Urbanization Process in India An assessment

Dr. K.V. Sasidhar* Dr. S.V. Srinivasa Sastry** Dr. Jasti Ravi Kumar***

INTRODUCTION Urbanization is an index of transformation from traditional rural economies to modern industrial one. It leads progressive concentration of population in urban unit. Qualification of urbanization is very difficult and a long process. Urbanization can simply define, is the shift from a rural to an urban society, and indicates an increase in the number of people in urban areas during a span of time. Urbanization is the outcome of social, economic and political developments that lead to urban concentration and growth of large cities, changes in land use and transformation from rural to metropolitan pattern of culture, organization and governance. This transformation is being placed by the increase in Natural Population (high births than deaths) and migration in the growth of cities in the developing countries. The natural increase is fuelled by improved medical care, better sanitation and improved food supplies, overcoming chronic diseases, which reduce death rates and cause populations to grow. In many developing countries, it is rural poverty that drives people from the rural areas into the city in search of employment, food, shelter and education. In India, most people move into the urban areas because they are pushed out by factors such as poverty, environmental degradation, religious strife, political persecution, food insecurity and lack of basic infrastructure and services in the rural areas or because they are pulled into the urban areas by the advantages and opportunities of the city including education, electricity, water, transportation, Medical facilities etc. Urbanization also finds expression principally in outward expansion of the built-up area and conversion of prime agricultural lands into residential, industrial and Special Economic Zones, Super Markets and Hyper Markets
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uses. An alternative to the present expansion of the urban population across a wide area of the country in order to save prime land for agriculture is to construct high-rise buildings and promote commercial development in specific zones, which would depend on effective, appropriate technology and resources. The urbanization processes are largely driven by market forces and government policies that lead to simultaneous processes of change in livelihoods, land use, health and natural resources management including water, soil and forests and often reactive changes in local governance. Government development policies and budget allocations, which often favour urban residents over rural areas, tend to pull people into urban areas. In the cities, public investment, which often misses the urban poor, with expenditures biased towards the higher-income classes and poverty among vulnerable groups such as new migrants force them into slums and squatter settlements. The market forces result in a series of changes in employment, urban agriculture and peri-urban production systems. Ready market leads to an increase in production of horticultural crops and perishables such as vegetables given the high demand and proximity to urban consumers. These factors therefore, act as a great centripetal force in favour of urbanization. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: The main objectives of this paper as follows: 1. To understand the process of urbanization in India. 2. To know how the urban population and its growth in India. 3. To assess the degree of urbanization in India. 4. To analyze the urban problems and its related issues. 5. To suggest measures to minimize the problems of urban areas. METHODOLOGY This study primarily based on secondary data comprising census figures of the total population, rural and urban population, annual growth of population, urban-rural ratio, list of significant cities, percentage of urban population to the total population and population figures of million-plus cities in India etc. for convenience to expose the concept. The tools of percentages, one-way, two-way tables are being used for analysis and comparisons.
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Indian Census Definition of Urban Area: By Census of India, 2001 two types of town were identified (R.G, 2001): a) Statutory towns: All places with a municipality, corporation, Cantonment board or Notified town area committee, etc. so declared by state law. b) Census towns: Places which satisfy following criteria: i) A minimum population of 5000 ; ii) At least 75% of male working population engaged in nonagricultural Pursuits; and iii) a density of population of at least 400 persons per square kilometer. GROWTH OF URBAN POPULATION IN INDIA: Economic development is generally associated with the growth of Urbanization. During the 20th century, India passed through a period of economic stagnation. Consequently, the extent of urbanization was very limited. Urban population was accounted for 10.84 percent of total population in 1901 moved to 27.78 percent by the year 2001. Table-1 RURAL URBAN POPULATION IN INDIA 1901-2001 (In Millions) Censu s Year 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 Rural Populatio n 223 226 223 246 275 299 360 439 524 629 742 Diffe rence 0 3 -3 23 29 24 61 79 85 105 113 Urban Population 26 26 28 33 44 62 79 109 159 218 285 Differ ence 0 0 2 5 11 18 17 30 50 59 67 % of Rural Populatio n 89.15 89.71 88.82 88.01 86.14 82.71 82.03 81.76 76.66 74.28 72.22 % of Urban Population 10.84 10.29 11.18 11.99 13.86 17.29 17.97 18.24 23.33 25.72 27.78

Table-1 indicates both the rural and urban population is increasing during the period 1901 to 2001 while, the percentage of rural population to the total population is declining. And more the increasing rate of the urban population is decreasing from 1981. TABLE-2 URBAN POPULATION PROJECTIONS 2001-2026 Year Urban Population in Millions Total Population in Millions 2001 286 1,029 2006 321 1,112 2011 358 1,192 2016 395 1,269 2021 433 1,340 2026 468 1,400 Source: The National Commission on population, 2001 to 2026. Urban Population Projections from 2001 to 2026 presented in Table-2. The trend of population and its variables for 25 years of period are used for policy making in various spheres of national and regional planning. The population of India expected to increase from 1,029 millions to 1,401 millions during the period 2001 to 2026, an increase of 36 percent in 25 years i.e. at the rate of 1.2 percent per year. The urban population is likely to increase from 286 millions to 468 million during 2001-2026. As a proportion of total population, it is expected to increase from 28 percent in 2001 to 33 percent by 2026. DEGREE OF URBANIZATION IN INDIA: The degree of urbanization related to number of people live in urban areas as a percentage to the total population of a country. 1) The degree of urban population = [(U/P)*100] 2) The degree of rural population = [(R/P)*100]
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3) The urban-rural population ratio = [(U/R)*100] Above are commonly used to measure the degree of urbanization. The values lies between 0 and 1 i.e. 0<(U / P)<1. If the value is 0, the total population equal to rural population vice versa. While the value is 1, the total population is equals to urban, but both are not ever happened. Likewise, whenever the value exactly lies between 0 and 1, means that there is one urbanite for each rural person. URBAN AGGLOMERATION: Urban agglomeration refers a continuous urban sprawl constituting a town and its surroundings urban outgrowths or two or more physical contiguous town together and any adjoining urban out growths of such towns like Railway Colonies, University Campus, Airports, High-tech Cities, Military Camps, Special Economic Zones etc. In the year 1780, no more than 40 cities in the world had populations of over one lakh, whereas the lists first published in 1870 of all the cities (of over one lakh) in the world put them at 164. By 1900 the number had risen to
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Environmental Studies by N. Balasubramanya, Gurdeep R. Chatwal, Himalaya Publishing House, New Delhi, year 2007, page,146. 2 Manorama, 2007. about 300, and by 1950 to 670. Since then the increase has been

dramatically changed to 1340 by 1960 and to 1872 by 1970 1. Below table-3 depicts the agglomeration phenomenon in India. The million-plus cities in India have been increased from 5 in 1951 to 23 in the year 1991 and reached to 35 by the year 2001. Of the total, 37 percent of the urban population is being lived in the million plus cities. The highlighted 12 cities in the table are recently added as million plus status2. TABLE-3 CITIES / URBAN AGGLOMERATIONS WITH S.No. Name of the city 1. Greater Mumbai 2. Kolkata 3. Delhi 4. Chennai OVER A MILLION PEOPLE population 16,368.084 13,216,546 12,791,458 6,424,624
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5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34 35.

Bangalore Hyderabad Ahmedabad Pune Surat Kanpur Jaipur Luck now Nagapur Patna Indore Vadodara Bhopal Coimbatore Ludhiana Kochi Visakhapatnam Madurai Varanasi Agra Jamshedpur Meerut Nashik Jabalpur Asonsol Dhanbad Faridabad Allhabad Amritsar Vijayawada Rajkot Total Source: Manorama, 2007

5,686,844 5,533,640 4,519,278 3,755,525 2,811,466 2,690,486 2,324,319 2,266,933 2,122,965 1,707,429 1,639,044 1,492,398 1,454,830 1,446,034 1,395,053 1,355,406 1,329,472 1,321,410 1,211,749 1,194,665 1,167,399 1,152,048 1,117,200 1,101,804 1,090,171 1,064,357 1,054,981 1,049,579 1,011,327 1,011,152 1,002,160 107,881,836

