (cities without slums). Further, in September 2015, the UN Sustainable
development Summit held in New York declared 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with inclusion of
the 11th goal as ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’. After the Rio Summit, when many countries initiated
the efforts towards measuring and reaching the goal of urban sustainability, India lacks such effort (Salk et al,
2008). The unprecedented city growths and growing environmental concerns led India to adopt a series of
comprehensive action-oriented strategies following UN norms of Millennium Development Goals after
2000(Van Hauff et al, 2013; Panda at el 2016).
Measurement of urban sustainability is very much essential for proper identification of the sources causing
unsustainability. The construction of indicators for the measurement involves through an evolutionary process
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being exercised by various international agencies including United Nations. Earlier, many challenges of
urbanisation were not identified and poor data availability for urban development dimensions contributed to
the inadequacy of proper urban policy designing. The recent developments augmented the process of proper
measurement of urban sustainability incorporating new components and changing urban dynamics (Wong,
2014). The evolution of the process of measurement of urban development and sustainability has been well-
documented by Gomez et al., 2018.
Table 1: Evolution of Urban Development and Sustainability Indicators
Phases →
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Period→
1960s
1990s
2010s
2030s
Approach→
Conventional
macrocosmic
approach
Thematic and
sectoral approach
Instigated and
multidimensional
approach
Holistic and geo-
localized flexible
approach
Unit→
One-dimensional
Sector Specific
Composite
More Complex
Indicators→
GDP, Population and
City Sprawl
Specific Index
Composite Index
Holistic Index
Example→
UN World
Urbanization
Prospects; World
Bank World
Development
Indicators Series
Global City
Indicators Program
(World Bank),
Global Urban
Indicators and
Urban Governance
Index (UN-
Habitat) The Cities
Data Book (Asian
Development)
City Data (World
Council), City
Prosperity Index
(UN-Habitat),
Better Life Index
(OECD)
Urban
Sustainability
Assessment
Framework
(USAF) , Indicator
System for
Characterization of
Urban
Sustainability
(ISCUS), a holistic
methodological
framework with
participatory
approach.
Source: Gómez-Álvarez et al, 2018; Ameen & Mourshed, 2019; Feleki et al., 2020
Urban sustainability refers to practices and actions incorporated in urban planning helping the cities to grow
and prosper without permanently depleting the resources. The three pillars of sustainability are social
sustainability, economic sustainability and environmental sustainability (Chakraborty, 2017; Roy et al, 2023).
However, in the holistic approach of Urban Sustainability Indicator Framework (USIF), institutional
components (participation, civic engagement, urban planning, environmental management, governance,
finance and transparency) are incorporated to achieve a more robust, coherent and flexible measure of urban
sustainability (Michalina et al., 2021). The paradigm shift in the measurement of urban sustainability has been
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experienced through integration of SDGs in urban policy design and urban management. It navigates the
possibility of sustainable cities with assurance of social, economic and environmental well-being of city-
dwellers (Roy et al, 2023). In Indian context, various attempts have been made by the researchers and
institutions to measure urban sustainability at national level, state level, district level and city level to search
for the achievements and challenges (UN-Habitat, 2013; UN-Habitat, 2015; State Planning Commission ; NITI
Aayog; Roy et al, 2023). NITI aayog pioneers the effort with the release of SDG Urban Index for major cities
representing their performances across composite and specific SDGs (SDG Urban Index, NITI Aayog
Dashboard, 2021-22). It enables the planning and implementation agencies to identify the loopholes and design
city development models to mitigate the same.
There are many studies found in the literature analysing urban sustainability issue in Indian context (Reddy
and Tiwari, 2016; Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework 3.0, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs,
GOI, 2022), especially analysis of the cities towards achieving SDGs (Roy et al., 2023). But no studies have
attempted to make analysis of SDG indices for North-Eastern states although few studies have addressed the
urban expansion and urban sustainability in their studies (Saitluanga, 2020; Guha, 2020). This paper intends to
analyse the performance of North East India in reaching Urban SDGs as SMART-City models have been
incorporated in the development agenda of urban centres of the region. It will pave the way for smart urbanism
while developing and designing north eastern cities with its huge impact towards successful implementation of
‘Act East Policy’ initiatives of Government of India.
