\n\n<\/span>Growth of Urban Settlements in India<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\nUnderstanding the Meaning of Growth of Urban Settlements or Urbanization in India<\/strong>. Sociologists <\/span>define Growth of urban settlement or urbanization as the movement of people from village to town\/city where economic activities are centered around non-agricultural occupations, such as trade, manufacturing, industry and management Broadly speaking, in order to explain to process of urbanization we can discuss the following three aspects:<\/span><\/p>\n\n- The demographic-spatial aspects of urbanization deal with shift of people from rural to urban areas, population density in urban areas and change in the pattern of land use from agriculture to non-agricultural activities.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
- Economic aspects of urbanization relate to the change from agricultural to non-agricultural occupations. As cities have been the centres of diverse economic opportunities, they attract people from rural areas.<\/strong>\u00a0This attraction pulls a significant section of the rural population to the urban areas. Rural poverty, backwardness of agricultural economy and the destruction of cottage and small industries also push villagers to urban areas. These pull and push factors of migration play an important role in the process of urbanization.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The socio-cultural aspects urbanization\u00a0<\/strong>highlights\u00a0the emerging heterogeneity in urban areas.<\/strong>\u00a0The city has generally been the meeting point of races and cultures.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Some features of Urbanization in Ancient and Medieval India :<\/strong>\u00a0The process of urbanization in various periods of Indian history had distinctive spatial economic, religious, socio-cultural political features.There features are described here under three broad headings.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Political, Demographic and Spatial Factors:\u00a0<\/strong>The early processes of urbanization had their close relationship with the rise and fall of sponsoring political regimes and cultural history of India, Indeed cities emerged in those periods mainly based on political considerations.\u00a0\u201cThe composition of these towns was built around the ruler and his kinsmen and followers, whose principal interests were centered on agricultural activities in their vicinity and the surplus they could extract from these\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>(Sabarwal). Fortification in the form of a girdle of walls and defensive ditches was an important physical feature of the traditional towns. Town planning of ancient cities not only took note of the needs of defence but also of the settlement of various castes in separate wards, and the location of different activities connected with manufacturing, commerce, trade, religion, recreation, administration and justice.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Economic:\u00a0<\/strong>In spite of the rise and fall of the political powers and shifting religious bases, the social and economic institution of the traditional cities has shown certain stability. Guild formation was an important feature of traditional towns. Merchants and craftsmen were organized into guilds called shreni. In those towns there were the guilds based on the occupation of one caste shreni and also the guilds based on different cases and different occupations called puga.\u00a0Rao\u00a0<\/strong>points out that the guilds performed important function in the traditional towns in terms of banking, trading, manufacturing and to a limited extent judicial.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Religious and socio-cultural:\u00a0<\/strong>Authorities of the traditional urban centres patronized particular religion or sects. This had been delineated in the social organization and culture of the towns. For example, Pataliputra reflected the Brahminical Hindu civilization under the rule of Chandra Gupta Maurya, while under Ashokan rule Buddhism flourished Similarly the Islamic civilization was concertized by the Muslim rule in the imperial capitals of Delhi, Lucknow, and Hyderabad and in other places. The traditional towns were erogenous in terms of the multiplicity of the religious, sectarian and caste groups. Strain specialist castes like florist, tailor were to be found only in big towns. Each ethnic or religious group was governed by its own customary laws. The caste and the occupational guilds also had their own laws sanctioned by the political authority (Ray).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
New features of Urbanization in Early Colonial Period<\/span><\/h3>\n\n- With the coming of European colonial traders in India, the process of urbanization entered into a new phase. Cities grew up in the coastal areas as ports-cum-trading centres. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, European trading posts were established initially for trading purposes. As the British power grew in the 19th century, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras became the political centres too, Indeed in this period with the introduction and development of advanced technological knowledge, we find the emergence of new economic and political institutions, new modes of communication such as telegraph, railways, advanced system of roads and waterways. The process of urbanization became smooth widened the structure of economic opportunity and widened the social horizons of people.<\/span><\/li>\n
