Urbanisation and its Hazards (2008): Civil Services Mentor Magazine September 2013

Urbanization refers to general increase in population and the amount of industrialization of a settlement. It includes increase in the number and extent of cities. It symbolizes the movement of people from rural to urban areas. Urbanization happens because of the increase in the extent and density of urban areas. The density of population in urban areas increases because of the migration of people from less industrialized regions to more industrialized areas. The concept “Urban Sprawl” means increase in spatial scale or increase in the peripheral area of cities. “Urban Sprawl” has its own drawbacks.

The city and its infrastructure may not be adequately planned.

Traffic is high with increased time needed for commuting.

Essential services are not reachable within time.

City administration becomes extremely difficult.

An excellent example of urban sprawl within our country is that of the city of Bangalore. After the establishment of IT industry in Bangalore, the population exploded from 24,76,355 in 1980 to 42,92,223 in 2001 with influx of 18 lakh immigrants within two decades. The growing population has increased pressure on several resources including civic amenities, residential availability, cost of living, local infrastructure, transport, traffic and
administration. Bangalore has lost many if its water bodies (lakes) and consequently the fragile ecosystem has been disturbed due to the everincreasing need for space, to cater to residences and business establishments.

The beginning of urbanization can be traced back to Renaissance times in 16th century. Turkish assaults resulted in movement of Christians from the east to western European countries. As a result, trade grew and European cities along the coasts developed greatly. A further boost for urbanization was created with the arrival of the “Industrial Revolution”. Populations of cities in Europe and USA started to increase significantly in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, urbanization started in Asia only in the first half of the 20th century and in the second half of the 20th century in Africa, when the countries obtained independence from colonial rule. An example for a dramatic increase in extent and population of cities is Chicago in USA. The population increased from 15 people to about 20 million, within a span of 78 years.

Urbanization in the World Today

This table presents the increase in urbanization in the World. MEDC refers to Most Economically Developed Countries and LEDC to Least Economically Developed Countries. Today as compared to Asian and African
countries, countries such as USA and UK have a higher urbanization level. Economic forces helped to locate factories and workers in cities. In USA 5% of the population lived in cities in 1800. By 1920 50% of the population lived in cities. In comparison only 17.8% of population of Third world societies lived in cities in 1950. But by 2000, the percentage had increased to 40%. By 2030, the percentage is predicted to increase to 60%. Australia is the most urbanized country in the world. Both the rate and level of urbanization in Australia are high.

CAUSES OF URBANIZATION

Urbanization usually occurs when people move from villages to cities to settle, in hope of a higher standard of living. This usually takes place in developing countries. In rural areas, people become victims of unpredictable weather conditions such as drought and floods, which can adversely affect their livelihood. Consequently many farmers move to cities in search of a better life. This can be seen in Karnataka as well where farmers from Raichur, Gulbarga districts which are drought-stricken areas, migrate to Bangalore to escape poverty. Cities in contrast, offer opportunities of high living and are known to be places where wealth and money are centralized. Most industries and educational institutions are located in cities whereas there are limited opportunities within rural areas. This further contributes to migration to cities.

Urbanization means the physical growth of urban areas by migration of people from rural areas to urban areas. A more technical definition is given by the United Nations as “Urbanization means movement of people from rural area to urban areas resulting population growth which is equal to urban migration.” In the above definition given by UN the key word is “movement”. Urbanization may occur for the following reasons. Economic reasons: - The urban areas offer better wage-labor opportunity than the rural areas due to the conglomeration of industrial and service sectors (primary and secondary economic activities). On the other hand the rural economic structure is waning because of a variety of reasons like: breakdown of jajmani system (in India), fragmentation of cultivation land, erratic monsoon and failure of crops etc. So the rural people head towards the urban areas to get employed as wage laborers in industries or construction sites or as maid servants (in case of females). Educational reasons: - The premium institutes of higher education’s are mainly located in the
urban areas. So education results in migration to urban areas. Though on the surface it seems to be a temporary one but after education people don’t want to go back to the villages again and they settle in the urban areas for the lucrative job offers they provide. So the temporary migration becomes a permanent one.

Spatial mobility: - When the head of the family is employed in any organization in the urban area, it is seen in many cases his family accompanies him there. So this results in movement to urban areas. Reverse urbanization: - When the cities grow the adjacent rural areas are gradually embedded in the urban area and form a urban agglomerate. In this way though there is no absolute migration from rural to urban areas still it is a case of urbanization. E.g. cities like Rio- De-Genera, Mexico City and Shanghai have spread in the above manner.