Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Substantial Share of Small Towns in India’s System of Cities

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Subaltern Urbanisation in India

Part of the book series: Exploring Urban Change in South Asia ((EUCS))

Abstract

Understanding Indian urbanisation is challenging. Despite a slight trend of metropolisation, small towns with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants are still home to one-third of the Indian urban population and its demographic growth. Making sense of this trend and precisely qualifying their demographic contribution to the dynamics of the Indian city system is the aim of this chapter. We have built and exploited a harmonised database comprising all the Indian cities which allows us to compare their evolution, whatever their size and the state they belong to, over the last 50 years. It highlights that small towns’ dynamics since 1961 do not differ from those of larger cities. All the cities in the system have the same growth opportunities regardless of their size. A very dynamic demographic evolution distinguishes a group of small towns whose growth is generally independent of their distance from the nearest million plus cities. An important number of the most dynamic small towns remain governed by the rules and provisions of rural administration, thus questioning the governance of urban transformations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    From the project e-Geopolis, coordinated by François Moriconi-Ebrard: http://www.e-geopolis.eu/?lang=en.

  2. 2.

    For example, the Indiapolis agglomeration of Mumbai is made up of Greater Mumbai, the towns of Thane, Navi, Mira-Bhayandar, Navi, Panvel, Taloja and Kalundre, and the villages of Kharghar, Owe, Vadghar, Vichumbe, Kolkhe, Karanjade and Kherane.

  3. 3.

    The degree of inequality of the size of the cities does not depend on the level of development of the country in which these cities are found, but on the historical and technological context prevailing at the time the system is established (Moriconi-Ebrard 1993; Bretagnolle et al. 2007).

  4. 4.

    However, for Chennai, this tendency is visible only beyond a distance of 50 km.

References

  • Bhagat, R. (2002). Challenges of rural-urban classification for decentralised governance. Economic and Political Weekly, 2413–2416.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhagat, R. (2005). Urban growth by city and town-size in India. Annual meeting of Population Association of America, Philadelphia, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Behera, B. S., & Behera, A. C. (2013). Gender Issues: The Role of Women in Agriculture Sector in India. International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services & Management Research, 2(9), 134–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bose, A. (1964). Six Decades of Urbanization in India 1901–1961. Indian Economic & Social History Review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bose, A. (1970). Urbanization in India: An Inventory of Source Materials.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bretagnolle, A., Pumain, D., & Vacchiani-Marcuzzo, C. (2007). Les formes des systèmes de villes dans le monde. Données urbaines. Mattei M.-F et Pumain, D. Paris, Anthropos. 5: p 301–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Census of India. (2001). Census of India, Administrative Division, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Census of India. (2011). Provisional results. From http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/paper2/data_files/India2/Table_3_PR_UA_Citiees_1Lakh_and_Above.pdf

  • Chandramouli, C. (2013). Trends in Growth of Urban Population, PPT Presentation Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, 2013, 15 March.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Bercegol, R., & Gowda, S. (2013). La décentralisation des services dans les petites villes indiennes, un enjeu technique et politique. Bulletin de l’Association de géographes français, 90(4), 541–560.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denis, E. et Marius-Gnanou, K. (2011). Toward a better appraisal of Urbanization in India: a fresh look at the landscape of morphological agglomerates. Cybergeo, European Journal of Geography, 569.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denis, E., Mukhopadhyay, P., & Zérah, M. H. (2012). Subaltern urbanisation in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 47(30), 52–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duvvury, N. (1989). Work participation of women in India: A study with special reference to female agricultural labourers, 1961 to 1981. In A. V. Jose (Ed.), Limited options: Women workers in rural India (pp. 63–107). International Labour Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghani, E., Kerr, W. R., & O’Connell, S. D. (2013). Female Business Ownership and Informal Sector Persistence. Washington, DC: World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/16836. License: CC BY 3.0 IGO

  • Gibrat, R. (1931). Les inégalités économiques. Paris: Librairie du Recueil Sirey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hägerstrand, T. (1968). Innovation diffusion as a spatial process, Chicago, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ioannides, Y. M., & Overman, H. G. (2003). Zipf’s law for cities: An empirical examination. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 33(2), 127–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jose, A. V. (Ed.). (1989). Limited options: Women workers in rural India. International Labour Organization

    Google Scholar 

  • Kadi, A. S., & Halingali, B. I. (2010). Growth pattern of cities in India: Application of statistical models. Canadian Studies in Population, 37(1–2), 125–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kundu, A. (1983). Theories of city size distribution and Indian urban structure: A reappraisal. Economic and Political Weekly, 18(31), 1361–1368.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuruvilla, K. (2014). Census towns in Kerala: Challenges of urban transformation. Research notebooks, School of Habitat Studies

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazumdar, I., & Neetha, N. (2011). Gender dimensions: Employment trends in India, 1993–94 to 2009–10 (No. id: 4502).