- In the nineteenth century, though the process of urbanization grew in a modest way, the countryside suffered from the gradual process of the destruction of the cottage and small industries in the rural areas. In this situation, the new economic opportunity structure pulled a significant section of population to the urban areas. Many of the artisans became unemployed Hence, the displaced rural artisans and labourers were also pushed to urban areas for employment The late nineteenth century, however, witnessed a large scale migration of the rural labour force especially from Bihar and eastern United Provinces towards the jute mills of Calcutta and other industrial destinations. To avail the new economic opportunities many people migrated either temporarily or permanently to the urban areas.<\/span><\/li>\n
- With the spread of education, the institutional arrangements of the urban centres also changed The educated people joined the bureaucracy, and also took up jobs as teachers, journalists, lawyers and so on. They brought about a new worldview. The urban centres gradually grow up to be the centres of new social and political ideas, diverse economic activities and of heterogeneous populations. The new process of urbanization presented various economic opportunities and scope for occupational and social mobility; it was only the upper caste and class people who were able to make use of these opportunities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Growth of Urban Settlement in Contemporary India<\/span><\/h3>\nThe new process of urbanisation which began with the advent of the British received a momentum at the beginning of twentieth century. The process of this urbanization has some distinctive features.<\/span><\/p>\nIndia is passing through a phase of rapid urbanization in the contemporary phase of the transition of society. The modern urban centres perform diversified functions in terms of economic, administrative and political and so on.<\/strong>\u00a0Here, it is very difficult to classify the towns and cities in terms of a single activity. Generally, people classify urban areas on the basis of some prominent socio-economic and political features. For example, people mention that there are historical cities like Delhi, Calcutta, Banaras, Lucknow etc., industrial cities like Ghaziabad Modinagar, Kanpur, Jamshedpur, Bhilai etc., religious cities like Mathura, Hardwar, Madurai, Allahabad etc., Cities reputed for film making, like Bombay and Madras, have a special appeal for a villager or a small-town dweller.\u00a0In sociology, we discuss the pattern of urbanization in terms of its demographic, spatial and economic and socio cultural aspects. But before we take up these aspects, let us also briefly explain how we define a town in the Indian context.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nAny place which satisfied the following criteria of\u2026\u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n- A minimum of 5,000 persons,<\/span><\/li>\n
- At least 75% of the working occupations are non-agricultural,<\/span><\/li>\n
- A density of not less than1,000 persons per square mile, and<\/span><\/li>\n
- A place should have certain industrial areas, large housing settlements, places of tourist importance and civic amenities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Spatial Pattern:<\/span><\/h4>\n\n- Spatial disparities have marked the Indian urban scenario.These disparities emerged mainly due to regional disparities, imbalanced population concentration and some times because of the change in the census definition of \u201curban areas\u2019. In this context we need to mention about two concepts, namely over-urbanization and sub-urbanization. Towns or urban areas have certain limitations in accommodating population, providing civic amenities or catering to such needs as schooling, hospitals etc. Beyond certain optimum capacities, it becomes difficult for the town administration to provide facilities for the increasing population. Bombay and Calcutta are two such examples of cities (among others) which have urban population growth beyond their capacities to manage. This feature refers to over-urbanization.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Closely related to over-urbanization of a town is a feature called sub-urbanization. When towns get overcrowded by population, it may result in sub-urbanization. Delhi is a typical example (among others) where sub-urbanization trend is taking place around it Sub-urbanization means urbanization of rural areas around the towns characterized by the following features :<\/span>\n
\n- Increase in the \u2018urban (non-agricultural) uses\u2019 of land,<\/span><\/li>\n
- Inclusion of surrounding areas of town within its municipal limits, and<\/span><\/li>\n
- Intensive communication of all types between town and its surrounding areas.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Economic Aspect:<\/span><\/h4>\n\n- According to\u00a0Mill and Becker<\/strong>, urbanization is a natural and inevitable consequence of economic development Urbanization accompanies economic development because economic development entails a massive shift of labour and other inputs from predominantly rural sectors to those predominantly urban.\u00a0The National Commission on Urbanization of India\u00a0<\/strong>recognizes the economic importance of the Indian cities and towns. It considers \u201curbanization as a catalyst for economic development and that the towns and cities despite their problems are for the millions and millions of our people, the road to a better future\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n
