It’s exciting times to be a prosperous person in India. The economy is growing.

And I know the economy has grown. Be it the food we eat, travel we get to go do, books we read, computers/phones we use. There are more options to choose from. A business like mine might have been inconceivable two decades ago (with proper compensation).

But growing per capita incomes and a growing economy is no guarantee that the growth is sustainable or healthy.

We can be prosperous citizens, satisfied consumers and completely unsatisfied as urban dwellers. Those three things can unfortunately coexist.

We have an amazing opportunity. Learn from the mistakes of all the cities and countries that came before. And emulate what they got right.

We don’t have to repeat the poor air quality, polluted water bodies, stratified cities, poor urban transportation or even the crammed urban environs.

We know alternative approaches exist to building economies, cities and towns.

One could argue that it would be enlightened to learn from the tumultuous growth phase of American cities from the mid-20th century. Or Chinese cities rapid ascent in the early 21st. Or Singapore’s foresighted building of tunnels to ensure roads are not disrupted in the process of keeping a city chugging along. There are many examples. Use of gondolas in Bolivia. Cycle and car-free zones in Europe. Bus lanes in China. Car license systems in China and Singapore.

The list is endless. There are things we can do with air quality, water bodies, urban planning, zoning, public transport, building regulations, ventilation, natural light, building insulation, choice of energy sources.

An enlightened approach to this would be to search for the best ideas, embrace them and roll them out with conviction, speed and vengeance.

But like an angry teen, we have conviction without enlightenment. Our growth while sure and immense is haphazard and reactionary.

Neither our cities nor our country is going to look anything like Japan in 50 or 200 years. Simply because growth does not guarantee enlightenment or desire for better living standards or conditions.

We are happy, prosperous consumers. Weary, cynical citizens (some of us). Unenlightened, jaded dwellers in this nation.