Urban Communities: Types and Features

Urban Communities and Urbanization: Types and Features

• Urbanization involves the movement from rural areas to urban centers, leading to the growth and development of cities
• Urbanism refers to the social and cultural aspects of living in cities and the unique interactions and challenges that arise in densely populated urban environments

Defining "Urban"

• "Urban" relates to cities and the characteristics associated with them
• Criteria used to define an urban area include demographics, ecological factors, and socio-cultural attributes
• Key indicators of urban areas are population size, organizational complexity, population density, non-agricultural activities, and availability of social amenities like healthcare and education
• Census of India defines urban areas based on specific criteria
  • Places with a municipal corporation, municipality, notified area committee, or cantonment board are automatically considered urban
  • Areas meeting particular population size, density, and economic activity thresholds can also be classified as urban
    • Minimum population of 5,000
    • Population density of 400 persons per square kilometer
    • 75% of the working population engaged in non-agricultural activities

Types and Features of Urban Communities

• Urban areas have evolved over time into various forms
  • Towns
  • Cities
  • Conurbations
  • Megalopolises
  • Million Cities
  • Metropolitan Cities
  • Smart Cities
• Urbanization involves the spread of urban values, behaviors, organizations, and institutions which brings features such as:
  • Rapid urban growth affecting municipal governance
  • Rural impoverishment leading to workforce migration to urban informal sectors
  • Increases in urban poverty
  • Growth of slums
  • Impact of globalization on urbanization through policies promoting urban activity

Characteristics of Urban Communities

• Greater heterogeneity and diversity in urban areas compared to rural and tribal communities
• Caste and kinship remain influential despite the modernizing effects of urban living
• Urban living promotes some freedom from personal control from primary groups
• Social interactions in urban settings weaken conventional caste distinctions, leading to more complex class structures
• Individuals in urban communities often belong to diverse social, professional, and recreational groups
• Power dynamics dependon caste and class affiliations, leading to overlapping conflicts among different caste, religions and classes

Economic Aspects

• Urban economies are dominated by industrial and service sectors rather than agriculture
• Uneven distribution of economic resources across groups and classes
• Labor force diversity includes a small formal sector with high salaries
• Formal vs Informal sector
  • Formal sectors comprise large-scale, capital-intensive operations with advanced technology and global links
  • Informal sectors comprise small-scale, labor-intensive, unregulated activities with limited social security

Causes of Urbanization

• Agricultural development reduces labor demand in rural sectors due to mechanized farming, which pushes surplus workers to urban areas
• Industrialization takes place in and around cities helping people add value to their product and thus helps them settle down on the outskirts of cities for livelihood
• Growth service centers in cities raises the living standars and centralized tertiary sector services like retailing, entertainment, catering, and banking, attracting more residents
• Improves transport and communication by focusing on infrastructure facilities which improves connectivity between rural and urban regions, accelerating migration
• Demographic trends like natural population increases
• Social and political aspects like the accessibility to education and and healthcare in cities attracts people
• Government policies that promote urbanization

Consequences of Urbanization

• Environmental Degradation:
  • Increased pollution, deforestation, and soil erosion, such as in India, leads to a reduction of green spaces
• Loss of agricultural land in outskirts of cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad has reduced agricultural production
• Displacement of residents as urbanization requires land for development
• Infrastructure suffers strain and overcrowding
  • Cities like Mumbai and Delhi face a shortage of affordable housing
  • Underdeveloped public transport
• Exacerbates inequalities:
  • Slum dwellers in cities like Mumbai and Kolkata often lack access to basic services.

Social Problems

• Urbanization leads to social discrimination where minority groups face discrimination in housing, jobs and access to services
• Changes in family structure, with nuclear families becoming more common, and limited support for older adults and children
• Urbanization leads to ghettoization and the development of segregated neighborhoods
• Increased crime and social unrest
  • Rioting has been seen in Delhi
• Creation of gated communities separates social groups and exacerbates inequality

Defining Urbanism and Urbanization

• Urbanism refers to the social, cultural, and economic ways of life in urban environments shaped by interactions and social problems in densely populated areas
• Urbanization is the process of rural populations migrating to urban centers, leading to the growth and transformation of cities

Historical Urbanization

• In ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China, urbanization can be traced back to 3000 BCE where cities emerged as centers for trade, governance, and culture
• Middle Ages: Urbanization slowed down in Europe but continued in the Islamic world and parts of Asia where cities like Baghdad and Constantinople became cutural and economic hubs

Industrial Revolution and urbanization

• The Industrial Revolution began in England and led to significant changes in production methods
• Factories with steam-powered engines attracted workers to urban areas
• Innovation of the "water frame" for mass production of textiles
• Establishment of factories
• Samuel Slater opened the first U.S. textile mill
• The first technologies were brought to America which drew job seekers to cities
• The U.S. experienced demographic shifts after The Civil War as many left the rural areas for urban centers
• Growth of the railroad system boosted industrialization
• In the early 20th century, mechanization in agricultural lessened the need for farm jobs which caused much of the rural population to move to cities

Urbanization in India

• Indus Valley Civilization: urban planning with cities like Mohenjo-daro and Harappa.
  • Mohenjo-daro had advanced urban planning, including grid layout, and sophisticated drainage systems
  • Harappa: featuring granaries, public baths, and evidence of trade with Mesopotamia
• Trade played a strong role in economic sophistication
• Social Hierarchy was well-defined with specialized craftspeople
• During the Vedic period urbanization the influence of Aryan migration led to the introduction of new cultural practices
• Dravidian influence led to development of new urban centers in South India
• Mauryan influence led to the rise of capital cities which trade expansion connecting various resions and facilitating economic growth
• During Mediaeval peroid, Delhi, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri were major urban centers known for architechtural developments
• British rule: Urbanization led to population and trade boom
  • Railway networks improved trade
  • Urban centres became points for activism
• Post-independence factors
  • Industrial cities emerged, drawing workers and boosting local economies
  • Rural-urban factors
  • Large cities grew enormously

Slums: Definitions and Characteristics

• Encyclopedia Britannica defined these as deteriorated, making satisfactory family life impossible and indicate bad conditions
• NSSO considered slums as declared and undeclared
  • Declared: Formally declared as slums by corporations
  • Undeclared: A units without access to basic services
• UN defined these areas based on lacking basic facilities such as clean tenures or sanitation

Urban Poverty

• According to a survey by the UN State of the World Population report in 2007, 40.76% of India's population is expected to live in urban areas by 2013
• 21.9% of India's population lives below the national poverty line
• 25.7% of people in rural areas live under the PL
• 13.7% of people in urban areas live under the PL

Understanding Urban Poverty

• World Bank defines poverty can be seen as a decline in well-being, which includes:
  • Low income
  • Lack of ability to acquire basic goods
• Some features of urban conditions with:
  • Lack of proper housing
  • Lack of medical care
  • Difficultly finding a steady well-paying job
  • Exposure to environments hazards
• Estimation of poverty in India is determined by considering:
  • Income level
  • Consideration levels

Reasons for Urban Poverty

• Large-Scale Rural-Urban Migration happens because of a lack of infrastructure in rural settings and rapid industrialization in cities
• Lack of skills causes hardship where the citizens do not have high-skilled skills in order to participate in high-paying sectors
• Being in the informal sector can also cause poverty because of high job loss risks
• Inflation affects the quality of life
• Lack of urbanization and urban planning disregards those living in informal settlements

Government Initiatives for helping with urban poverty

• Initiatives to create affordable housing
• Access to clean water
• Employment opportunities and skills
• Food security support
• Medical care support