- When we examine the various cities in India, we find that some cities have come up during the last eighty years in places where there was nothing but forests earlier. One of the first steel cities in India, like Jamshedpur in Bihar, has provided employment to a large number of people including the Santhals. These tribals who were relatively isolated earlier have come into contact with a wide section of Indian population, coming from different regions, speaking different languages, and so on. Besides Jamshedpur, three more steel towns have emerged after Independence. These are Bhilai in Madhya Pradesh, Rourkela in Orissa and Durgapur in West Bengal. Emergence of these steel factories has brought about not only property but has led to the modification of the whole social scenario of this area.\u00a0According to Srinivas,<\/strong>\u00a0areas which were socio-economically backward have now become prosperous and cosmopolitan.<\/span><\/li>\n
- While talking about the economic features of urbanization in contemporary India,\u00a0occupational diversification and migration appear to be the key aspects.\u00a0<\/strong>The degree of urban-industrialization and planned development through the Five Year Plans could\u00a0not bring about a significant shift in occupational structure in Indian.<\/strong>\u00a0The percentage of Indian labour force in agriculture remained static between 1901and 1971. In the said period 69.4% of the total labour force was in agriculture respectively. Though the percentage of urban population increased substantially during this period there has not been corresponding increase in the percentage of the labour force in the urban manufacturing, construction and service sector.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The proportion of urban population engaged in the primary sector (comprising, household industry, mining quarrying, and fishing) showed an increase and that in the secondary sector (Comprising manufacturing and processing) showed decrease contrary to expectations. The tertiary sector (comprising commerce and service) showed a slight recovery.<\/strong>\u00a0Even within the urban sector, there is a\u00a0distinct traditional\/rural component of occupation which is significant.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
- This brings out the still persisting, and unabsorbed rural element in the urban sector, mostly in\u00a0the periphery of large urban settlements and in the medium and small towns with a strong agricultural base.<\/strong>\u00a0It appears that the urban commercial sector responded more to urbanization than did the industrial sector in terms of working population.<\/span><\/li>\n
- There is widespread unemployment among the unskilled and other marginal workers in most of the cities.\u00a0Again, unemployment among educated classes in urban areas is a peculiar feature in Indian society.<\/strong>\u00a0It is estimated that 46% of the total educated unemployed are reported to be concentrated in the four major metropolitan cities in Indian (Sabarwal).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Urbanization and Migration<\/span><\/h4>\n\n- In the process of urbanization in India, migration of the rural people to the urban areas has been continuous and is an important feature. The Urban Commission of India viewed rural urban migration to be \u201cof vital importance for the development of rural areas\u201d. The commission again points out that besides releasing the surplus labour from the rural areas, for the landless labourers, harijans and adivasis these cities provide the opportunities which are enshrined in our Constitution. For these millions, our urban centres will continue to be havens of hope, where they can forge a new future (Mehta).<\/span><\/li>\n
- In India, this increase in urban-ward migration is of fairly recent origin which began in the late 1930s. Of the total migrants in urban areas 20% persons are displaced from Pakistan, 51% from rural areas of the same state and 25% from the rural areas of other states. An important feature of the immigrant stream in urban areas is its predominantly male character (Sabarwal).<\/span><\/li>\n
- Due to the increase of unemployment in the rural areas, surplus rural labour force gets pushed to urban centres with the hope of getting employment The other factors which have pulled sections of the rural population including the affluent sections) toward the city has been the expectation of a variety of glamorous jobs, good housing medical educational and communication facilities.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Here it is significant to note that industrialization should not be taken as prerequisite for urbanization, as the process of migration from village starts when a relative saturation point is reached in the field of agriculture. This is a result of an imbalanced land\/man ratio in the countryside.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Socio cultural aspect of growth of urban settlements<\/span><\/h3>\nUrbanization has been viewed as an important force of social change in India, this process has, on the one hand, meant economic growth, political change new values and new attitudes. It reflects also the elements of continuity between rural and urban social structures. In the process of urbanization the towns and cities of India have achieved heterogeneous character in terms of ethnicity, caste, race, class and culture.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nIn the urban areas there has always been coexistence of different cultures.\u00a0Studies show that though various ethnic and\/or caste groups have adjusted themselves with each other in the city they have also tried to maintain their traditional identity. The migrants have maintained distinctive cultural traditions in the towns. Various migrant groups have maintained their own cultural identity.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n- N.K. Bose<\/strong>\u00a0points out that the migrants tend to cluster around people with whom they have linguistic; local regional caste and ethnic ties.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Jagannath and Haklar\u00a0<\/strong>in there study on the pavement-dwellers in Calcutta shows that they retain close ties with kinship and caste groups for socializing and transmitting or receiving information from the village. Thus cultural-pluralism has been an important socio-cultural dimension of the urbanites.<\/span><\/li>\n
