Rethinking the 100 new cities plan

It is true that in the last seven-eight years, there has been a build-up of unsold inventory of apartments in several cities

… the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas.

J M Keynes (1936)

An important mission of the public authorities in 2014 was to build 100 new cities that would also be smart. Over time, there was a shift to the Smart Cities Mission under which a hundred existing cities would become smart. Some exceptions aside, the idea of 100 new cities has not taken off. Is it possible to revive the original mission? Yes. What follows is a simplified explanation of what is otherwise a complex but interesting story.

India is a huge country. It