Morphology of Delhi National Capital Region’s Economic Geography and its Implications for Planning

There is now global evidence that it is cities and their immediate regions that drive economic growth. This report studies the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), which accommodates India’s foremost economic agglomeration, through an economic geography lens that closely synergizes with urban and regional planning and governance.

It investigates whether Delhi NCR’s industrial structure, demography, and spatial interdependencies achieved the benefits of efficiency, equity, and energy resource conservation after the liberalization in 1991. Findings reveal expected job growth patterns at Delhi NCR scale but dynamic job movements between the subregions - Core Delhi NCT, Central NCR periphery and Rest of Region. Competitiveness by industrial sector, location, and contribution to GDP and industrial efficiencies are discussed. Other findings reveal the impact on people's lives including the marginalized groups such as changes in per capita income, consumption levels, job profiles, and migration.

Concerted efforts towards spatio-economic assessments and strategic planning for the coordinated economic development of such city-regions have not been mainstreamed in the Indian context and this report provides the starting point of a framework for such assessments.

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