India is one of the economic growth engines of our times. In this essay we try to understand the make-up of the Indian society and nation. We also take the stand that India although has thriving cities is still, by and large a rural country. But this fact is changing at a rapid pace. We seek to understand the causes for driving urbanization, its economic impact and finally we present our views on the challenges it faces on its path to urbanization. Historic Perspective Gandhiji famously quoted that “The future of India lies in its villages”. Well that was a very different India when he quoted that. The fabric of the nation itself has been undergoing dynamic change and the country is still very much a work in progress. The nationalist sentiment is to see India as a nation of villages and that we are a pristine agricultural paradise. But the facts tell a different story. Although India’s population is still largely distributed in rural villages, and driving a substantial portion of our economy, the trend is fast changing. A fundamental paradigm shift is in order. What is happening now? In all sense of the word, India has been a rural country for well over the last century. India’s economy was primarily an agrarian economy and all the job creation was predominantly rural. However over the last few decades there has been a seismic shift in the make-up of the nation. Now the economic growth from the urban economy is contributing a much larger share of the GDP pie. And it is unabashedly moving in favor of the urban economy. The rhythm of the economic shift is clearly felt with the swelling numbers of immigrants to the cities. A parameter that shows no signs of abetment. This has in essence changed the socio-economic contours of the... ... middle of paper ... ... $1.2 trillion is required to fix the cities. But India faces challenges like lack of strong political will, lack of capital, meeting increasing demands in basic amenities like electricity, water and sewage treatment. Projections paint a very onerous picture. If we don’t meet up with the demands through credible actions, it could lead to a potential grid lock and can impede India’s growth story. Conclusion We set about taking a stand that India is still a rural country in terms of population and contribution to GDP. We also showed how the tides are shifting in favor of urbanization, the factors causing it and its potential economic impacts. The red thread or the theme of the essay is that urbanization is an idea whose time has come and contesting the fact is a fool’s paradise. We should rather embrace the facts and address the challenges that urbanization poses.
Though the world economy as a whole has grown in recent years, a factor that is not taken into account is that the number “of the poor in the world has increased by 100 million” (Roy 3). In other words, the gap between rich and poor is widening. For India, this has startling implications. Though it is a nation that is developing in many ways, it also is a nation blessed with over one billion citizens, a population tally that continues to grow at a rapid rate. This population increase will greatly tax resources, which can create a setback in the development process. The tragedy, of course, is that the world is full of resources and wealth. In fact, Roy quotes a statistic showing that corporations, and not even just countries, represent 51 of the 100 largest economies in the world (Roy 3). For a country struggling to develop, such information is disheartening. However, there is also a more nefarious consequence of the growing disparity between rich and poor, and power and money being concentrated in the hands of multinational corporations: war is propagated in the name of resource acquisition, and corruption can reign as multinationals seek confederates in developing countries that will help companies drive through their plans, resulting in not only environmental destruction but also the subversion of democracy (Roy 3).
This is necessary as the vast majority of individuals migrating from rural to urban centers has been steadily increasing with the level of economic growth seen within the past twenty years as mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, this situation has further shown the structural issues and inequalities of cities, as most migrants end up having a poor quality of life living in informal settlements as highlight substantially by Boo. As a means of tackling this, however, the Indian government has turned its focus on investing rural regions, developing the agricultural sector. Specifically, Boo mentions that “the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, had come down from Delhi to express his concern for the farmers’ hardships, and the central government’s determination to relieve it” (p. 138). While this is definitely important funds are not being divided justly. For starters, between rural and urban areas almost all investments are being targeting towards rural regions, which is only addressing issues of inequality in one section of the country. Furthermore, across rural areas inequalities of investment are quite often overlooked. Although, “one of the governments hopes was to stop villagers from abandoning their farms and further inundating cities like Mumbai, but Asha’s relatives knew nothing of these celebrated relief programs” (p. 138). Therefore, even though
A general situation of urbanization trend in developing countries and developed countries is increasing. In 18th Century only 3% of the world total population lived in urban areas but as projected in 2000 this number will increase at above 50% (UN as cited in Elliot, 1999, p. 144). According to UN (as cited in Elliot, 1999, p.144), it is figured that the total urban population in developing countries has increased from approximately 400 millions people in 1950 to approximately 2000 millions people in 2000. At the same time, total urban population in developed countries is double...
Since their birth these “Metropolises” have grown exponentially and today this trend shows no sign of letting up. Swallowing up the hundreds that flock to them every day beneath their endless canopy of corrugated rusted metal sheets. With many of these slums now staring at the possibility of redevelopment, I will explore the implications facing them by comparing Dharavi, a slum considered for development to a slum in Kolkata, which is currently already experiencing development.
India, the second highest populated country in the world after China, with 1.27 billion people currently recorded to be living there and equates for 17.31% (India Online Pages 2014) of the world's population, but is still considered a developing country due to it’s poverty and illiteracy rates. As these nations continue to grow at rates that are too fast for resources to remain sustainable, the government’s in these areas wi...
