...URBANISATION IN INDIA: A DEMOGRAPHIC REAPPRAISAL R. B. Bhagat Department of Geography Maharshi Dayanand University Rohtak-124001, India Introduction: The United Nations estimates indicate that at mid 1990s, about 43 per cent of the world population lived in urban areas. With the urban population growing two and a half times faster than its rural counterpart, the level of urbanisation is projected to cross the 50 per cent mark in 2005. United Nations projections further show that by 2025, more than three- fifth of the world population will live in urban areas (U. N. 1993). The growth rate of urban population of developing regions has been declining recently. It was estimated to be 3.9 per cent per annum during 1980-85, which declined to 3.79 per cent per annum during 1980-85, 3.62, and 3.43 during 199095 and 1995-2000 respectively. The decline in the rate of urbanisation is also continuing in developed regions of the world. As a result, some of the European countries have experienced negative urbanisation during 80s ( U. N. 1993 ). However, the continued absence, namely, adequate data on rural to urban migration in most developing countries as well as on natural increase in rural and urban areas separately precludes attribution of the slowing down of urban growth in most of the countries to any single demographic process. It reflects the effects the host of factors like the relatively week expansion of urban industries and price shifts unfavourable to manufactured goods, population...
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...chapter includes a detailed discussion of the theoretical and conceptual perspectives of rural to urban migration integrating these with the objectives of the study set out in briefer fashion in Chapter 1. Section 2.1 presents the theoretical literature review including the concept of internal migration, the nature of data on migration, conceptual issues in the measurement of internal migration, migration theories, gender dimension and social structure of India. Section 2.2 reviews the empirical literature showing the trends and patterns of internal migration in India, especially the rural to urban labour migration. Section 2.3 shows the conceptual framework of the proposed study. In academic research, relatively little...
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...How Rural-Urban Migration Contributes to the Development of a Megacity: A case from Bangladesh Abstract Like other developing countries, rural-urban migration is the prime reason of developing megacity in Bangladesh. It is the most important factor for rapid urbanization as well. Dhaka, the only megacity in Bangladesh, became a megacity having more than 10 million of population in 2001. Dhaka is the center of attraction of this region since 7th century and the development phase of this megacity can be categorized into five- Pre-mughal period, Mughal period, British period, Pakistan period and independent Bangladesh period. Although rural-urban migration plays the crucial most role to turn Dhaka from a city to megacity, it was not very significant during the first three period. With the partition of subcontinent Dhaka became the capital of independent Bangladesh and huge numbers of migrants start to step into this city. Dhaka, the 9th largest of 21 megacities of the world, drags people towards it with several ‗forces of attraction‘. This study, on the rural-urban migrants residing over the slums of Dhaka city, finds that availability of jobs, easy access to informal economy, ‗Dhaka means Taka‘ conception and ‗illuminating Dhaka‘ are the prime forces of attraction of Dhaka megacity. Keywords: Megacity, Dhaka, Rural-Urban Migration, Migration toward Megacity, Forces of Attraction. Introduction Development of cities and urban centers as well is intrinsically related with...
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...Migration has been significantly reshaping the traditional social and economic structures of rural communities of this country. The livelihood activities of rural families are no longer confined to farming and are increasingly being diversified through rural-to-urban and international migration. With the development of trade and industry and the awareness produced by the mass media, rural poor are shifting towards the urban areas in order to improve their living standards and to search for better livelihood opportunities. The lack of employment opportunities in the rural areas and better employment prospects and infrastructure facilities in the urban areas motivate people to migrate to urban areas. In the rural areas, sluggish agricultural growth and limited development of the rural non-farm sector raises the incidence of rural poverty, unemployment and underemployment. Moreover, absence of non-farm employment, low agricultural production has resulted in a growth of seasonal migration. Seasonal migration is the migration for a limited period of the year when no farming activity is underway. As most of the high productivity activities are located in the urban areas, people from rural areas move towards town or cities with a hope to grab diversified livelihood opportunities. Migration primarily occurs due to disparities in regional development. The causes of migration are usually explained by using two broad categories, namely, push and pull factors. Studies conducted in...
