Subaltern Urbanization in India? Movement of People Transformation of Place Partha Mukhopadhyay Centre for Policy Research New Delhi India China Institute Sept. 12, 2012 The New School University
References • Basic references – Denis, Eric and Kamala Marius-Gnanou (2011) “Toward a Better Appraisal of Urbanisation in India”, Cybergeo: European Journal of Geography, 569. – Denis, E., P. Mukhopadhyay and M.H. Zerah 2012. ‘Subaltern urbanisation in India’ Economic and Political Weekly , XLVIII (30): 52-62. – Pradhan, K. C. 2012. ‘Unacknowledged urbanization: The census towns of India’ CPR Urban Working Paper 2 , Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. • Additional references – Chandrasekhar, S (2011): “Workers Commuting between the Rural and Urban: Estimates from NSSO Data”, Economic and Political Weekly , 46 (46): 22-25 – Uchida, H and A Nelson (2010): “Agglomeration Index: Towards a New Measure of Urban Concentration”, Working Paper 2010/29, United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki 2 CPR CSH Urban Workshop Series, September 25, 2012
“Subaltern Urbanisation” • “If the ‘global city’ were • At one level, ‘subaltern urbanisation’ perhaps labelled as just another example of an best seen as a literary ‘industrial’ district device to: (perhaps it should – focus attention on our rather be called: new area of inquiry – increase the possibility of industrial districts of discursive engagement transnational • Attempt to: management and control), it might not – Interpret:“contribution have attracted the made by the people on attention it did .” their own, that is independently of the elite” – Jennifer Robinson (2002: – Read official urbanisation 536) data ‘against the grain’ • Not about the city, but about the urban system 3 India China Institue Sept. 12 2012 The New School
Plan of Presentation • How urban is India? • Diversity of urbanisation – Large Cities – Census Towns • Economic Structure of Non-Metro Urban Areas • Conclusion 4 India China Institue Sept. 12 2012 The New School
How Urban is India?
Defining ‘Urban Areas’ over Time 1951: “places with a smaller population 1872 : settlement with a population of 5000. [than 5000] with definite urban character 1881: “ a collection of numerous dwellings may be treated as separate towns”. near each other within a limited area having shops which provide a continual 1961 : current three-fold definition open market for the supply of goods especially of manufactured goods ” ‘Census Towns’ – density 1921 : 1040 settlements comprising 22% of the nature of economic activity. urban population which were “ towns arbitrarily 1891: population size of 5000 reinstated as a classified as such for census purposes ” criterion for settlements not under 1931 increase in administratively designated towns “Municipal or Chaukidari Act” by 699 and a decrease in the number of such “arbitrarily classified” towns to 600 with 11% of – place should not be “merely a large village urban population. but should have some distinctly urban character as that of a market town” ------------------------------------------------ 2001 : 1362 Census Towns comprising 7.4% of the – to exclude “a considerable number of the urban population large aggregates of homesteads on the 2011 : increase in administratively designated Malabar coast which are merely revenue units of a purely agrestic nature”. towns by 242 and a increase in the number of such ‘census towns’ towns to 3894 with • “undesirable to classify as towns around 15% of urban population. overgrown villages which have no urban characteristics”. Source : Asok Mitra Population and area of cities towns and urban agglomerations 1872-1971 Allied Bombay 1980 6 India China Institue Sept. 12 2012 The New School
Only in India… Population Economic No. of Others # Administrative Density Notes Size Activity Countries X 50 X 22 X 9 X X 5 X X 1 China X X 2 X X 7 OR X OR 1 Sudan One of these criteria AND X 2 Either administrative OR all three 1 India # Specific types of urban infrastructure e.g. street lights proximity of built up areas etc. Source : United Nations Demographic Year Book 2005 • International definitions can be non-comparable – Economic criteria is used only in six of hundred countries • Indian urban definition is unique and the intersection of three criteria – On economic activity India’s threshold of 75% is the highest • Japan is 60% Lithuania is 2/3 “commercial importance” in Sudan Zambia is majority Botswana does not use a labour force criterion but overall economic activity 7 India China Institue Sept. 12 2012 The New School
