sustainability Article Growing ‘Smart’? Urbanization Processes in the Pune Urban Agglomeration Carsten Butsch 1,*, Shamita Kumar 2,* ID , Paul D. Wagner 3 ID , Mareike Kroll 1, Lakshmi N. Kantakumar 2 ID , Erach Bharucha 2, Karl Schneider 4 ID and Frauke Kraas 4 ID 1 Institute of Geography, University of Cologne, Cologne 50923, Germany;
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[email protected] (E.B.) 3 Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Institute for Natural Resource Conservation, Kiel University, Kiel 24118, Germany;
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[email protected] (S.K.) Received: 29 October 2017; Accepted: 5 December 2017; Published: 14 December 2017 Abstract: The Indian city of Pune witnessed rapid growth and deep transformation processes in the last three decades. This paper assesses past developments and recent structures and processes against the concept of urban sustainability. Following an overview of the historical development, the dimensions of sustainability are discussed separately, based on empirical findings. Urban growth puts enormous pressure on Pune’s land and water resources, changing the ecology of the area. The increasing water demand of Pune’s growing population competes with growing energy and water demands. An assessment of future climate change impacts indicates that the storage capacity of the reservoirs is more frequently not met during the rainy season.