Book contents
- The Cambridge Economic History of Modern South Asia
- The Cambridge Economic History of Modern South Asia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors to Part 2
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction to Part 2
- 2 The Economic Effects of Partition
- 3 Growth, Poverty and Inequality
- 4 Agriculture after Independence
- 5 Industry in the Post-independence Era
- 6 The Journey of Indian Finance
- 7 Business History since 1947
- 8 India’s Regional Economies
- 9 India’s Development Policy
- 10 Law and the Economy
- 11 Public Goods
- 12 Caste and Tribe
- 13 Women and the Economy
- 14 Labour, Employment and Wages
- 15 The Economic Effects of International Migration from India
- 16 Urbanization
- 17 Environment and Development in Independent India
- 18 Pakistan’s Economic History
- 19 Bangladesh
- 20 Conclusion
- Index
- References
16 - Urbanization
1947–Present
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 March 2026
Book contents
- The Cambridge Economic History of Modern South Asia
- The Cambridge Economic History of Modern South Asia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors to Part 2
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction to Part 2
- 2 The Economic Effects of Partition
- 3 Growth, Poverty and Inequality
- 4 Agriculture after Independence
- 5 Industry in the Post-independence Era
- 6 The Journey of Indian Finance
- 7 Business History since 1947
- 8 India’s Regional Economies
- 9 India’s Development Policy
- 10 Law and the Economy
- 11 Public Goods
- 12 Caste and Tribe
- 13 Women and the Economy
- 14 Labour, Employment and Wages
- 15 The Economic Effects of International Migration from India
- 16 Urbanization
- 17 Environment and Development in Independent India
- 18 Pakistan’s Economic History
- 19 Bangladesh
- 20 Conclusion
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter provides an overview of the process of urbanization after 1947 and its impacts, highlighting its contested meanings, measurement and policy outcomes. Noting the contrasting ways in which urbanization is occurring, the chapter first reviews the debates over India’s slow urbanization and its possible causes. It then turns to the way the government has influenced the process through the dirigisme policies of the first forty years since independence, followed by economic liberalization in the last three decades. Some of these policies are best observed in the changing profile of the largest cities of the country, such as the three colonial port cities of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and, to a lesser extent, in small towns and emerging urban places. Improvements in urban services and quality of life have occurred, but unevenly, with small towns and poorer households in larger cities lagging behind.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Economic History of Modern South Asia , pp. 342 - 365Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
References
Selected Bibliography
Azim Premji University, State of Working India 2021: One Year of Covid-19 (Bengaluru, Azim Premji University, Centre for Sustainable Employment, 2021).Google Scholar
Bhan, G. and Shivanand, S., ‘(Un)settling the city: Analysing displacement in Delhi from 1990 to 2007’, Economic and Political Weekly, 38, no. 13 (2013), 54–61.Google Scholar
Bose, A., India’s Urbanization 1901–2001, 2nd rev. ed. (New Delhi, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., 1978).Google Scholar
Businessworld, ‘MCGM to meet Maha officials to discuss format of fresh DP’, Businessworld, 2015, at https://bit.ly/4bRiYTc.Google Scholar
Chatterji, J., The Spoils of Partition: Bengal and India, 1947–1967 (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, M. A. and Raveendran, G., ‘Urban employment in India: Trends and patterns’, Margin: Journal of Applied Economic Research, 6, no. 2 (2012), 159–79.Google Scholar
Dasgupta, D., ‘The importance of being “rurban”’, Economic and Political Weekly, 50, no. 24 (2015), 37–43.Google Scholar
Davis, K., ‘Urbanization in India: Past and future’, in Turner, R. (ed.) India’s Urban Future (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1962), 3–26.Google Scholar
Denis, E. and Marius-Gnanou, K., ‘Towards a better appraisal of urbanization in India: A fresh look at the landscape of morphological agglomerates’, Cybergeo: European Journal of Geography, 2011, at journals.openedition.org/cybergeo/24798?lang+eng (accessed 19 September 2020).Google Scholar
Denis, E., Mukhopadhyay, P. and Zerah, M. H., ‘Subaltern urbanization in India’, Economic and Political Weekly, 47, no. 30 (2012), 52–62.Google Scholar
D’Monte, D., ‘Redevelopment of Mumbai’s cotton textile mill land: Opportunity lost’, Economic and Political Weekly, 33, no. 6 (1998), 283–90.Google Scholar
