As India looks toward a predominantly urban future, a quiet but powerful transition is underway in the country’s urbanization landscape. Small towns and villages in peri-urban areas, across metropolitan regions, adjacent to district headquarters, and along transport corridors are experiencing rapid shifts from farm to non-farm sectors. Long overlooked in policymaking, these towns, each home to less than 1 lakh residents, make up 92% of India’s system of cities.

The role of these transitional areas in shaping the country’s urban future is finally getting the recognition it deserves in dialogues on urban policy. But are we asking the right questions to support this transformation? Can we prepare these towns for sustainable growth before they are swallowed by unplanned sprawl? While transitional small towns function like urban areas, they remain administratively rural. Lacking robust spatial planning, environmental protection, and governance mechanisms, they run the risk of repeating the very mistakes that plague our larger cities —just at a wider scale and with fewer resources.

Can spatial planning rise to the challenge of India’s urban transition? Despite India’s vast urban system, planned development remains the exception rather than the norm. Most........

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