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...Rural Urban divide in India The sharp increase in rural-urban disparities in India after decades of planned development is alarming, for planning itself was conceived as an instrument to narrow down such disparities. RURAL-urban disparities, particularly in post-colonial countries, have for long been one of the causes of concern for the policymakers. The disparities are seen in all spheres of human life - economic and non-economic. The long colonial rule in India had created an urban-rural divide. What causes great concern now-a-days is the sharp increase in the level of disparities after a few decades of planning, especially because planning was conceived as an instrument to narrow down rural-urban disparities. The rural-urban disparities is found across the World, as is indicated with the fact that Cities take up less than two percent of the Earth’s land surface, but are home to almost half of the world’s population and utilize seventy-five percent of the Earth’s resources. In 1998 47 percent of the world’s population lived in cities as opposed to 29 percent in 1950. Globalization is leading to increased urbanization. According to the World Bank, urban areas in developing countries account for an estimated 60 - 80 percent of GDP. Urban populations mainly have greater access to water and sanitation services, but an estimated quarter to a half of those populations live in slums or squatter settlements. As regards India, the statistics are about 70% of the people live in more...
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...traditional rural economies to modern industrial one. It is progressive concentration of population in urban unit. The traditional sector is viewed as a supplier of labor, whereas the modern sector is supposed to soak up its supply. Supply can’t be immediately soaked up because of the limited supply of capital. The Lewis model states that there is a surplus of labor in the traditional sector and labor is subject to diminishing returns and output is stagnant after a certain point. This sector is characterized by income sharing and disguised unemployment. Economic development proceeds by the transfer of labor from agriculture to industry and the simultaneous transfer of surplus food-grain production, which sustains part of the population engaged in nonagricultural activity. In the surplus labor phase, removal of labor from agriculture doesn’t affect the output or the wages. Industrial production expands without rise in industrial wage. But the increasing fall in supply of labor drives up the agricultural wages, also it reduces the output. To compensate these losses, the industrial wages have to increase. Labor moves from one sector to another on its own wishes. Classic theory of rural-urban migration is based on Harris-Todaro model. Migration in the Harris-Todaro model is viewed as a response to the sufficient wage gap that prevails between the two sectors. Not everyone can be absorbed in the formal sector at these high wages and the unlucky ones land up in the urban informal sector...
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...country’s population that lives in urban as opposed to the rural area. We can see how urbanisation is increasing globally by the switch over of the majority of the global population living in rural areas to urban areas in 2007, and how the percentage of the global population living in urban areas is now 53% as well as their being 28 megacities around the world as of 2015. The primary reason for the increase in urbanisation around the world is the process of rural-urban migration (mainly in developing countries/NICs). This can be seen in the mega city of Delhi, where its total population is over 17million and has since increased by 285,000 due to migration alone. The reasons for these migrants to move from the rural to urban areas can be due to centrifugal or centripetal forces. A Centrifugal force is something that pushes people away from the rural areas and into the urban areas for example rural poverty and environmental degradation, while Centripetal forces is something that attracts people into cities which are usually the perceived benefits and opportunities of education, employment, shelter, electricity, food and water. These forces are demonstrated by migration of people into the city of Delhi. The Centrifugal forces include the pressure on the land in rural areas, such as parts of the state of Uttah Pradesh, and the farms being fragmented making farming inefficient and cause declining yields and therefore increasing poverty within the rural areas. Another centrifugal force...
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...India, the second most populated country in the world is an extremely diverse, multi lingual and culturally pluralistic nation. It comprises of various religions, cultures, cultures within cultures and people from different strata of society living together. However, India has had an unstable colonial past and it is still growing and developing economically, socially, politically and culturally. Currently, it is faced with poverty, illiteracy, and infant mortality, underdevelopment, overpopulation and corruption. In spite of that, India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies and is finding its place on the Global stage. Demography plays a vital role in determining a country’s stand in terms of economic, social and cultural development. Currently, the major theme in Indian demography is its transition. In my paper, I will discuss India’s demography and analyze the various reasons for why it is such. I will also talk about the consequent implications the current demographic characteristics have on Indian society. India gained its independence from the British Empire on 15th August, 1947. What followed immediately after independence was the beginning of a tragic, violent and turbulent phase in India’s history. India was partitioned into two nation states – India and Pakistan. There were mass migrations, voluntary and involuntary, from one country to another. It was one of the largest migrations to be recorded in human history. An estimated 14.5 million people...
