When development ceases to serve the people of a place, what disappears is not only land or livelihood, but a way of life
GLOBAL GOENKARS SPEAK
The writer is professor at Columbia University in the USA who hails from Cortalim
In 2015, late Pope Francis issued a stark warning to the world about the path of modern development. In his encyclical Laudato Si’, he wrote that “the earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.” His message was simple but profound: when development is pursued without responsibility, it stops serving people and begins destroying the very places they call home.
But Laudato Si’ went further than environmental concern alone. It argued that true development must listen to the voices of local communities whose lives are directly affected by these decisions. Projects imposed without consultation, the Pope warned, often ignore the knowledge, traditions and needs of the people who actually live on that land.
Not long after the encyclical was released, conversations began around the world around a deceptively simple question: how can societies pursue progress without destroying the ecosystems and communities that sustain them?
In many parts of the world this remains an abstract debate. In Goa, it increasingly feels like a question unfolding in real time.
Beneficiaries of development
Across the State today, “development” has become a frequently invoked word in politics. Every few weeks brings announcements of new ambitions: private universities, tourism jetties, floating platforms, ecotourism projects in hinterlands, proposed Spiritual City, Ayush City, an Atlantic or Macao type city of casinos and gaming hubs, and other grand visions for Goa’s future.
Beneath these sweeping plans, however, another transformation is quietly underway. Across the landscape, sprawling mega housing townships are rising, projects presented as progress but whose scale and prices place them far beyond the reach of most Goan families.
Which raises a question that is rarely asked clearly enough: who exactly is this development meant to serve?
True development improves the lives of people who already live in a place. It creates opportunity, strengthens communities and protects the environment that sustains them. Increasingly, however, Goa’s development story appears to be written for someone else.
Consider the acres of mega housing projects spreading across the State. Many are not designed for Goan families at all. Their scale and prices place them far beyond the reach of ordinary residents. They are marketed instead to affluent buyers from outside Goa seeking vacation homes or investment properties.
Local builders quietly admit they cannot compete with these large projects or construct housing that ordinary Goans can afford. The result is a striking paradox: even as construction cranes dominate the skyline, young Goans struggle to find homes of their own.
For many young Goans, the consequences are already visible. Faced with rising land prices, scarce affordable housing and limited high-quality employment opportunities, many are leaving the State in search of better prospects elsewhere. Villages that once sustained generations are watching their young depart even as luxury homes rise across the landscape.
Everyday realities tell a very different story from the glossy development brochures. Villages face water shortages during large parts of the year. Garbage continues to overflow in public spaces. Power outages remain common in several areas. Infrastructure that should have improved with development often appears strained rather than strengthened.
Despite the scale of construction, few high-paying industrial or knowledge-based jobs have emerged to create meaningful opportunities for Goa’s younger generation.
Measures of development
Development, after all, is not measured by the number of projects announced, but by the quality of life experienced by citizens. When grand visions multiply while basic services struggle, and demographics of a place are threatened, people are justified in asking whether planning is guided by the long-term welfare of the State or by the short-term allure of investment headlines.
Yet, if development is meant to improve the well-being of citizens, the most basic question must be asked: are these projects actually making Goans happier?
Perhaps recognising this disconnect, the Goa government announced plans to develop the State’s first ‘Happiness Index’, intended to measure well-being beyond traditional economic indicators such as GDP. The initiative seeks to assess quality of life across areas such as health, education, environment, culture and community life.
The idea itself is admirable. Measuring progress through the well-being of citizens rather than merely through infrastructure and investment figures reflects an important shift in thinking.
But an index alone cannot create happiness. If anything, it invites a deeper question: can a State truly measure happiness while the landscapes, villages and communities that once defined its way of life are steadily being transformed?
Large-scale development inevitably reshapes the cultural and demographic character of a place. Goa’s identity has long been rooted in its village communities, agricultural landscapes and fishing traditions. That delicate balance is slowly beginning to erode.
Even more troubling is the absence of genuine consultation with the communities most affected by these decisions. Recent controversies surrounding the proposed river damming project in Mirabag-Sanvordem illustrate this concern. Decisions with significant environmental and social consequences appear to have moved forward without meaningful dialogue with the villagers who live there and whose lives will be directly affected.
The consequences are already visible: growing pressure on aquifers, sewage entering rivers and coastal waters, fragile ecosystems under strain, and infrastructure struggling to keep pace with approvals.
None of this resembles the kind of development that strengthens local communities. Instead, one increasingly senses that Goa is being reshaped into a playground for outside consumption, while the social and environmental costs are borne by the people who live here.
Goa is not a poor State struggling to build basic infrastructure. It is one of India’s more affluent states. Its citizens therefore have every right to expect the highest standards of governance, planning and public services.
Before approving the next mega township or grand new “city,” policymakers should answer one simple question: will this project genuinely improve the lives of Goans?
Because when development ceases to serve the people of a place, what disappears is not only land or livelihood, but a way of life. A place stops being home the moment its future is designed for someone else.