- According to Srinivas<\/strong>\u00a0many of the Indian towns have a \u201cmixed\u201d character, i.e., they are the capital cities, centres of trade and commerce, important railway junctions etc.In these types of cities we find a \u201ccore\u201darea which consists of the old inhabitants. This area is the oldest in the city and on its fringe we find the new immigrants.The pattern of residence of this \u201ccore\u201d population shows a close relation to language, caste and religion. Bombay is cited as an example of this type of city.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Lynch also<\/strong>\u00a0points out that in many Indian cities, especially in the traditional cities like Agra, neighbourhoods have remained homo-geneous in terms of caste and religious groups. There the untouchable Jatav caste is concentrated in particular areas called mohallas (ward). But changes have taken place mostly because of politicization, spread of education, and occupational diversification. But\u00a0D\u2019Souza\u00a0<\/strong>noted that in the planned city like Chandigarh neighbourhood has not been developed on the basis of ethnicity, common interest and other similarities. In this city the religious activities, friendship and educational ties are often outside one\u2019s own neighbourhood.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Family, Marriage and Kinship in Urban India<\/span><\/h3>\n\n- Marriage and family are two important aspects of social life. In the urban areas caste norms have been flexible with regard to the selection of mates. There have been increasing opportunities for the free mixing of young men and women. Again the voluntary associations have encouraged inter-caste marriages. As a result there have been more inter-caste and inter-religious marriages in the urban areas than earlier. Though it has been pointed out that joint families are breaking down in the urban areas, studies conducted in several parts of the country also suggest that joint families do exist in the cities among certain castes like Khatris of Delhi and Chettiars of Madras.<\/span><\/li>\n
- It is usually assumed that the process of urbanization leads to decline in family size, weakening or family ties and breakup of joint family system into nuclear families.This assumption presupposes that joint family, as it is found in India, is an institution of rural India associated with agrarian economy.<\/span><\/li>\n
- But as a matter of fact joint families are found in urban areas as welL The correlation of \u201cjoint\u201d family with rural areas and \u201cnuclear\u201d family with urban is not tenable. Sociologists have gathered ample proof that joint families are as common in urban areas as in rural and that in both rural and urban areas a family may undergo a process of cyclical change from nuclear to joint and back to nuclear within a period of time.<\/span><\/li>\n
- When we observe the household dimension of family in urban India, the studies by\u00a0K. M. Kapadia, I. P. Desai, A. M. Shah, R. Mukherjee,<\/strong>\u00a0indicate that there is no correlation between urbanization and \u2018separate\u2019 unclear households.Assumption that Indian urbanites live in nuclear households and that urbanization leads to breaking up to joint families cannot be sustained. Some studies show that not only kinship is an important principle of social organization in cities but also that there is structural congruity between joint family on one hand, and requirements of industrial and urban life, on the other.<\/span>\n
\n- Milton Singer<\/strong>, from a detailed case study of nineteen families of outstanding business leaders in Madras city, argues that a modified version of traditional Indian joint family is consistent with urban and industrial setting.<\/span><\/li>\n
- I.P. Desai\u00a0<\/strong>studied the role of wider family relationships. He points out that when there is some serious illness and people need to utilize the hospital facilities not available locally, members of the family and close kin residing in the bigger cities are called in for help. Likewise when a person in rural areas needs educational or economic advancement, be calls upon his urban counterparts for help.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Recent studies<\/strong>\u00a0show the important role of family and kinship \u2018networks\u2019 for the rural based boys seeking new avenues in the urban setting. They also show how the elders negotiating with urban institutions like banks, the administration, or the polity, ask for the help of their young relatives in cities. This does not however suggest that there have been no changes in the family structure. Some of the changes, which call attention to the gradual modification of the family structure in urban India, are:<\/span><\/li>\n
- Diminishing size of the family, owing to the increasing awareness of family planning measures,<\/span><\/li>\n
- Reduction in functions of family as a result of relegation of certain educational, recreational and other functions previously performed by families to other institutions,<\/span><\/li>\n
- Relative equality in regard to status and rights of women as a consequence of more and more women seeking employment resulting in economic independence of women.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
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