Urbanisation Class 9 Geography Notes Maharashtra State Board
A dialogue between a farmer (Tatya) in a village and his son (Suresh) is given here.
Tatya: Suresh, I will come late to the field today. You go ahead.
Suresh: But father, today I was thinking of going to the factory.
Tatya: Why?
Suresh: I think I should work in that factory.
Tatya: Work in the factory? For what?
Suresh: Father, if I work in the factory, I will get a monthly salary. If I work overtime, I will get additional money. Also, I will get a bonus in Diwali.
Tatya: But what about our fields?
Suresh: I will also look after the field simultaneously.
Tatya: All that is fine but will you be able to manage all this?
Suresh: Tatya, I will look after all that, you don’t worry. We should think of the future now. Our village will change drastically from what it looks now.
Tatya: What changes are you talking about?
Suresh: Oh, Tatya, recall your past. Remember the earlier village. How small was our village! And look at our village today! Today there is a factory near our village. Our field is near the village. Because of the factory, roads will develop and facilities like hospitals, schools, and colleges, administrative offices will come up. Huge buildings will stand tall in the village. People from outside will come and stay here. The sprawl of the village will increase. The village will develop.
You will notice that because of the factory near the village, the occupation of the people of the village has started changing. More and more people from outside come and start living in the village, and transport, hotels, restaurants, messes, retail shops, medical services, etc. start developing. As a result, the basic structure of the village starts changing.
Looking at our country, agriculture is the main occupation in rural areas. Agriculture and its allied occupations have been followed since time immemorial. But now, various industries have started coming up in rural areas. For example, factories, mills, energy plants, multi-purpose projects, etc. People come from the surrounding regions to work here and thus the population of the village increases. To fulfill their needs, other services also develop like medical facilities, food, hospitals, recreation, etc. Consequently, the extent of the village grows, and the form of the earlier village changes.
The Gram Panchayat providing public services to the village gives way to the Municipal Council or Municipal Corporation. These bodies provide different basic services to the citizens like drinking water, roads, transportation, sewerage networks, street lighting, etc. Besides these, other facilities like town planning, recreation facilities, tourist places, parks, etc. also need to be developed. Consequently, the village transforms into a town/city.
In 1961, the Census of India decided to define ‘urban’ based on the following criteria:
- More than 75% of the male working population should be engaged in nonagricultural occupations.
- The population of the settlement should be more than 5000.
- The population density of the settlement should be more than 400 persons per sq. km.
Using the statistical information given in the table below, draw a line graph of the percentage of the urban population using the computer. Discuss in terms of urbanization. After studying this graph, write the conclusions about urbanization in our country from 1961-2011 in your own words.
Talking of urbanization in India, the urban population has been increasing consistently from 1961 to 2011. From 1961- 1981, this growth was around 5.5% only but from 1981-2011, this growth was around 13.73%. This means that the urban population is increasing rapidly in India. Urbanization occurs because of many reasons. We will study some of the main reasons:
Industrialization:
The development and concentration of industries in a region is a factor contributing to urbanization. An increase in industries leads to an increase in the hopes of people who are attracted to these industries from surrounding areas. This increases the speed of urbanization. In the 19th century, Mumbai grew rapidly because textile mills started on a large scale in Mumbai. Many villages, which were originally fishing villages (koliwadas), became part of the Mumbai metropolitan area because of industrialization and urbanization.
Trade:
A place in a region is sometimes favorable in terms of transport, loading unloading, and storage of a good. This led to the development of trade and related services like business complexes, banks, credit societies, godowns, cold storage, houses, etc. For example, Nagpur in India is centrally located in India. Urbanisation started increasing here because this location facilitated trade.
Mechanization and Technology:
We can see lots of advantages of mechanization and technology in various fields. Both are helpful to urbanization too. In recent decades, the use of technology has increased in agriculture. Mechanization has also increased. In rural areas, agriculture is done with the help of machines on a large scale these days. The manpower employed in agriculture became devoid of agricultural work. This working class came to cities to look for work. As a result, the urban population started increasing.