...an HDI of 0.36. These discrepancies in levels of development have led to an exodus of people, from less developed areas to the areas that have been benefitted by development. This situation seems to depict that predicted by the Dependency theory in which the developed countries progressed due to the exploitation of peripheral nations; the same seems to be happening in India. The states that are wealthier are exploiting the poorer states. It would be difficult to imagine India having the economic status that it now has, if it was not for the terrible working conditions and wages at which the Indians are willing to work and the massive work force available in the country. Now that India has seen economic growth the government should start taking care of its citizens by implementing policies that protect the labor rights of the workforce.
India is well known as a nation of contrasts, and the nation itself is a paradox. It is one of the world’s oldest known civilizations, yet it has only existed as the nation the world now know sit for 67 years. Similarly, it has produced some of the most important contributions to mathematics, science, philosophy, and trade, yet it is still considered to be a developing nation. The country’s history is a long, winding journey that has led it to its current state – the world’s largest democracy featuring both the same technological advancements enjoyed by the first world and the same challenges and problems faced by the rest of the developing world.
India has come a long way, from being ruled by a foreign entity for two centuries to become a free and fast-growing economic power in the modern world. However, poverty and social exclusion still prevail in large parts of the country. They are often more inter-related than people would otherwise think. This essay will begin by defining the two terms; moving on to the history of poverty and social exclusion in India and finally to the causes and effects through a multi-dimensional view.
There are three kinds of development in megacities we would like to explore in this paper, they are sustainable development, economic development and human development. Those kinds of development face many problems in megacities. In 1950 there were only New York and Tokyo as megacities and now in this 21 century the number of megacities are increasing.In 2013 noted there are 28 megacities (New Geography, 2013). Industrialization in developing countries is the main reason why the poor peasant in rural area moved to the cities in the name of better job and higher wages. This urbanization will change the population proportion which is decreasing the rural population and on the other side, increasing the population of urban areas. This continuing movement will inevitably create big and even bigger community in the city and in the end a megacity will be formed. This big number of population influences development of megacities.
Indeed, many global cities face compelling urban planning issues like urban sprawl, population, low density development, overuse of non-renewable natural recourses, social inequities and environmental degradation. These issues affect the cities themselves, the adjacent regions and often even globally. The resulting ecological footprint upsets the balance in adjacent rural and natural areas. Unplanned or organic development leads to urban sprawl, traffic problems, pollution and slums (as evident in the case of Mumbai city). Such unplanned development causes solid waste management and water supply to fall inadequate. Urban sprawl gives rise to low density development and car dependent communities, consequently leading to increased urban flooding, low energy efficiency, longer travel time and destruction of croplands, forests and open spaces for development.
The history of tribal oppression in India is an old one. “The Sanyasi Revolt”, “The Wahabi Movement”, and “The Naxalbari Rebellion”, are evidence of the tribal outcry that appropriately foregrounds their requirement for fundamental rights as citizens of the country. Even after sixty six years of independence, India’s rural poor and tribals are lamenting under the curbing effects of destitution, unemployment, undernourishment, illiteracy and human trafficking. For these people, the notions of liberty, equality and democracy have no meaning at all. Though the country is free from the bondage of foreign rule, their repression and prejudices still continue leaving them dependent on their new masters.
On the other hand, urbanization in the developing countries differed from the process of urbanization in the West. In the Third World, throug...
...population distribution designed to reduce the rate of rural-urban migration appears to have had limited success in many developing countries. Policies must be directed at altering the rural economy in order to slow the rate of urban sprawl. Broad land use planning and changing of planning standards and governmental procedures would go a long way to reduce many of the problems that face urban populations in the developing areas, especially Africa. Urbanization can cause a lot of problems for a city or even a country. It can cause cities to become overpopulated which are known as mega-cites, and cause problems with living arrangements and finding a job. Urbanization can also cause health problems. Urbanization is supposed to be good for developing countries on the rise but with this rapid growth in Africa, these problems can become a major concern in the future.
There are two kinds of factors why rural people seek for urban life. The first one is urban pull factor. They dream for higher wages, better housing and utilities, better school and hospital, more jobs opportunity, and more experience that they can get it all from a living in big cities as they think. The second one is urban push factor. We know that most of rural areas people are farmers. There’,s not much else to do anymore in the village but wait for harvest time and without higher level of education, availability of media, or facilities that they need, they might be stimulated to move to urban areas.
Due to rural-urban migration, there has been increasing levels of poverty and depopulation in rural areas. This is one of the reasons why the government has seen it as necessary and made it a priority to improve the lives of the people who live in rural areas. Rural development is about enabling people in the rural areas take charge of their destiny. This is through the use and management of the natural resources they are exposed to. This is a process through which people learn over time and they use this knowledge to adapt to the changing world. The purpose of rural development is to improve the lives of people living in the rural areas.