Settlement Structure 2001 All Villages All Towns 593,616 Population > 5,000 5,161 18,760 742.5m 286.1m 161.5m 13,884 2,659 125.8m 30.8m 28.1 million 2,375 people in 2375 28.1m settlements Density > 1,000 Male Non-Ag met the urban per sq. mile Workforce > 75% test in 2001 228,717 28,102 15,699 416.5m 58.1m but were not 48.8m classified as urban by the census 8 India China Institue Sept. 12 2012 The New School
India may be more urban than it seems Uchida and Nelson (2008) Denis and Marius-Gnanou (2011) • • Global e-geopolis exercise Extensive inter-country • exercise using GRUMP data Built-up definition • – Locations of contiguous (defined Proximity definition as less than 200 metres apart) – The road network and built up areas from satellite settlement data are used to imagery are matched geo-spatially determine travel times with settlements from the Census between settlements • India • India (based on 2001 census) – 37.1% in agglomerations of more – 42.9% live within an hour of at than 10000 compared to 26.6% in least a Class I town towns of more than 10000 – – 52% live within an hour of at least Built-up settlements may or may a Class II town not meet the economic activity criteria but are likely to meet the • China density and population criteria – Stays at official number of 36% – Bihar goes from 10.4% to 31.2% • Is India more urban than • Villages do not meet the non-farm China? criterion 9 India China Institue Sept. 12 2012 The New School
Official and…. Source: Denis and Marius-Gnanou (2011) 10 India China Institue Sept. 12 2012 The New School
Bihar: from 10.4% to 31.2% Source: Denis and Marius-Gnanou (2011) 11 India China Institue Sept. 12 2012 The New School
India may be more urban than it seems Chandrasekhar (2011) Growing Connectedness • NSS 2009-10 • Commuting – People who live in rural areas and work in urban areas • Results – 8.05 million rural non-agricultural workers commute to urban areas – 9.1% of the total urban non- • 300,000 km of rural roads constructed agricultural workforce under the Prime Minister’s Rural • Attractions of village life or Roads Program urban exclusion? – Fifteen years ago, India had – Greif and Tabellini (2012) find that almost no four lane highways. urbanization was slower and more – As of April 2011, 15,000 km is sparse in European regions where family traditions denote stronger four-laned and 10,000 km is kin-based obligations under implementation 12 India China Institue Sept. 12 2012 The New School
Takeaway • Urban may be more important than appears from the Census – Many people live in close proximity to a large town – Rural non-farm economic activity may be linked to urban proximity • Himanshu et. al. (2011) • 2009-10: 27.1% of labour force is rural non-farm vis-à-vis 25.5% in urban non-farm – Even in areas where farm activity dominates the population is living in large built-up agglomerations • Some ‘urban areas’ are not classified as urban – 28.1 million people in 2375 settlements met the urban test in 2001 but not classified as such • Of these, 18.7 million people in 1625 settlements are new census towns in 2011 (Pradhan 2012) 13 India China Institue Sept. 12 2012 The New School
Diversity of Urbanisation draws liberally on Denis, Mukhopadhyay and Zerah (2012)
Diversity of Urbanisation Larger Cities
Political Influence on Urban Growth? Single Growth Centre Multiple Growth Centres District(s) of/including Chhattisgarh Madhya Pradesh Karnataka State Capital Orissa District(s) Near State Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Maharashtra Tamil Nadu Jammu or National Capital Pradesh Haryana Punjab and Kashmir Uttar Pradesh Other District(s) Jharkhand Kerala Gujarat Rajasthan West Bengal Note : Growth centre districts are population growth outliers (those with population growth rate 1.65 standard deviations more than the state population growth rate). Includes only states with more than ten districts. Assam Bihar Himachal Pradesh Nagaland and Uttarakhand do not have any outlier districts • Bengaluru is the only district including the state capital which has the highest growth rate in the state • In other states districts including the state capital or districts near the state capital are high-growth districts (relative to the state growth rate) • Is the political primacy of state capitals influencing the spatial character of urban growth in India? 16 India China Institue Sept. 12 2012 The New School
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