urbanization: The Indian Society and Its Social Effects

The physical expansion of urban areas by factors like area, population is called urbanization. Urbanization is a global change happening all over the world including India. According to the United Nations, the movement of people from rural areas to cities to live and work there is also 'urbanization’.

1. IMPACT OF URBANIZATION ON HEALTH
AND DISEASE

2. WHAT IS URBANIZATION
•Thephysicalexpansionofurbanareasbyfactorslikearea,populationis
calledurbanization.Urbanizationisaglobalchangehappeningalloverthe
worldincludingIndia.AccordingtotheUnitedNations,themovementof
peoplefromruralareastocitiestoliveandworkthereisalso
'urbanization’.

3. URBAN AREA
STANDARDS
a)InIndiansociety,foranareatobe
consideredanurbanarea,itis
necessarythatthepopulationofa
humansettlementbe5000ormore
people.
b)Atleast75%ofthishumanpopulation
shouldbeengagedinnon-agricultural
occupation.
c)Populationdensity400personsper
squarekm.Shouldnotbelessthan.
d)Apartfromthis,iftherearesome
othercharacteristicslikeindustries,
largeresidentialsettlements,
electricityandpublictransport,thenit
isconsideredunderthedefinitionofa
city.

4. Statistics related to urbanization in India
a)Accordingtostatistics,asof2001,27.81%ofIndia'spopulationlivedin
cities.Bytheyear2011itwas31.16%andintheyear2018thisfigure
increasedto33.6%.
b)Thetotalnumberofcitiesandtownsinthe2001censuswas5161,which
increasedto7936intheyear2011.
c)About17.4%ofIndia'surbanpopulationlivesinslums.
d)AccordingtoalatestreportoftheUnitedNations,currentlyhalfofthe
world'spopulationislivingincitiesandbytheyear2050,halfofIndia's
populationwillliveinmetrosandcities.
e)UrbanizationisincreasingrapidlyinIndiaandgloballyalsobythen70%
ofthetotalpopulationwillstartlivingincities.

6. 1.Oneofthemainreasonsforincreasingurbanizationisunemployment.
Mostofthepeoplecomingtocitiesarelookingforjobs,notpeople
gettingbetterjobs,andtheunemploymentrateamongthosecoming
fromoutsideisrelativelylow.
2.Themainreasonformigrationfromvillagestocitiesisnotonlythe
salaryrate,apartfromthistherearetwoothermainreasons-lessland
holdingandlargersizeofthefamily.
3.TheSecondWorldWarresultedinarapidexpansionofgovernment
servicesinurbanareas,whichbecameamajorcatalystformigration
fromvillagestocities.
4.AsaresultoftheIndustrialRevolution,materialcomfortsincreasedin
urbanareas.
5.Betterbasicfacilitiesinurbanareaslikeeducation,healthandeasy
transportationetc.
6.Duetolossesinagriculture,peopleleaveagricultureandcometocities
insearchofemployment.AccordingtotheAgricultureMinistry,40
percentofthepeopledependentonfarmingarethosewhowould
immediatelyleavefarmingifgiventheoption.Becausethecostof
moneyinfarmingisincreasing.
7.Theprivatesectordevelopedafter1990.Duetowhichbig
factoriesandfactoriesdevelopedonlyincitiesandmetros.

7. Problems related to urbanization

8. 1.Overurbanization-MostofthecitiesofIndiaarevictimsof
overurbanization.Thus,itcanbesaidthatwhentheurbanpopulation
increasessomuchthatthecityfailstoprovideagoodlifestyletoits
residents,thenthatsituationiscalledover-urbanization.
2.Problemofhousingandslums-Theincreaseinurbanpopulationhas
givenrisetomanyproblemsinwhichtheproblemofhousingisthemain
one.Thisproblemisseeninboththequalityandquantityofhousing.

9. 3.Lackofsocialsecurity-Peoplecomingtocitiesfromruralareasaremostly
poor,theylackanykindofsocialsecurity.Ex.:medicalcare,sickness
benefit,unemploymentbenefit,oldagebenefit,employmentinjurybenefit,
familybenefit,maternitybenefit,invaliditybenefitandsurvivor'sbenefit.
4.Familydisintegration-Asaresultofurbanization,largefamilieshave
dividedintosmallfamilies.Apartfromthis,incidentsofdivorceinfamilies,
exploitationofwidowsandabuseoftheelderlyhaveincreased.

10. 5.EnvironmentalProblem-Asaresultofcontinuousincreaseinpopulation
andindustrializationinurbancentres,manyproblemsofenvironmental
pollutionanddegradationhavearisen.Themaincauseofpollutionin
metrosandcitiesistoxicchemicalsreleasedbyvehiclesandindustrial
institutions.
6.Economicinequality-EconomicinequalityinIndiancitiesishigherthanin
developedcountries.Theincomespentinmetropolitancitiesishigherthan
thatinruralareas.Asaresultofthiseconomicgap,villagersareattractedto
cities.