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...from one place to another. Migrations of human populations have been a fundamental part in the history of mankind. Numerous studies show that the process of migration is influenced by social, cultural and economic factors and outcomes can be vastly different for men and women, for different groups and different locations (cf. De Haan and Rogaly, 2002). Migration is a subject that calls for an interdisciplinary approach. Each discipline brings something to the table, theoretically and empirically.(Brettell and Hollifield,2002) Demographers have perhaps the best empirical grasp on te movement of people across boundaries, they have the theoretical and methodological tools to show us how such movements affect popultion dynamics in the sending and receiving societies. Anthropologist looks at networks and transnational communities. Historians portray migrant experience in al of its complexity, giving us a much greater empathetic understanding of the hopes and ambitions of migrants. Political scientist help us to understand the play of organized interests in the making of public policy, together with legal scholars they show us the impact of migration on institutions of sovereignty and citizenship, while sociologist and economist draw the attention towards the importance of social and human capital and the difficulties in settlement and incorporation involved in the migratory experience. The most important question pertaining to the sociology of migration...
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...One of the push factors which may account for migration is economic factors such as poverty and the lack of jobs in a particular country. Most of the international migrants are leaving their country of origin to find better employment opportunities abroad. In some countries there is a scarcity of job positions and the income received is not enough to sustain their families. In India migration has occurred due to these factors which have affected their economy. The amount of jobs available to high skilled graduates is minimal leading them to move to the more developed countries. The low quality conditions are also a factor for their migration. In the article provided it is stated that Kerala, India is losing many of their most knowledgeable physicians and doctors to United Kingdom. The poor environment of their health care system and the low economic stability which this sector delivers to its personnel is leaving Kerala with not enough health care workers to support and provide treatment for their growing population in times of illnesses. The concepts incorporated in this article which are covered in the module include the brain drain definition about the movement of highly trained and skilled workers to more developed countries which provide them with greater opportunities. There are issues arising from this type of migration affecting India. A major problem is that these doctors will not be able to benefit their own country and economy by working there and instead...
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...Changes in size of megacities Megacities, with a population of at least 10 million, have grown in number to 26 in 2009. This is because of the general growth in world population and especially the growth in NIC’s such as India, Brazil and Indonesia. In developing countries in Asia and Africa, countries are still at Stage 3 of the DTM and are experiencing rapid population growth. Their economic growth has increased rapidly due to industrialisation which has encouraged rural-urban migration to escape rural poverty. This has increased the size of some megacities, such as Mumbai, to over 20 million. Nigeria has the largest population in Africa and so this explains why Lagos is the only African megacity at present. In India, hyper-urbanisation seems to have occurred as some cities have grown from less than 10 million to over 20 million in less than 25 years, eg Mumbai and Delhi. This must be due to huge rural-urban migration and internal growth. Growth in Latin America must be slower as Sao Paulo, Rio and Mexico City were already megacities in 1985. This is because they were the first wave of NIC’s. Also, in the developed world some cities, such as New York and Tokyo have become global hubs and this has attracted more elite migrants from around the world to work in TNC headquarters and the NYSE. The distribution of megacities has shifted dramatically to the southern hemisphere and the east, especially in southeast Asia. This is due to the role of TNC’s such as Tesco that have...
