Urbanisation(Social Issues - General Studies Paper 1)

Roadmap• Meaning of Urbanisation

• Process of Urbanisation

• History of Urbanisation in India

• Trends

• Social Effects of Urbanisation

• Challenges

• Problems

• Some suggestions

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Census Definition• Census 2011

– Constituents of Urban areas are statutory towns, census towns and out growths

• Census Town – Population exceeds 5,000– At least 75% of main working population is employed outside

the agricultural sector– Minimum population density of 400 persons per km

• Statutory town – All places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or

notified town area committee• Outgrowth

– A viable unit such as a village or part of a village contiguous to a statutory town and possess the urban features in terms of infrastructure and amenities such as pucca roads, electricity, taps, drainage system, educational institutions, post offices, medical facilities, banks etc. example - Railway colonies, university colonies and port areas

Characteristics that sets an urban area apart from a rural area

Occupation EnvironmentSize of

communityDensity of population

HeterogeneityDifferentiation &

stratification Mobility System of

interactions

Complex division of

labour

High levels of technology

Impersonality in social relations

Process of Urbanisation• Socio Cultural Process

• Political Administrative Process

• Economic Process

• Geographical Process

• Melting pot of people

• Aryanisation – Capital, Commerical, sacred cities

• Persianisation - Islamic cities, Persian/Urdu official language

• Westernisation – 150 years of British rule

Socio Cultural Process

• 5th Century to 18th Century AD

• Rise and Fall of kingdoms (Delhi, Pataliputra, Madurai)

• Initial stimulus for urban growth

• Growth of commercial and industrial activities

Political Administrative Process

• Focal point of economic activitiesEconomic Process

• Macro urbanisation – rural to urban migration

• Metropolisation – small towns to larger cities, capitals

• Sub urbanisation – spatial overflow of metropolitan population to peripheryGeographical Process

Approaches to understand Urbanisation• Urbanism as a Way of Life

– As a physical structure

– As a system of social organisation

– As a set of attitudes and ideas

• Ecological Approach

– Cities do not grow randomly but grow along lines and in response to features which are advantageous to it–along rivers, near natural resources, in the intersection of trading roles, etc.

– Process of competition, invasion and succession

– Concentric zone, transition zone, commuter zone

• Urbanism is not an autonomous process

– But is part of a larger political and economic processes and changes

– Determined by larger firms and governments

• Indian thinkers

– Traditional and modern structures coexist in cities

– But new forms of social organisation and association have emerged.

– Urbanisation is a two way process

– Not a uniform process

Image Source -

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-fatehpur-sikri-capital-city-of-mughal-emperor-akbar-agra-uttar-pradesh-104267346.html

https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/town-planning-of-harappan

https://scroll.in/latest/875405/west-bengal-calcutta-high-court-stays-panchayat-election-processes-till-april-16

Urbanisation in India• 1st Phase

– Indus Valley Civilisation 2350 BC

– Declined by 1500 BC

• 2nd Phase

– Began around 600BC

– Aryans in North

– Dravidians in South

• 2500 years of continuity

– Mauryan ,Post Mauryan, Mughal Cities

– Massive growth of slums

• British Impacts

– Early phase – decline of cities . Why ?

– Latter half- cities regained, emergence of new cities and towns

– Creation of 3 metropolitan cities

– Hill stations , Civil lines and Cantonments , New industrial townships

– Improvement in urban amenities and administration

• Post Independence Period

– Influx of refugees

– Building of new administrative cities

– New industrial cities and townships

– Rapid growth of one-lakh and million cities

– Stagnation of small towns

Trends of Urbanisation in India

• Rate of Urbanisation

– 11.4% as per 1901 census

– 28.53% as per 2001 census

– 31.16 % as per the 2011 census

– 54.5% global average (2016)

• Estimate (UN State of the World Population report)

– 40.76% by 2030

Peculiar phenomenon in India• Industrial growth without a significant shift of population from

agriculture to industry

• Growth of urban population without a significant rise in the ratio of the urban to the total population

• Can be an enormous stress on the systems if not managed properly

– Took 40 years to rise by 230 million (Urban Population)

– 20 years add the next 250 million

• Urban India today is “distributed”

– Distributed model of urbanisation

– Unbalanced development

• Issue

– Only now we are discussing urbanisation

– Indian cities contribute more than 62% to our national GDP

Social effects - Family and kinship

• Changes in the functions of a family

• Impacts intra and inter-family relations

• Husband dominant family to egalitarian family

• Attachment of children to family is intact

• Residentially nuclear but functionally joint

• Size of family shrinking – but spirit of individualism ?