Transport and Communication:
In regions where transport facilities like roads and railways develop, urbanization of small rural settlements occurs rapidly over there. For example, after the development of the Konkan railway, many villages like Savarde (Dist. Ratnagiri) lying close to its proximity have started urbanizing. Convergence of important rail routes through Bhusawal (Dist. Jalgaon), led to its rapid growth.
Migration:
Migration is a major factor affecting urbanization. This migration can be short-term, long-term, or permanent. Migration occurs from rural to rural areas, rural to urban areas, or urban to urban areas. The attraction of a higher standard of life has also increased the migratory population in the cities. For example, migration occurs in cities like Mumbai, and Pune from other parts of India.
Effects of Urbanisation:
Because of urbanization, the characteristics of a region change largely. We can experience the difference in land use, for example, the land under agriculture is now under industries or residential use. While there are many advantages of urbanization, some problems also arise.
Advantages of Urbanisation
Social harmony:
There is an increase in secondary, tertiary, and quaternary occupations with urbanization. Hence economic activities increase. These areas grow rapidly. Cultural and social customs and traditions are exchanged as people from different parts live together in the cities. This creates social harmony.
Modernization:
In cities, people from different areas migrate. Their wisdom, skills, and knowledge are exchanged easily. These areas are the first to take advantage of updated knowledge and literature. We can see new projects related to industries and businesses coming up here. Urban settlements get an advantage of new ideas, updated technologies, and technological facilities. Therefore, as a result, the standard of living improves.
Amenities and Facilities:
Various amenities and facilities develop in urban areas because of urbanization. Transportation, communication, educational and medical facilities, fire brigade, etc. are very important. Because of good transportation facilities, the journey becomes easier. Its positive effect is also seen in freight transport, markets, trade, etc. We see that even educational facilities develop well in urban areas. Many students come to urban areas especially to access the services of higher education like Pune city. Medical facilities are also well-developed in urban areas. To avail of these facilities, many patients and their family members come from different parts and stay for short periods.
Problems of Urbanisation
Slums:
Because of urbanization, the population in cities increases rapidly. But the housing facilities do not increase in the same proportion as the population. Most of the migrated people are economically weak. They cannot afford the housing offered in the cities. Migrated people have generally come for employment but they don’t need to get relevant jobs. Hence incomes are very low. Such people build temporary and semi-structured houses in open spaces. These houses are mostly illegal. They do not get basic facilities from the local self-governments. The density of houses is very high. Roads are narrow. There is a lack of basic facilities. These slums keep on rising uncontrollably. This may give rise to social and health-related issues.
Traffic Jams:
As cities grow, people start living in the outskirts and suburbs of the city. People commute from the suburbs to the center of the city for businesses and industries, trade, jobs, education, etc. The public transportation system is not sufficient and hence the number of private vehicles increases. This leads to an increase in traffic jams and traveling time increases significantly.
Pollution:
Pollution is a major problem in the cities. It has adverse effects on urban life. Air pollution, noise pollution, and water pollution are visible. The increase in the development of the city, paucity of facilities and breaking of laws make pollution a big problem. As cities grow, pollution also increases.
Crime:
The people who have migrated people do not always find employment in the cities. Some of them look for means to earn money through illegal ways. This leads to an increase in the crime rate in the cities. Thefts, burglaries, scuffles, and murders are the crimes that happen in the cities. This leads to serious law and order issues bringing pressure on the police and judicial system. Besides the above problems, the enormous increases in land prices, the struggle between various groups, etc. create tension in the cities. This can disturb the social harmony of the cities.
To update the cities using information technology and to handle the assets of the urban areas easily, a scheme called the ‘Smart City’ came into being. The main aim of this program is to collect information regarding various aspects of the city through the use of ICT and carry out planned development of the cities. This can be used to strengthen the transportation and communication system of the city. It also includes a response to emergency systems in moments of crisis.
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