Chapter 7: India's Urban Landscape (Geography)

• A large and dense population. In India, a place with over 5,000 people and other conditions counts as urban.
• Most people work in non-farm jobs: industry, trade, offices and services.
• Many kinds of businesses and occupations: markets, malls, banks, factories and IT parks.
• Developed infrastructure: roads, flyovers, metro and buses, electricity, piped water, sewerage and the internet.
• Government institutions, hospitals, colleges and universities, and entertainment such as cinemas, stadiums and parks.
• High-rise buildings and expensive land.
• An elected urban local body (municipal corporation or council) that manages the city.
• People from diverse backgrounds, languages and cultures.

Typical problems: congestion, pollution, slums and a high cost of living.

Large, dense and diverse populations; mostly non-farm jobs; many businesses and services; developed transport and utilities; institutions; high-rise buildings; and an elected municipal body, along with congestion and pollution.

A sample answer: Bengaluru (or any town near you). It grew enormously, for example around Electronic City, which changed from open land to dense offices and housing between 2012 and 2025.

Reasons for urban migration:

Pull factors (what draws people to the city):

• jobs in IT, factories, construction and services, with higher wages;
• better education and healthcare;
• more facilities: electricity, water, transport and entertainment;
• relatives already living there.

Push factors (what drives people out of villages):

• farming that is small-scale, risky and low-paid;
• unemployment;
• droughts and floods;
• lack of schools and hospitals;
• debt.

E.g. Bengaluru grew because of jobs in IT and industry, higher wages, education and healthcare (pull), and low farm incomes, a lack of jobs and facilities, and disasters in villages (push).

• Citizens and residents: they vote, pay taxes, keep the city clean, follow rules, and take part in community decisions and resident associations.
• Workers: construction workers, drivers, domestic workers, vendors, sanitation workers, factory and office staff. They build and run the city every day. Many are migrants, and many live in slums.
• Government and local bodies: the municipal corporation, mayor and ward councillors plan, provide services and make rules. Engineers and urban planners design roads, water and housing.
• Businesses and entrepreneurs: they create jobs, shops and services.
• Teachers, doctors, police, artists and community groups: they provide education, health, safety and culture.

A city works well only when all of them take part and are included.

Everyone: residents, migrant and informal workers, the municipal government and planners, businesses, and service providers like teachers, doctors and artists. Each builds, runs or enriches the city, so it must work for all.

Effects on rural areas:

• Good effects: migrants send money home (remittances); villages get better roads and markets near cities; new ideas and technology spread.
• Bad effects: young people leave, so farms and villages have mostly elderly people and women left; farmland near cities is lost to housing and industry; and rural crafts and traditions decline.

Cities depend on rural areas for:

• food: grains, vegetables, milk and fruit;
• raw materials such as cotton and timber;
• water from rivers and reservoirs fed by rural catchments;
• workers, mostly migrants from villages.

Helping each other:

• Cities can provide markets, technology, credit, healthcare and education.
• Villages can provide food, labour, clean energy (solar and biomass) and eco-tourism.
• Good roads, cold storage and food processing near farms, rural industries, and fair prices help both.

Urbanisation brings remittances, roads and markets to villages but also takes away young workers and farmland. Cities depend on villages for food, water, raw materials and labour. Both gain from better links, markets, rural industry, fair prices and shared services.

Urban planning means deciding in advance how land in a city will be used and developed, and where to put:

• homes, industries, offices and markets;
• roads and public transport;
• parks and open spaces;
• water supply, drains and sewers;
• schools and hospitals.

It aims to make the city safe, healthy, efficient and pleasant for all residents, now and in the future.

Risks of ignoring sustainable planning:

• Unplanned sprawl: traffic jams, long commutes and pollution.
• Loss of forests, lakes and farmland: less greenery and groundwater recharge, more heat and the loss of wildlife.
• Flooding: when wetlands and drains are built over, rainwater has nowhere to go.
• Water and waste crises: shortages of drinking water, and overflowing garbage dumps.
• Slums without basic services, and inequality.
• Disaster risk: buildings on unsafe land such as floodplains and hill slopes, and more heat waves.

Urban planning is organising a city's land use, transport, housing, services and green spaces for all residents. Ignoring sustainability leads to sprawl, traffic, lost forests and lakes, floods, water and waste crises, slums and heat.