CHALLENGES OF URBANIZATION However, it is important to note that rapid urbanization poses particular risks that affect sustainable livelihoods of millions of people. The wide range of these effects includes degradation of the environment, Soil erosion, Deforestation, Destruction of watersheds and Wetlands, Traffic congestion, Contamination of water, food and environmental risks associated with lower strata areas.
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1. Urbanization leads to the outer expansion of cities and results in changes in land use. The urban residents purchase prime agricultural land for residential or commercial purposes. This conversion has been shown negative consequences on food security, water supply as well as the health of the people, both in the cities and in the peri-urban areas. 2. The pollution is particularly found to be worse where rivers pass through cities and the most widespread is contamination from human excreta, sewage and oxygen loss. 3. Sawmills, manufacturing Industries, Wastewater from urban drains and municipal dumping of waste especially human excreta pollute drinking water sources that affect the health of the urban and peri-urban populations. 4. Vulnerability of the urban population to natural disasters and diseases, especially recognized. 5. Other malfunctions that are associated with industrial and traffic injuries (sound and air pollutions) placed in the urbanization path. 6. The unhealthy environment and overcrowded housing in the slums expose the urban poor to get infectious diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and diarrhea which capture their lives. SUGGETIONS: 1. To stop the migration of people from rural areas to urban areas, it is suggested that the small towns and villages of surroundings of urban areas needed to develop with good facilities like education, transport, 2. protected drinking water, electricity, health and to communication facilities. For reduction of the pollution in urban areas, it is directed develop diversion roads (ring roads, by-pass roads )is needed to avoid the vehicle enter to cities and also suggested the sound, water, air polluted Industries should be shifted from towns to Specially Developed Industrial Zones. 3. The local Government Bodies should take initiation to maintain and supply of WHO standards of drinking water for this; it is needed to construct the more number of filter beds and water lines to Urbanites.
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HIV/AIDS

and

atmospheric

pollution

has

also

been

4.

The Local Government also take initiation to reduce the slum areas, it has to construct multi-storied buildings for the poor people to provide houses and good road facilities, electricity lines, drinking water facilities and drainage system is needed.

5.

For the avoiding of accidents and traffic jams, it is suggested to construct six line roads with speed limits, necessary indicators, Flyover & circle Bridges, Traffic Police and Mobile Firs-Aid Cars development is required.

6.

For the development of Urban Areas, it is to avoid the conversation of lands from agriculture to business complexes, housing colonies without clearance of local body norms and conditions is to make compulsory to avoid unscientific development.

CONCLUSION: It is concluded that, the urbanization is an index of transformation from traditional rural economies to modern industrial one. For the majority of urban dwellers, especially the poor, finding potable water supply, affordable shelter, accessible and secure urban land for agriculture to ensure food security, securing gainful employment and improvement in health facilities would continue to remain a challenge. Since restrictive urban growth policies, especially population distribution designed to reduce the rate of rural-urban migration appear to have had limited success. The policies must be directed at transforming the rural economy in order to slow the rate of urban sprawl. Comprehensive land use planning and revision of planning standards and administrative procedures are required to go a long way to, reduce many of the Challenges that face urban population. REFRENCES 1. Rudra Datt and K.P.M. Sundaram (2008)-Human Resources and Economic Development- Indian Economy- S.Chand & Company Ltd.,New Delhi-Page51-55. 2. Pranathi Datta (2006)- Urbanization in India Regional and SubRegional Population Dynamic Population Process in Urban Areas European Population Conference 21-24 Jne,2006WebPranatidatta@hotmail.com. 3. Manorama Year Book-2007- Population- Malayalam Manorama Kottayam, Kerala-Page-508-509.
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4. S.K.Mishra & V.K. Puri (2008)- Indian Economy- Urbanization and the Development Process Himalayan Publishing House PVT Ltd, MubaiPage-130. 5. Registrar General (2001) Census of India- 2001, Emerging Trends of Urbanization in India, Occasional paper No. 1 of 1993, Registrar General, New Delhi. 6. Environmental Studies by N. Balasubramanya, Gurdeep R. Chatwal, Himalaya Publishing House, 2007, New Delhi.