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Urbanization and Socio-Economic
Consequences- a case study for Delhi
(Samir K. Mondal, Nandini Acharya )
Introduction:
Urbanization is synonymous with growth, development and modernization of a country in
general and services sector in particular. Increasing share of services sector and declining share
of agriculture in GDP of an economy is a sufficient indicator of structural change indicating
development. A rural or backward area gradually gets urbanized with provision of certain basic
infrastructures like mettle roads, drinking water, electricity, telecommunication, drainage and
sewerage, pucca houses etc. There exists both positive and negative correlation between
urbanization and socio-economic consequences. On the positive side, urbanization promotes
growth of the services sector – trade and commerce, transport and communication, real estate,
hotels and tourism and construction activities, thereby creating job opportunities and so on. On
the negative side there are two major issues the study attempts to focus on. The one being
unchecked expansion and growth of an urban area beyond the capacity it can bear with in terms
of its infrastructure facilities and geographical limitations. The other, the centralized growth in a
few pockets within the town. These give rise to multiple problems with several dimensions as is
visible in the 5 major metropolitan cities of India such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and
Bangalore. Delhi being the most urbanized (with 93% urban population as per Census 2001)
presents an ideal picture of the socio-economic consequences inevitable with an unbalanced and
unchecked growth of the cities more so in case of developing countries.
The Issues:
Urbanization makes more and more people migrate to the towns for jobs, education, and
medical aid. More so, if the job opportunities become limited in the rural areas due to surplus
workforce in agriculture and inadequate job opportunities in industrial sector. In this case
majority of the migrants consists of poor unskilled workers. These people are left with no other
option but to migrate to the towns and cities and settle down. Thus slums are created one after
the other. The overall demand for more and more residential, commercial and office space leads
to a vertical growth of the towns. This puts pressure on the existing infrastructure. The water
and electricity shortage, shortage of seats in general educational, technical education and medical
institutions etc. become a common phenomenon. Combined with this, due to centralized growth,
during peak hour’s people from different directions rush to the main centers of activity causing
traffic congestion, vehicular and noise pollution and what not. The pollution in water, air and
noise give rise to water borne diseases, respiratory, cardiovascular disorders and disease of the
nervous system. There is a spurt in the number of accidents, crimes such as murder, rape, drug
and human trafficking. Improvement in the quality of life makes living expensive. As a result
both husband and wife have to work. But it severely affects on family life and ties. Husband-
wife relationship gets strained on the issue of equally sharing household responsibilities.
Children of working mothers develop a different psychology. They mostly miss their parents,
get less attention and are deprived of the childhood care, parental love and affection. Delhi, apart