METHODOLOGY:
The paper is entirely based on secondary data adapted from NITI Aayog Dashboard -Urban SDG and NER
SDG, 2021-22. Since the paper involves comparative analysis of SDGs of North Eastern cities, it is entirely
descriptive in nature and incorporates using of diagrams for showing specific SDG indices.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:
Developing countries are experiencing rapid growth of urbanisation as causal sequence of economic
development (Nyambod, 2010). Provision of employment, education, better communication, health facilities
and other services for comfortable living- shopping, recreation and cultural facilities are the push factors
causing settlement in urban centres (Rahman et al., 2009). The tempo of urbanisation in the North-East is
clearly reflected in the growth of population and number of households. Contrary to the smaller and medium
towns showing faster growth than class I cities in less developed states of India till 90s, the trend changed and
class I
1
cities have experienced much faster growth in those states (Kundu, 2006). North-East India,
comparatively being lagged behind in terms of economic development, its class 1 cities have experienced
tremendous urban growth in recent decades as revealed in the study by Kundu, 2006.
Evidences of Rapid Urbanisation in North-East India:
The spatial transformation in Northeast India, symbolised by urbanisation (municipal and expansion) and
rural-urban migration has been coordinated with multiple policy initiatives of the Government of India (Atal
Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation and Smart Cities Mission). India’s Act East Policy
(formerly Look East Policy) has also emphasised development of the border towns to facilitate cross-border
trade with South-East Asian nations (especially with Bangladesh and Myanmar). As a result, not only the
1
Based on population sizes, urban centres in India are classified into six categories as follows:
Class I : 100,000 or more Class II: from 50,000 to 99,999
Class III: from 20,000 to 49,999 Class IV: from 10,000 to 19,999
Class V: from 5000 to 9999 Class VI: below 5000
Source: Census of India, 1991, 2001, 2011.
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capitals of the states, border towns, such as Dawki (Meghalaya), Champhai (Mizoram), Moreh (Manipur) and
Pangsau (Arunachal Pradesh) are too experiencing rapid urban growth. The following table reveals the level
of urbanisation experienced in the eight states of N-E India.
Table 2: Proportion (Percent) of Urban Population to Total Population
Level of Urbanisation (%)
AEGR
1991
2001
2011
1991-2001
2001-2011
12.8
20.75
22.94
7.49
3.31
11.08
12.9
14.1
3.29
2.46
27.52
26.58
29.21
1.31
3.7
18.6
19.58
20.07
3.24
2.71
46.1
49.63
52.11
3.33
2.6
17.21
17.23
28.86
5.11
5.1
9.1
11.07
25.15
4.93
9.42
15.3
17.06
26.17
2.61
5.66
Source: Handbook of Urban Statistics, 2019, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
Fig. 1: Level of Urbanisation (Percent of urban to total population) in North-East
The above table reflects the level of urbanisation reflected by the census data. Amongst the eight states,
Mizoram exhibits the highest urban population percentage in the entire North-East. Although the level of
urbanisation is 14.1 percent as per 2011 census, however, number of urban population is a matter of attention
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1991
2001
2011
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in Assam, Guwahati, being the corridor to the North-East India. Kamrup (Metro) district is home to 82.70
percent urban population as compared to 14.1percent of urban population in Assam. The population density of
the district is the highest in Assam (2010 per square kilometre) which is 398 per square kilometre in entire
Assam (Census of India, 2011).
Table 3: Percent of projected urban population to total population based on 2011 census (2011-2036) in North-
East
States
2011
2021
2031
2036
Total
Male
Femal
e
Total
Mal
e
Femal
e
Total
Male
Femal
e
Total
Mal
e
Femal
e
Arunachal
Pradesh
23.0
8
23.6
7
22.45
25.3
2
26.1
24.55
27.5
8
28.4
9
26.62
28.7
29.7
27.64
Assam
14.1
7
14.2
6
14.08
15.3
9
15.5
15.24
16.6
1
16.8
4
16.38
17.2
3
17.5
16.96
Manipur
29.3
9
28.8
29.99
32.0
7
31.5
32.62
34.7
4
34.2
9
35.18
36.0
8
35.7
36.44
Meghalay
a
20.1
19.9
8
20.22
20.6
1
20.6
20.67
21.0
7
21.1
21.04
21.3
1
21.4
21.22
Mizoram
52.3
3
51.7
5
52.92
54.7
1
54.3
55.15
57.0
5
56.8
3
57.26
58.1
8
58.1
58.24
Nagaland
29.6
7
30.0
3
29.28
43.8
1
44.5
43.1
58.1
5
59.2
8
56.96
65.1
4
66.6
63.64
Sikkim
26.3
2
26.0
1
26.67
46.1
8
45.8
46.65
66.3
4
66.0
3
66.73
75.6
9
75.5
75.93
Tripura
26.8
26.6
3
26.98
37.6
5
37.5
37.78
48.9
48.9
4
48.86
54.5
7
54.8
54.38
Source: Population Projections for India and States, 2011-2036, National Commission on Population, Ministry
of Health & Family Welfare, 2020
0 20 40 60 80
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Sikkim
Tripura
2036
2031
2021
2011
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Fig. 2: Projected urban to total population (%) in North-East (2011-2036)
The population projection of urban population for the North-Eastern states reflect that Sikkim (75.69 %) will
be going to the highest percent of urban population to total population in 2036, followed by Nagaland,
Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Assam respectively. It is an alarming
indication for the authorities to make appropriate arrangement of urban housing and other amenities in the
rapidly growing urban centres. Lack of adequate actions in this regard will pose threat to urban sustainability
in the region.
Assessment of Urban Sustainability in North- East through urban SDG indices:
As the issue of urban sustainability has grabbed attention in the entire world, Government of India has taken a
series of initiatives to enhance the provisioning of urban amenities in North-Eastern states through the Atal
Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation and Smart Cities Mission. These initiatives have
significant impacts on the performance of North-Eastern urban centres in achieving sustainable development
goals. NITI Aayog has released the urban SDG indices for all states, including North-East. It is a
comprehensive study on the state’s capability in reaching urban SDGs through utilisation of urban policy
initiatives by GOI. It also reflects the goals to be achieved and policies to be formulated to enhance urban
sustainability in this region. Although, this region is famous for greenery and landscapes gifted by the nature,
but growing built up and construction activities and expansion of trade and commerce necessitates planned
urbanism for the restoration of urban resilience. Otherwise, the occurances of hazards would be much more
frequent.
The issue of urban sustainability has been discussed in this paper with the help of NITI Aayog’s urban SDG
index, 2022 (Refer to Table 4)
Table 4: Urban SDG Indices of North-Eastern State’s Capital Cities
States
Arunacha
l Pradesh
Assam
Manipur
Meghalay
a
Mizora
m
Nagalan
d
Sikkim
Tripura
Capitals
Itanagar
Guwaha
ti
Imphal
Shillong
Aizwal
Kohima
Gangto
k
Agartala
SDG 1
(No Poverty)
58
58
69
80
75
52
57
60
SDG 2
(Zero Hunger)
61
55
73
69
66
70
66
56
SDG 3
(Good Health
& Well-being)
40
65
56
64
67
57
41
63
SDG 4
(Quality
Education)
56
56
62
78
67
61
74
52
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SDG 5
(Gender
Equality)
44
48
83
81
80
90
77
88
SDG 6
(Clean Water
& Sanitation)
65
62
66
65
57
66
72
64
SDG 7
(Affordable
and Clean
Energy)
98
68
53
89
97
83
79
69
SDG 8
(Decent Work
& Economic
Growth)
37
30
50
21
30
51
47
46
SDG 9
(Industry,
Innovation &
Infrastructure)
34
48
60
70
58
66
45
40
SDG 10
(Reduced
Inequalities)
42
62
67
53
55
5
56
67
SDG 11
(Sustainable
Cities and
Communities)
39
43
26
50
49
29
47
55
SDG 12
(Responsible
consumption &
Production)
50
100
52
50
75
60
93
96
SDG 13
(Climate
Action)
65
42
52
100
100
87
64
64
SDG 16
(Peace, Justice
