LAND AND REAL ESTATE LAWS

UNIT-II
URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND
REGULATIONS

Topic: 2.1
Urbanisation: Issues and Perspectives

Dr. R. K. Randhawa
Assistant Professor
DME Law School
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 SUGGESTED READINGS
TEXT BOOKS REFERENCE BOOKS

1. R. Ramachandaran, • K.C. Sivaramakrishnan,

Urbanisation and Urban Urbanisation in India,
System in India, Oxford Oxford University press
University Press India, (2007)
(1997) • [Link]
2. Kanwal D. P. Singh, /opinion/op-ed/india-needs
Land Laws, Satyam Law -smart-urbanisation/article
[Link]
International, New Delhi,
(2017)

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 RELEVANCE OF THE SUBJECT

• Objectives: The objective is to understand the

urban development in the country. It focuses on
various issues of urbanization and steps to be taken
for the development of urban areas.

• Outcome: Students will be able to analyse the

issues and perspectives relating to Urban
Development. They will be able to come up with
more suggestive measures for sustainable
development.
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 URBANIZATION

• Urbanisation is the increase in the proportion of

people living in towns and cities. Urbanisation occurs
because people move from rural areas (countryside)
to urban areas (towns and cities). This usually occurs
when a country is still developing.
• [Link] (This video looks at
the history of urbanisation and makes predictions for the
future of urban areas). 4
Urbanization……..

• The majority of the World’s population live in urban

areas, but most people do not live in cities. The
majority of global urbanisation is currently
happening in small towns.
• It took 10,000 years to achieve the first one billion
urban dwellers, but 25 years to achieve the second
billion urban dwellers – we are currently
experiencing the fastest rate of urbanisation.
• Majority of contemporary urbanisation is happening
in Asia and Africa, in small towns.

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Urbanization……..

• Urbanisation is about a concentration of people. A

country is ‘urbanised’ or ‘urbanising’ when the
majority of its inhabitants live in urban areas rather
than rural areas.
• India is experiencing urban growth (many of its
cities are growing) but not urbanisation (the
proportion of people living in urban areas is not
increasing).
• Urbanism is the idea that there is a certain culture
and way of being in an urban environment.
Planetary urbanism argues that urbanism is about
lifestyle and culture so can happen anywhere on the
planet. 6
Urbanization……..

• Urbanisation can be defined in terms of increase

over time in the population of cities in relation to
the region’s rural population, while in terms of a
place, urbanisation refers to increased spatial scale,
density of settlement and other activities in the area
over time.
• Urbanisation in a country is an integral part of
development process.

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 URBANIZATION: ISSUES AND
PERSPECTIVES
• Integral part of development
• Migration from rural areas to urban areas
• Pull Factors
– With the expansion of industrial and service sector,
there is migration of population from rural areas to
urban areas to cater to increasing demand for labour
force in urban areas.
• Push Factors
– In underdeveloped economies, sometimes,
migration of population to the urban centres is due
to widespread poverty and unemployment
prevailing in rural areas. 8
Issues And Perspectives…….
• Census of India 2011, urban area is:
1) All Places with a municipality, corporations,
cantonment board or notifies town area committee
etc.
2) All other places which satisfied the following
criteria:
i. A minimum population of 5,000
ii. At least 75 per cent of the male main working
population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits;
iii. A density of population of at least 400 persons per
sq. km.

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 PROBLEMS OF URBANISATION

• Although India is one of the less urbanised

countries of the world with only 31.6 per cent of its
population living in urban areas, this country is
facing a serious crisis in the following areas:
 Economic
 Social
 Legal
 Environment

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Problems Of Urbanisation…….

 Economic Problems:
• Constant pressure on the limited land resources of
urban centres in India.
• More pressure on existing infrastructure like roads,
railways, airports creating regular traffic
congestion.
• Failure of local administration in providing basic
public services.
• Inadequate housing facilities.
• Poor housing(slums), lack of sanitation and
inadequate drainage etc.
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Problems Of Urbanisation…….

 Social Problems:
• Illiteracy
• Urban poverty
• Unemployment
• Food shortage
• Poor public distribution network
• Lack of proper social safety

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 Problems of Urbanisation…….
 Legal Problems:
• Growing disparities between different sections of the
societies along with poverty and unemployment are the
main factors behind increased rate of crimes in cities
particularly against women, children and old aged
persons.
• There are also growing cases of drug abuse and
alcoholism among youths in most of the cities in India.
Hence urban areas are more vulnerable to diseases like
HIV and AIDS.
• The Failure on the part of public authorities to deal with
such law and order issues because of lack of personnel
and modern technology has further worsen the problem.13
Problems Of Urbanisation…….

 Environmental Problems:
• Pressure on limited natural resources like land,
water, air and biosphere results rapid depletion of
vital life supporting system in terms of quality as
well as quantity.
• Increasing urban household and industrial wastes
are the main pollutants of scarce land resources in
cities.
• Improper land use pattern.
• Good forest covers around the cities are being
destroyed.
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Problems Of Urbanisation…….

• Growing number of industry and automobiles –

rapid depletion of air quality in most of the cities in
India.
• Inadequate sewage system along with lack of
proper treatment plant has resulted chronic problem
of water pollution in urban areas.
• Hence urban population has constantly become
vulnerable to chronic water and air borne diseases
because of intake of contaminated water and air.

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 CHALLENGES IN URBAN
DEVELOPMENT

• Institutional Challenges
o Urban Governance
o Planning
o Finances
o Regulator

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Challenges In Urban Development……..

• Infrastructural Challenges
o Safe drinking water
o Sanitation
o Urban Public Transport

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Challenges In Urban Development……

• Other Challenges
o Environmental Concern
o Urban Crime
o Poverty
o Unemployment

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 SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEM OF
URBANISATION
• Urban upgrading /public safety and security.
• Eradication of Poverty- by promoting economic
development and job creation.
• Effective governance- by involving local
community in local government
• Role of NGO’s
• Ecological Sustainability- Reduce air pollution by
upgrading energy use and alternative transport
systems

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 SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEM OF
URBANISATION

• More PPP Projects- by creating private-public

partnerships to provide services such as waste
disposal and housing

• Time tested Master Plans- Plant trees and

incorporate the care of city green spaces as a key
element in urban planning.

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 CONCLUSION
• All the problems created by the process of urbanisation
are inter-related to each other and thus concerted and
broad based efforts are required to solve this grave
menace in its entirety.
• Without the collective effort, the vision of better
quality of life for city dwellers, which would be
economically productive, ecologically sustainable and
socially harmonious would remain a dream.
• There should be balanced urban development in the
country. In an unequal society in India it would be
impossible to design laws and organisations strong
enough to restrict the building options of the economic
and political elites. 21