Balancing Growth and Green: Urban Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability in India

Rapid urbanization in India has spurred significant economic growth.However, this expansion often raises concerns about environmental sustainability.This study examines the relationship between economic output, environmental conditions, and human development across 22 diverse Indian cities.We measure economic performance using city-level GDP for FY 2022-23.Environmental quality is proxied by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from 2024 Landsat 8 imagery.To measure sustainability more accurately, we also incorporated Air Quality Index (AQI) and the Human Development Index (HDI).The study employs an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression with a log-linear specification.The natural logarithm of GDP serves as the dependent variable for the 22-city dataset.We introduced logarithmic transformations, interaction effects, and nonlinear terms to address scale differences and moderation effects.For valid inference, we used heteroskedasticity-and autocorrelationconsistent (HAC) standard errors.The resulting model explains a moderate share of economic variation (R² = 0.465) and is jointly significant (F-statistic = 4.129, p = 0.013).At a 15% significance level, the interaction between HDI and air pollution provides suggestive evidence of a moderation effect.Higher levels of human development may help mitigate the negative economic impacts of poor air quality.Additionally, nonlinear NDVI terms indicate diminishing economic returns to urban greenness beyond certain thresholds.This highlights a critical trade-off between land-use intensity and ecological preservation.Descriptive data further reveal that while major metros often have lower vegetation cover, several mid-sized cities maintain a more balanced profile of growth and environment.Overall, findings suggest that environmental decline is not an inevitable result of growth.Instead, sustainability is shaped by urban development patterns and institutional capacity.This study emphasizes the need to integrate environmental and human development indicators into urban planning frameworks for rapidly urbanizing economies.