The Topic of this conference is very open ended and wide in scope. However, I would like to structure this paper along my experiences of working with the local authority in a small city of North India during the past few months. So far,’South1 ’ has had relatively many more no. of cities, more so million plus cities. These cities in India are gaining more importance by the day, as its resident is becoming more exposed, literate and ambitious. With the saturation of the metropolitans, these cities are becoming like small megacities. They have thriving markets, local activity and social diversity, though the governance and city management are still undergoing a process of upgradation. However there are many aspects relating to their social and physical nature, in this paper, I would especially like to highlight the need for secular and democratic institutions in them. How I define such institutions is where the city comes as a whole, identities merging. True urban environments offer such institutions in the form of public libraries, art galleries and city halls, public gardens etc. Do these small cities offer any such oppertunity, and what is the potential in them? This paper draws references to my last project, which involves analysis of an Urban public space for Bareilly city in Uttar Pradesh. This exercise ended with providing the local authority a detailed urban design proposal to modify a market square and enhance its potential as a public space. In short the issue that this paper addresses is that of lack of physical space in the city that offers equal opportunity as a public space. Thus, it is on these lines that this paper would address the key issues being faced by southern cities of small-scale and their tremendous possibilities.