• The migrant faces the problem to replace old relationships with new ones

• Relations with one’s distant kin are weakened

Social effects - Urbanisation and Caste

• Caste is a rural phenomenon and class is Urban phenomenon

• Education, individual achievement orientation, modern status symbols.

• Fusion of castes and sub castes

• Class ties vs. caste ties.

• Caste solidarity ? Caste Panchayats ?

• Dichotomy between workplace and domestic situation

• But caste can be vote banks

• Caste can also become a basis for organizing trade unions

Social effects - Women• Migration of women - Marriage , Potential worker

• White-collar jobs:

– Middle class women

– Enhancing the social and economic status of women

• Informal Sector

– More Women presence as men are first to acquire specialized skills

• Have to perform dual roles - social and professional.

• Status of women

– The status of urban women higher than that of rural women(educated and liberated)

– In labour markets ?

Challenges

Demand for every key service will increase five-to seven fold in cities of

every size and type.

India spends $17 per capita per year in urban

infrastructure (100$ benchmark)

The investment required for urban infrastructure in India US $ 1 trillion

Incomplete devolution of functions to the elected

bodies

Capacity to execute the urban reforms and

projects at the municipal and state level

inadequate

Very few Indian cities have 2030 master plans

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Problems

Over Crowding•85% and 90% of households -> one or two rooms.

•Sometimes 5-6 persons live in one room.

Water supply•75% get piped supply

•But Lack of 24*7 supply (4-5 hrs average)

•Intermittent supply

•Many small towns have no main water supply

•Non Revenue water 40-70%

Drainage and Sanitation•Large pools of stagnant water

•ULBs lack motivation, expertise

•People lack of civic sense

Transportation and Traffic•Absence of planned and adequate arrangements

•The increasing number vehicles

•Air pollution

•Long hours of travel

Environmental Pollution•Discharge of entire sewage and industrial effluents

•Increases the chances of diseases among the people living in the urban centres.

Housing and Slums•0.9 Million homeless, 65 million in slums

•Acute shortage of housing (but unsold apartments)

•Sub-standard quality (33%)

•lack of electrification, roads, ventilation, sanitation, drinking water facilities.

•Deviant behavior, diseases, mental health issues

12th Plan – Enablers for Urbanisation

Five enablers for urbanisation

• Governance

• Planning

• Financing

• Capacity building

• Innovation

UrbanGovernance

• Municipal Services Regulators

– Monitor service levels

– Adjudicate disputes related to delivery and pricing of services.

• Strengthen the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (Suggested by 2nd ARC)

– All the “million plus” metropolitan areas should set up an UMTA

– Develop and implement city level transportation plans.

• Introduce Citizen Charters.

• E-governance must be a mandatory reform

• Set up Lokayuktas/Ombudsman

UrbanPlanning

• The plan should take into account

– A city’s natural endowment

– Its economic potential

– Should promote clean and green city

• Spatial development Plan

• Citizen participation.

• Strategic densification

– To accommodate future urbanisation needs

– Providing higher FSI to make the economics of affordable housing viable should be considered.

• Proximity and connectivity linkages with an existing metropolitan city.

• Identify such corridors and nodes with urban growth potential and facilitate their development

Financing• Strengthen the municipal finances and make them

predictable

• Ensure Generation of Non-budgetary Revenues through Innovative Measures – Example - FSI

• People–Private–Public Partnerships: – More important in large infrastructure projects

– Best practices and model documents for ‘PPPP’ must be evolved and deployed for India’s urban management agenda to succeed.

Building Capacity• ‘Task-Aligned’ Approaches

• IT-based training systems

• Setting up of Indian Institutes of Urban Management (IIUMs)

• E-governance initiatives including Online Project Management Information System

Innovation• Portals where cities can learn from each other

• Sharing of ideas

• References

– IGNOU

– http://planningcommission.gov.in/plans/planrel/12thplan/pdf/12fyp_vol2.pdf

– http://www.rics.org/in/news/news-insight/news/indias-urbanisation-challenge/

– https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/urbanisation/urban-awakening-in-india

– https://thewire.in/culture/india-urbanisation-smart-cities