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...production. This statement, which forms the crux of Malthusianism, argued for greater birth control measures to keep population in check. The 19th century, though not without its problems of population related urbanization, didn’t see Malthus’ premonition come to fruition and his argument seemed to have been laid to rest, albeit for half a century when in the wake of unshackling of slavery’s yoke by very many nations in the post war world, it was resurrected by the aptly named neo-Malthusians, including the likes of Paul Ehlrich (the Population Bomb) and the Paddock Brothers (Famine 1975! America's Decision: Who Will Survive?) Influenced by Soviet ideas, India was the first country to have an official population control policy in 1951. While the numbers would say that the policy hasn’t been successful, India has a population of 1.25 billion, the country has, by serendipity or by plan, reached a stage where the potential of its large population and the structure of it has become an important weapon in the country’s growing economic arsenal. The Demographic dividend, as this weapon is popularly called, depends on the make-up of the population, particularly on the dependency ratio, which is the number of dependents in a population (Age 0-14 and 65 above) as a part of the working population. As of 2015 this ratio stands at 0.52 1 and with declining fertility and child mortality rates this could fall as low as 0.48 in the next decade. What this number promises is...
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...pakjas.com.pk IMPACT OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION ON SOCIAL PROTECTION OF MIGRANTS FAMILIES LEFT BEHIND IN AGRARIAN COMMUNITIES OF DISTRICT TOBA TEK SIGNH, PUNJAB, PAKISTAN Izhar Ahmed Khan1,*, Sadaf Mahmood1, Ghulam Yasin2, Babar Shahbaz3 1 Department of Rural Sociology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 2Department of Sociology, B. Z. University, Multan, Pakistan; 3Department of Agri. Extension, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. * corresponding author’s e.mail: izhark99@yahoo.com The people living in one part of the world basically moved to other parts for the purpose of taking up permanent or semi-permanent residence, usually across a political boundary. People migrate with the hope of improvement of living conditions of their families left behind. This study aims to explore the impact of international migration on the families left behind in the agrarian communities of district Toba Tek Singh of the Punjab province. Multistage sampling technique was used for the purpose of data collection. One tehsil from Toba Tek Singh district was selected through simple random sampling technique. Four union councils from out of 32 union councils and 30 respondents from each union council were selected. Convenient sampling technique and Snowball sampling technique was used in the selection of a sample of 120 respondents (wives of migrants). A strong positive relationship was found between migration and socio-economic protection of agrarian...
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...‘Migration into cities has resulted in the rise of the informal sector rather than transforming the urban space into an industrial site.’ Discuss the reasons for this seemingly perverse phenomenon using examples from any two countries. Starting from the late 18th century, the Industrial Revolution led to an incontestable migration from the countryside to the city as industries agglomerated in the centre of Western cities. A century later, as industrialization gained what is known as the developing world, classical economists such as Lewis predicted large waves of migration that would transform the urban space into an industrial site. Yet, the most noticeable phenomenon of migration was a rise and establishment of an informal sector, comprising up to 90% of jobs and 70% of GDP production in countries like India. Are these results perverse, i.e. contrary to the accepted or expected norm? Looking specifically at cities in Ghana and Pakistan, while economic policies must take some blame for the lack of industrialisation, the rise and perseverance of an informal sector results of the confrontational and antagonising policies taken against rural to urban migration, which itself was misunderstood by authorities. More recent research proves that while the informal sector remains as prominent, it is not incompatible with the development of industry. The traditional explanation of migration towards cities (rural-urban migration) is laid out by Lewis in a model that emphasises...
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...rapid and massive growth of cities as the migration of people from the countryside in search of better jobs and living conditions occurs. Migration is defined as the long-term relocation of an individual, household or group to a new location outside the community of origin. As the process of internal migration increases within a country large masses of people are gathering in the densely populated and highly structured settlements of a country. Consequently, cities are growing significantly in size and number with the continuation of mass migration. At the start of the 20th century only about 17.8% of the entire population of a third world country lived in a city, but today the proportion of urban and rural dwellers is approximately equal, in-fact today 3 Billion of the world’s population are urban residents, accounting for half the world’s population at the rate of a 180,000 people moving into cities each day (60 Million a year). It is projected that at this rate many of the cities in developing regions of the world such as Africa and Asia may double in size to compensate to this process. Rapid urbanization has presented a series of issues in the third world and has thus been a leading factor in shaping third world politics. Urbanization in the third world has drastically increased by as much as 50% over the last century. For instance Bangladesh has an urbanization rate of 3.5% resulting in 27% of the country’s population being urban settlers; which has been on the rise over...
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