India, Aug. 23 -- As India looks toward a predominantly urban future, a quiet but powerful transition is underway. Small towns and villages in peri-urban areas, around metropolitan regions, adjacent to district headquarters, and along transport corridors are experiencing rapid shifts from farm to non-farm economic activities. Towns with fewer than 100,000 residents now comprise 92% of India's urban system and are finally gaining attention in policy dialogues. Can we guide these towns and transitional urban areas toward sustainable growth before they succumb to unplanned sprawl? Despite functioning like urban areas, many remain administratively rural, lacking spatial planning, environmental safeguards, and governance mechanisms. Without intervention, they risk replicating the problems of larger cities - on a broader scale and with fewer resources. India's urban planning remains patchy. Most small towns operate without or with outdated development plans and fragmented governance. Rural spatial planning is similarly neglected, despite the urbanising nature of many villages. What's needed is more than token master plans. We need people-centric regional frameworks that are flexible in land use, environmentally grounded, and regularly updated. These must be backed by funding that aligns across urban and rural schemes. A transitional planning approach must recognise the continuum between village and town. Peri-urban areas offer cheaper land and easier access to natural resources, and less stringent environmental regulations. Forests, wetlands, and farmlands are routinely sacrificed for construction, while industries relocate to the outskirts to reduce costs. This unchecked expansion disrupts hydrological systems, worsens flooding, and increases climate vulnerability. Outdated land classifications - such as labelling grasslands and commons as wastelands - must be revised. These areas are vital ecological assets. Incorporating GIS-based land suitability analysis and carrying capacity assessments into planning can help protect sensitive ecosystems. Transitional urban areas, if equipped early with environmental safeguards, can lead this shift toward ecologically responsible urbanisation. Census towns - created by reclassifying over 2,000 villages in the last census - remain under rural governance, ill-equipped to provide urban services and plan for urbanisation. This fosters haphazard construction, speculative real estate, and service deficits. Odisha's Rural-Urban Transition Policy offers a promising model. It treats urbanisation as a process, and provides urban-grade infrastructure and planning support before formal town notification takes place. State-district coordination and ward-level restructuring ensure smoother transitions. This phased preparatory approach exemplifies forward-looking governance and offers valuable lessons for managing urban growth. Transitional areas in the metropolitan shadow are experiencing faster population and economic growth. We must focus on three priorities: Preparatory spatial planning, protecting ecology, and empowering institutions to plan sustainably at a regional scale. This will help shape a more resilient urban future....