A sample answer (your observations will differ):

Signs of good planning:

• a park and playground near home, used by children and the elderly;
• footpaths and streetlights, which make walking safe at night;
• a bus stop or metro station within walking distance;
• separate dustbins and regular garbage collection;
• a nearby school, health centre and market.

Signs of poor planning:

• No footpaths, or footpaths blocked by parked vehicles and shops, so people walk on the road;
• waterlogging after rain, because drains are blocked;
• traffic jams near the school at opening time;
• garbage heaps on vacant plots;
• no ramps for wheelchair users;
• too few trees, so the streets are very hot in summer.

Effects: these affect safety, health (dengue from stagnant water, breathing problems from dust), travel time and stress, and especially make it hard for children, women, the elderly and people with disabilities to move around.

Note good signs (parks, footpaths, streetlights, nearby transport, waste collection) and poor ones (blocked footpaths, waterlogging, traffic, garbage, no ramps, little shade), and how they affect safety, health and travel for everyone.

Things to consider:

• Housing: affordable housing for all income groups, including workers.
• Transport: good public transport (metro, buses), cycle lanes and safe footpaths.
• Water, sanitation and waste: water supply, drainage and sewage treatment, and waste segregation and recycling.
• Green spaces: parks, trees and lakes; protecting wetlands and forests.
• Services: schools, hospitals and markets close to homes (a "15-minute city").
• Safety and climate: streetlights, safety for women, disaster-safe buildings, and planning for heat and floods.
• Jobs, and space for street vendors.

Inclusion: in many cities today, these groups do not have easy access.

Changes to make the city more inclusive:

• ramps, lifts and low-floor buses, and tactile paving and audio signals for people with visual impairments;
• clean, accessible public toilets, including for women and people with disabilities;
• child-friendly parks with safe equipment, and benches and shade for the elderly;
• safe pedestrian crossings with enough time to cross, well-lit streets, and CCTV;
• signs in local languages and pictures; asking these groups for their views while planning.

Plan for affordable housing, public transport, water and waste systems, green spaces, nearby services, safety and climate resilience; make it inclusive with ramps, lifts, low-floor buses, accessible toilets, child-friendly parks, benches, safe crossings and lighting, designed with these groups' participation.

Sample allocation (each square is one area):

Densely populated: the apartment colony (35 people in 2 squares) and the market (10 in 1 square). Apartments stack many families on small land, and markets attract many shopkeepers and buyers.

Thinly populated: the park (5 people in 2 squares) and the bungalow area. Parks are open spaces, and big houses take more land per family.

Reasons for the choices: people live near their jobs and schools, and land is used for different purposes.

Population density = people ÷ area. For example, the apartment colony has 35 ÷ 2 = 17.5 people per square.

Draw your map and assign people (e.g. 35 in an apartment colony, 5 in a park); apartments and markets are dense because they pack many people into little space, while parks and bungalows are sparse; density = people ÷ area.

Approximate figures:

• Mumbai: about 20,000–21,000 people per sq km (over 12 million people, by the 2011 Census, in about 600 sq km). It is one of the densest cities in the world. The satellite view shows almost continuous buildings.
• Gangtok: only a few thousand people per sq km, a much smaller and more open town. The satellite view shows buildings scattered along hill slopes, with green patches.

Reasons for the difference:

• Economic magnet: Mumbai is India's financial capital and a major port, with huge numbers of jobs in trade, industry, films and services, so it attracts migrants from all over India.
• Geography: Mumbai is built on a narrow island and peninsula, so it cannot spread much and builds upwards, which makes it denser. Gangtok is on steep Himalayan slopes, where building is difficult and limited, and land is prone to landslides.
• Size and role: Gangtok is a smaller state capital and tourist town with fewer large industries.

Mumbai is extremely dense (about 20,000+ people per sq km) as a port and financial capital on a narrow island; Gangtok is far less dense, a small hill capital on steep slopes with limited building space and fewer jobs.

What Beijing did (from about 2013):

• Coal: closed or moved many coal-fired power plants and factories, and replaced coal heating in homes with gas and electric heating.
• Vehicles: strict emission standards, limits on car registrations and odd–even driving restrictions, removal of old polluting vehicles, and electric buses and taxis.
• Public transport: expanded the metro and bus networks.
• Planting and dust control: large tree belts around the city, and dust control at construction sites.
• Monitoring: real-time air-quality monitoring, emergency "red alert" plans, and regional cooperation with nearby provinces.

As a result, its PM2.5 levels fell sharply, by around half or more, within a decade.

