urbanization in India

File:Culture Sights Mumbai City India Urban Skyline.jpg is a planned city to expand the growing urban population of Mumbai]]

Post-independence, India faced high rates of poverty, unemployment, and a stagnant economy. Post-independence India focused on the domain of science and technology.{{cite book|author=N. M. Khilnani|title=Socio-Political Dimensions of Modern India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i7ayFbhJ9GcC&pg=PA96|access-date=15 June 2012|year=1993|publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd.|isbn=978-81-85880-06-8|pages=96–}} The mixed economy system was adopted, resulting in the growth of the Public sector in India crippling down the development of Indian economy leading to what is popularly known as Hindu rate of growth.{{cite book|author1=TR Jain |author2=Mukesh Trehan |author3=Ranju Trehan |title=Indian Economy and Business Environment (for BBA)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dFikLcurErIC&pg=PA250|access-date=15 June 2012|publisher=FK Publications|isbn=978-81-87344-71-1|pages=250=}} The South Asian region though predominantly rural (accounting for 69.9% rural population as of 2010), has recorded much higher annual growth of urban population. India, the leading country in South Asia has shown an unprecedented increase in the urban population in the last few decades and its urban population has increased about 14 fold from 1901 to 2011. This growth is mainly uneven but not skewed and not concentrated to a single city of the country. India shares most characteristic features of urbanization in the developing countries where the rate of urbanization is faster than the developed countries. For instance, in 1971 there were only about 150 cities whose population was more than one lakh, now this figure has reached to 500. The urban population of India has increased from 25.85 million in 1901 to 377.11 million in 2011.{{cite journal|last=Nandy|first=S. N.|title=Urbanization in India – Past, Present and Future Consequences|url=https://www.academia.edu/28277617|language=en}}

File:India_urbanization_rate_map.svg

Since 1941, India has witnessed the rapid growth of its four largest metropolitan cities: Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai.{{cite book|author1=Viswambhar Nath|author2=Surinder K. Aggarwal|title=Urbanization, Urban Development, and Metropolitan Cities in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Obd1vEVEPdgC&pg=PA3|access-date=15 June 2012|date=1 January 2007|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-8069-412-7|pages=3–}} The nation's economy has undergone Industrial Revolution, thus increasing the standard of living of people living in urban areas.{{cite web|title=The Indian Industrial Revolution|url=http://www.srcindore.org/industrial-revolution-in-india-pro-independence.php|access-date=15 June 2012|publisher=Srcindore.org}} The growth of the public sector resulted in development of public transport, roads, water supply, electricity, and other infrastructure of urban areas.

As the percentage contribution of the secondary sector to India's GDP has increased, the percentage contribution from the agricultural sector has declined. It is estimated that the agricultural sector provides employment to 50% of the country's workforce, but accounts for only 18% of the GDP.{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/realtime/Economic_Survey_2017_18.pdf|title=The Economic Survey 2017-18 ;|website=The Times of India }} Many farmers in different states of India are leaving farming, primarily because of high input cost and low income from agriculture. Also, the prolonged use of fertilizers, chemicals, and hybrid seeds has led to a decline in land fertility. Struggling to make a living, many farmers have committed suicide.

Maharashtra was the most urbanized major state in India till 1991, stood behind Tamil Nadu in 2001 and third after it in 2011, with Kerala being second,{{cite web|title=Rural-Urban distribution of population|url=http://pibmumbai.gov.in/English/PDF/E2011_PR1143.PDF|publisher=Census of India Press Release|access-date=19 November 2013}} with the urban-total state population ratio. However, Maharashtra's urban population of 41 million, far exceeds that of Tamil Nadu which is at 27 million, as per the 2001 census.{{cite web|title=Urbanization|url=http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/stateplan/sdr_maha/ch-13-14-02-05.pdf|publisher=Planning Commission (India)|access-date=15 June 2012}} The spatial distribution of large cities in India is uneven as out of 100 most populous cities in the country more than 50 are confined to only 5 states namely, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The World Bank estimated in 2011 that two thirds of India's GDP was generated in cities.{{Cite web |title=Urbanization in India |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2011/09/22/india-urbanization |access-date=2023-05-20 |website=World Bank |language=en}}

In 2014, World Bank projected that by 2030, India's top five cities would have economies comparable to middle income countries in 2014.{{Cite web |date=2019-01-18 |title=Why the world should be watching India's fast-growing cities |url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/india-urbanization-why-the-world-should-watch/ |access-date=2023-05-20 |website=World Economic Forum |language=en}}

The main causes of urbanization in India are:

• Expansion in government services, as a result of the Second World War
• Migration of people during the partition of India{{cite book|author1=Viswambhar Nath|author2=Surinder K. Aggarwal|title=Urbanization, Urban Development, and Metropolitan Cities in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Obd1vEVEPdgC&pg=PA6|access-date=13 June 2012|date=1 January 2007|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-8069-412-7|page=6}}{{cite book|title=The Indian and Pakistan year book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RodAQAAMAAJ|access-date=15 June 2012|year=1951|publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Co.}}{{cite book|author1=Jonathan M. Harris|author2=Tufts University. Global Development and Environment Institute|title=A Survey of Sustainable Development: Social And Economic Dimensions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0D1o1q2sqZsC&pg=PA142|access-date=15 June 2012|date=1 March 2001|publisher=Island Press|isbn=978-1-55963-863-0|pages=142–}}
• Industrial development in urban areas
• India's eleventh Five-Year Plan, which targeted urbanization as a means to accelerate economic development{{cite book|author=Amitabh Kundu|title=Trends and processes of urbanization in india|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wVHu1souvqYC&pg=PA1|access-date=13 June 2012|publisher=IIED|page=1|id=GGKEY:NNAEQJ0WFTW}}
• Economic opportunities, including employment
• Better opportunities for education
• Infrastructure facilities in urban areas{{cite news|title=Does infrastructure play role in urbanization: evidence from India|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-169308044|newspaper=Indian Journal of Economics and Business|author=Pradhan, Rudra Prakash|access-date=7 January 2019|archive-date=6 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206200220/https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-169308044|url-status=dead}}
• Growth of the private sector after 1990{{cite web|url=http://www.businessnewsthisweek.com/2009/02/role-of-private-sector-in-indias-growth.html |title=Role of private sector in India's growth ~ Business News This Week |publisher=Businessnewsthisweek.com |date=8 February 2009 |access-date=21 June 2012}}
• Land fragmentation: some villages have been erased due to construction of roads, highways, dams, and other infrastructure
• Non-profitability of farming

The National Sample Survey Organisation reported the following urban unemployment rates for the period July 2011–June 2012:{{cite web | url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=103996 | title=Status of Urban Employment in the Country | publisher=PIB | date=20 February 2014 | access-date=21 February 2014}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last1=Ballhatchet|first1=Kenneth|last2=Harrison|first2=John|title=The City in South Asia: Pre-Modern and Modern|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W6ixAAAAIAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Curzon Press|isbn=9780391011298}}

• [https://www.urbanet.info/focus-weeks-india-infographics/ URBANET Urbanisation in India | Infographics]

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Category:Urbanization in India

Category:Society of India

Category:Economy of India

Category:Geography of India