North-East India, a region once claimed as terra incognita by the British featuring legendary folktales and mystical destinations have long lived in penumbra of doubt, which changed with the region playing strategic role in context of the Government of India's “Look East Policy’. The hallway to the eastern hinterland, and a conurbation, Guwahati today fashions an urban reconstruction plan seeking to revive its economy, commerce and infrastructure for collateral development across the state that would follow suit in other parts of the region. The City Development Plan (CCD) outlines a sustainable development scheme conforming to JNNURM, addressing key issues like population, poverty, water supply, hygiene and environment degradation. However rapid urbanisation of Guwahati and the adjacent state of Nagaland collides with the natural design. As the process of structural remodelling gains strength in these cities, communities are caught between contrasting elements; issues of space management, resource ownership, income gaps, and growth-ecology fracas. This paper is an attempt to study the development process in these two cities, problems associated with it, and how these two livewire cities plan to solve the logjams in the urbanisation process to generate constructive opportunities and growth.
North-East, Urbanisation, Sustainable development, Infrastructure, Policy