Measures for Indian cities:

• Strengthen the National Clean Air Programme, and coordinate between neighbouring states.
• Reduce stubble burning by supporting farmers with machines and alternatives.
• Clean fuels: CNG and electric buses, rickshaws and cars; strict vehicle checks; and removing old polluting vehicles.
• Expand the metro and bus networks, and make cycling and walking safe.
• Control dust at construction sites, and clean roads with water sprinkling and paving.
• Move polluting industries away from residential areas, and shift them to cleaner fuels.
• Plant trees and protect green spaces.
• Share real-time air quality data with citizens, and issue health alerts.

Beijing cut coal use, tightened vehicle rules, added electric buses and metro lines, planted green belts and controlled dust, with real-time monitoring and regional cooperation. India can do the same, along with reducing stubble burning, cleaner fuels and public transport, dust control and tree planting.

Suggested questions:

1. Where did you come from, and when did you move?
2. Why did you move: work, education, family or something else?
3. What was hard at first: finding a house, a job, the language, loneliness, the cost of living?
4. What opportunities did the city give you and your family?
5. What do you miss about village life?
6. How is daily life different: food, transport, neighbours, festivals?
7. Do you still visit your village or send money home? Would you go back?

A sample summary:

"My uncle moved from a village in Bihar to Pune in 2010 to work in a factory. At first he found the rent high and missed his family, and he could not speak Marathi. Over time he got a better job, and his children now go to a good school. He likes the city's hospitals, transport and job opportunities, but misses the fresh air, open fields and close-knit neighbours of the village. City life is fast, costly and crowded, while village life is slower, cheaper and more community-centred."

Ask about the reasons for moving, the difficulties, opportunities and what they miss; then compare city life (jobs, schools, hospitals, but costly, crowded and lonely) with village life (calm, close community and fresh air, but fewer facilities and jobs).

Any idea needs local adaptation: to the climate, budget, population and culture.

E.g. Singapore's green, dense public housing; Copenhagen's cycle lanes; Curitiba's bus rapid transit; Tokyo's disaster-safe design; Seoul's restored stream. Adapt these to local climate, budget and needs.

Inadequate safety of residents:

• good streetlights, CCTV at key spots, and more police patrols, including women officers;
• helplines (112) and safety apps, and women-only public transport options;
• neighbourhood watch groups;
• busy, well-used public spaces with shops and vendors (more "eyes on the street").

Poor mobility within the city:

• more frequent and connected buses and metro, with last-mile links (e-rickshaws, feeder buses);
• safe footpaths and cycle lanes, and pedestrian crossings and skywalks;
• one ticket or card for all modes;
• remove encroachments from roads, and set aside proper parking areas.

Expansion of slums:

• affordable housing schemes and in-situ upgrading (improving slums where they are, with water, toilets, drains and electricity);
• land rights and security of tenure;
• rental housing for migrants near workplaces;
• planning for future migration, so that new slums don't form.

Heat waves in summer:

• plant trees and create green belts; cool or white roofs, and shaded bus stops;
• protect lakes and wetlands;
• heat action plans, like Ahmedabad's: early warnings, drinking-water kiosks, cooling centres, and changing outdoor work hours;
• use building materials and designs that keep homes cool.

Safety: lighting, CCTV, patrols, helplines and busy public spaces. Mobility: frequent connected public transport, last-mile links, footpaths and cycle lanes, common ticketing. Slums: affordable housing, in-situ upgrading, rental housing for migrants. Heat waves: trees, cool roofs, shade, protecting water bodies and heat action plans.

Examples: Mumbai's Slum Rehabilitation Authority schemes, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), Delhi's "Jahan Jhuggi Wahan Makaan" (housing near the original slum), or in-situ upgrading in Ahmedabad's Slum Networking Project. Find one in your own city.

Possible benefits:

• Safe, permanent homes with security of tenure: no fear of eviction.
• Clean water, toilets, drainage and electricity, so fewer diseases and better health.
• Dignity and privacy, especially for women and girls.
• Better education: children get a quiet place to study and are more likely to attend school regularly.
• Access to services such as banks, ration cards and voter IDs with a proper address.
• Safety from fires, floods and crime.

Caution: the best schemes keep people near their workplaces, involve the residents in planning, and provide schools, transport and livelihoods nearby. Moving people far away can make them lose jobs and community ties.

Benefits: secure homes, water, sanitation and electricity, better health and dignity, children's education, an official address for services, and safety. Schemes work best when people stay near their jobs and are involved in the planning.