& Strong
Institutions)
85
44
70
86
91
36
92
87
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Composite
Index
55.29
55.79
59.93
68.29
69.07
58.07
65.00
64.79
AI Rank
54
53
43
17
13
50
31
32
Source: Urban SDG Index, 2022, NITI Aayog
Table 5: The best and the worst performer in terms of specific SDGs and Composite Indices within N-E
Region
SDGs
Best Performer Capital City
Worst Performer Capital City
SDG 1
Shillong
Kohima
SDG 2
Imphal
Guwahati
SDG 3
Aizwal
Itanagar
SDG 4
Shillong
Agartala
SDG 5
Kohima
Itanagar
SDG 6
Gangtok
Aizwal
SDG 7
Itanagar
Imphal
SDG 8
Kohima
Shillong
SDG 9
Shillong
Itanagar
SDG 10
Imphal, Agartala
Kohima
SDG 11
Agartala
Imphal
SDG 12
Guwahati
Itanagar. Shillong
SDG 13
Shillong, Aizwal
Guwahati
SDG 16
Gangtok
Kohima
Composite Index
Aizwal
Itanagar
Source: Author’s derivation from table no. 4
In this analysis, SDG – 14 (Life below water), SDG- 15 (Life on Land) and SDG- 17 (Partnerships for the
goals) are excluded due to non-availability of composite index scores in the dataset. SDG-11 which is specific
to urban sustainability incorporates – (i) Percentage of houses completed against sanctioned under PMAY
(Urban), (ii)Percentage of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) treated against MSW generated, (iii) Swachh
Survekshan Score and (iv) Death rate due to road traffic accidents per 1,00,000 population. Hence, the
measurements of specific urban sustainability for the cities in terms of these four components provide the
insights into the state capital city’s accomplishment towards sustainability, in particular. A spider diagram has
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been drawn to represent the performances of north eastern capital cities in reaching urban specific SDG 11 and
their scores for composite indices. In fig.3, The SDG-11 scores for the cities clearly reflect that the cities with
better performer (Aizwal, Shillong) in the specific SDGs, have also attained good composite scores (about 70)
and all India ranks 13 and 17 respectively amongst 56 Indian cities. Agartala too has shown good score for
SDG-11 but its composite score is not up to the mark (AI Rank 31). It indicates lack of efficiency in the policy
measures for attainment of other SDGs in the city.
Fig. 3: Spider Diagram exhibiting the specific SDGs for sustainable cities and composite indices for North-
Eastern capital cities
Source: Urban SDG Index, 2022, NITI Aayog
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS:
Urban sustainability has been emerged as urban planning actions making balance between present –use and
future-use of resources. It advocates action-oriented approach to make the cities self-sufficient in terms of
energy, water supply, sanitation, distribution of resources, food supply etc. This paper tries to explore the
attainment levels of urban sustainability in North-Eastern India. The city specific analysis of SDGs helps to
identify the gaps in the policy-making for the hundred percent attainments of urban sustainable development
goals. Accordingly, it navigates the designing of development agenda of N-E region incorporating eco-friendly
practices and reshaping urban systems. However, this study does not attempt to explore the relationship
between development indicators and their impacts on SDG indices which may be tried out by future
researchers, using advanced tools for analysis -regression and factor analysis (Roy et al., 2023). North-East
India, being gifted with abundance of natural resources, should be developed only by mainstreaming
environment into development planning. Enhanced community participation, extensive use of green
technology with less emissions, appropriate use of resources and coordination amongst various government
departments and different tiers of governance should be needed to restore sustainable urbanism in the north-
east.
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39
43
26
50
49
29
47
55
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Itanagar
Guwahati
Imphal
Shillong
Aizwal
Kohima
Gangtok
Agartala
SDG 11
Composite Index
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