    Google Scholar 

  • Moriconi-Ebrard, F. (1993). L’Urbanisation du Monde depuis 1950 (372 p). Editions Anthropos, collection Villes, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliveau, S. et Guilmoto, C. Z. (2005). Recensement et géographie en Inde. L’utilisation des données censitaires pour l’étude géographique des phénomènes sociaux: quelles possibilités en Inde? Séminaire organisé dans le cadre du projet EMIS, Espace et Mesure en Inde du Sud.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palanithurai, G. (Ed.). (2002). Dynamics of new Panchayati Raj System in India: Panchayati raj and multi-level planning. Concept Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pradhan, K. C. (2012). Unacknowledged Urbanisation : The new census towns of India. New Delhi, Centre for Policy Research: 24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pumain, D. (1982). La dynamique des villes, Paris, Economica, coll. «Géographie Economique» (231 p).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pumain, D., & Moriconi-Ebrard, F. (1997). City Size distributions and metropolization. GeoJournal, 43(4), 307–314 (Reproduced in Singh, R. B. (Ed.) (2001). Urban sustainability in the context of global change (pp. 149–164). Enfield (United States): Science Publishers).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pumain, D. (2012). Une Théorie Géographique Pour La Loi De Zipf. Région et Développement, 36(31–54), 125–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramachandran, R. (2011). Urbanization and urban systems in India (3rd ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raman, B. (2014). Patterns and Practices of Spatial Transformation in Non-Metros: The Case of Tiruchengode. Economic & Political Weekly, 49(22), 46–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Samanta, G. (2014a). Beyond Metropolitan shadow: Governing small towns in India, Conference Proceedings: At the frontiers of Urban Space (pp. 283–299), 2014, January 22–24, University of Avignon. https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00959944

  • Samanta, G. (2014b). The politics of classification and the complexity of governance in census towns. Review of Urban Affairs, Economic & Political Weekly, XLIX(22).

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaffar, A. (2009). On Zipf’s law: Testing over China’s and India’s city-size distribution. 49th European Congress of the regional science association International. Lodz, Territorial cohesion of Europe and Integrative planning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, S. (2003). Persistence and stability in city growth. Journal of Urban Economics, 53(2), 300–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, A. (2005). Peri-urban interface of Indian cities: growth, governance and local initiatives. Economic and Political Weekly, 129–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sidhwani, P. (2014). Farm to non-farm: Are India’s villages “RURBANISING”? CPR Urban Working Paper 4, November 2014. www.cprindia.org

  • Sivaramakrishnan, K. C., Mukhopadhyay, P., & Partha, C. (2009). Special economic zones: Promise, performance and pending issues. Working Paper. New Delhi: Centre for Policy Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swerts, E., & Pumain, D. (2013). A statistical approach to territorial cohesion: The Indian city system. L’Espace géographique, 1, 77–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swerts, E., Pumain, D., & Denis, E. (2014). The future of India’s urbanization. Futures, 56, 43–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, J. J. (2012). India’s Labour Market during the 2000s. Economic & Political Weekly, 47(51), 39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaidyanathan, A. (1986). Labour use in rural India: A study of spatial and temporal variations. Economic and Political Weekly, A130–A146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Véron, J. (1987). L’urbanisation indienne (1901–1981). Population, I.N.E.D. 42(3), 485–502.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work has been done thanks to the ANR SUBURBIN, the ERC GeoDiverCity and the FNS project LOGIICCS.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Lausanne, Suisse, Switzerland

    Elfie Swerts

Authors
  1. Elfie Swerts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elfie Swerts .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Géographie-cités Lab, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) Géographie-cités Lab, Paris, Paris, France

    Eric Denis

  2. Centre for Social Sciences Studies on Africa, America and Asia (CESSMA, Paris), French Institute of Research for Sustainable Development (IRD), Paris, France., Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, India

    Marie-Hélène Zérah

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer India

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Swerts, E. (2017). The Substantial Share of Small Towns in India’s System of Cities. In: Denis, E., Zérah, MH. (eds) Subaltern Urbanisation in India. Exploring Urban Change in South Asia. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3616-0_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3616-0_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New Delhi

  • Print ISBN: 978-81-322-3614-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-81-322-3616-0

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation