Determinants of Urbanization in Different Size/Class Distribution of Cities/Towns in India

Rani, Chetana and Tripathi, Sabyasachi (2016): Determinants of Urbanization in Different Size/Class Distribution of Cities/Towns in India.

Abstract

While there are several studies that have investigated the determinants of urbanization in India by considering all the cities/towns together or only large cities, this paper tries to investigate it by considering different class/size of cities of major states separately. For the analysis we use OLS regression model by considering latest Census data in 2011. Urbanization is conventionally measured by size/growth/density of city population. On the other hand, this study considers environmental effect (rain fall and temperature), spatial interaction effect (road distance to state headquarters/subdivision headquarters/ nearest city with population 1 lakh/ 5 lakh or more) and basic infrastructural facilities (number of school/colleges/universities/electricity connections/road length) to investigate the determinants of urbanization in different class/size cities in India. The results show that though overall environment and infrastructural facilities have a positive effect and spatial interaction has negative effect on urbanization, the results obtained here differ from earlier ones in respect of different size/class of cities/towns as also different measurements of urbanization. Finally, the paper suggests that for promotion of urbanization in India different urban policies have to be evolved to suit different size/class of cities/towns. Otherwise, India will face the problem of unbalanced urbanization which may not unlock the full potential contribution of urbanization on economic growth in India.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Urbanization, city size classes, India
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O18 - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis ; Housing ; Infrastructure; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R11 - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R12 - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity

References

Ades, A. F., and E. L. Glaeser. 1995. “Trade and Circuses: Explaining Urban Giants.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 110 (1): 195–227. doi:10.2307/2118515.

Bhagat, R. B. 2011. “Emerging Pattern of Urbanisation in India.” Economic and Political Weekly 46 (34): 10–12.

Bose, A. 1973. Studies in India’s Urbanization. 1901-1971. Bombay and New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.

Bose, A. 1978. India’s Urbanization. 1901-2001. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited.

Calì, M. 2009. Urbanization, inequality and economic growth: Evidence from Indian states. World Bank. https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/3387.pdf

Das (2013), “The growing number and size of towns/cities in India: Emerging issues from 2011 census data”, International Union for the Scientific Study of Population Website: htp://iussp.org/sites/default/files/event_call_for_papers/Urban%20transition% 20India_IUSSP%202013.pdf

Kalamkar, S. S. 2009. “Urbanisation and Agricultural Growth in India.” Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics 35 (3): 442.

Kundu, A. and Gupta, S. (1996). Migration, Urbanization and Regional Disparities. Economic and political weekly, 31 (52), 3391-3398.

Kadi, G., and Nelavigi, K. P. (2015), Growth of urbanization in India. The International Journal of Science & Technoledge 3(7): 30-38.

Krishan, G. (1993). The slowing down of Indian urbanization. Geography, 78 (1), 80-84.

Mahey, K., & Tripathi, S. (2016). Urbanization and Economic Growth in Punjab (India): An Empirical Analysis, doi. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17535069.2016.1227875

Mills, E. S., and C. M. Becker. 1986. Studies in Indian Urban Development. Oxford University Press, World Bank Research Publication. Accessed April 10, 2012. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/390861468257964833/Studies-in-Indian-urban-development.

Mathur, O. P. 2005. “Impact of Globalization on Cities and City - Related Policies in India.” In Globalization and Urban Development, edited by H. W. Richardson and C.-H. C. Bae, 43–58. Berlin: Springer.

Mundhe, N. N., and R. G. Jaybhaye. 2014. “Monitoring Level, Trends and Patterns of Urbanisation in Maharashtra (1991-2011).” Indian Streams Research Journal 4 (6): 1–12.

Rhoda, R. 1983. “Rural Development and Urban Migration: Can We Keep them Down on the Farm?.” International Migration Review 17 (1): 34–64. doi:10.2307/2545923.

Sridhar, K. S. 2010. “Determinants of City Growth and Output in India.” Review of Urban & Regional Development Studies 22 (1): 22–38. doi:10.1111/rurd.2010.22.issue-1.

Thongkhanthang, P. (2015), “Growth of cities in North-East India “, International Journal of Development Research Vol. 5, Issue, 10, pp. 5881-5887, October, 2015

Tripathi, S. 2013. “Do Large Agglomerations Lead to Economic Growth? Evidence from Urban India.” Review of Urban & Regional Development Studies 25 (3): 176–200. doi:10.1111/rurd.v25.3.

Tripathi, S. 2015. “An Overview of India’s Urbanization, Urban Economic Growth and Urban Equity.” International Journal of Economics and Empirical Research 3 (3): 115–127.

Tripathi, S., Mahey, K. (2016): Urbanization and economic growth in Punjab (India): an empirical analysis, Urban Research & Practice, (fourthcoming), doi, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17535069.2016.1227875