Dyson, T. and Visaria, P., ‘Migration and urbanization: Retrospect and prospects’, in Dyson, T., Cassen, R. and Visaria, L. (eds), Twenty-First Century India: Population, Economy, Human Development and the Environment (New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2004), 108–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frank, A. G., Capitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America (New York, Monthly Review Press, 1967).Google Scholar
Government of India, Report of the Economic Survey of Madras City 1954–57 (RESM) (Planning Commission, Research Programmes Committee, 1961).Google Scholar
Government of India, Report of the National Commission on Urbanization (NCU): Volume 2, Part 3 (New Delhi, Ministry of Urban Development, 1988).Google Scholar
Gupta, D., Biswas, D. and Kabiraj, P., ‘Covid-19 outbreak and urban dynamics: Regional variations in India’, Geojournal, 87 (2021), 2719–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HUDCO, Towns of India: Status of Demography, Economy, Social Structures, Housing and Basic Infrastructure, 2016, at https://smartnet.niua.org/sites/default/files/resources/Hudco%20Phase%20III.pdf (accessed 13 March 2025).Google Scholar
Indian Journal of Labour Economics, special issue on Labour Migration and Development, 63, no. 4 (2020).Google Scholar
Kamath, L. and Zachariah, Y., ‘Impact of JNNURM and UIDSSMT/IHSDP programmes on infrastructure and governance outcomes in cities/towns in India’, TISS Working Paper No. 7, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, 2015.Google Scholar
Kulkarni, H. and Shah, M., ‘Urban water systems in India: Typologies and hypotheses’, Economic and Political Weekly, 50, no. 30 (2015), 57–69.Google Scholar
Kundu, A., In the Name of the Urban Poor: Access to Basic Amenities (New Delhi, Sage, 1993).Google Scholar
Mahadevia, D., Shelter Security in Urban India: Pathways, Barriers and Outcomes (New Delhi, Concept Publishing Co., 2015).Google Scholar
Mathur, O. P., ‘The problem of regional disparities: An analysis of Indian policies and programmes’, in Lo, F. C. and Salih, K. (eds), Growth Pole Strategy and Regional Development Policy (Oxford, Pergamon Press, 1979), 121–46.Google Scholar
Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MHUPA), Report of the Technical Group on Urban Housing Shortage (New Delhi, Government of India, 2012).Google Scholar
Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), Development Control and Promotion Regulations 2034 for Greater Mumbai, 2018, at www.udri.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DCPR_English2034.pdf (accessed 5 November 2020).Google Scholar
Nelson, J. M., ‘Sojourners versus New Urbanites: Causes and consequences of temporary versus permanent cityward migration in developing countries’, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 24, no. 4 (1976), 721–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pradhan, K. C., ‘Unacknowledged urbanization: New census towns of India’, Economic and Political Weekly, 48, no. 36 (2013), 43–51.Google Scholar
Patel, S., ‘More FSI, more welfare?’ Economic and Political Weekly, 48, nos 26–7 (2013), 16–18.Google Scholar
Racine, J., ‘Calcutta: From crisis to hope’, in Misra, R. P. and Misra, K. (eds), Million Cities of India (New Delhi, Sustainable Development Foundation, 1998), 168–81.Google Scholar
Ramachandran, R., Urbanisation and Urban Systems in India (Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1989).Google Scholar
Ramachandran, U., ‘Illegality and the urban poor’, Economic and Political Weekly, 41, no. 29 (2006), 3193–7.Google Scholar
Ramesh, A., Kumaran, V. T. and Gunaselvam, T., ‘Chennai: A coastal city of colonial origin’, in Misra, R. P. and Misra, K. (eds), Million Cities of India (New Delhi, Sustainable Development Foundation, 1998), 258–75.Google Scholar
Roy, D. and Meera, M. L., ‘Housing for India’s low-income households: A demand perspective’, ICRIER Working Paper 402, December 2020, at icrier.org/pdf/Working_Paper_402.pdf (accessed 6 April 2021).Google Scholar
Sen, S. N., The City of Calcutta: A Socio-economic Survey, 1954–55 to 1957–58 (Calcutta, Bookland Private Ltd, 1960).Google Scholar
Shaw, A., ‘Towards sustainable cities in India’, in Mukherjee, J. (ed.), Sustainable Urbanization in India: Challenges and Opportunities (Singapore, Springer, 2018), 23–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tumbe, C., ‘Urbanisation, demographic transition and the growth of cities in India, 1870–2020’, International Growth Centre, Working Paper C-35205-INC-1, 2016.Google Scholar
United Nations, Report of Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, Vancouver, 3 May–11 June (New York, UN, 1976), at undocs.org/en/A/CONF.70/15 (accessed 3 January 2021).Google Scholar
United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects, the 2018 Revision (New York, United Nations, 2019).Google Scholar
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Urbanization in Asia and the Far East (Bangkok, 8–18 August) (Calcutta, UNESCO Research Centre, 1957).Google Scholar
van Duijne, R. J., ‘Why India’s urbanization is hidden: Observations from “rural” Bihar’, World Development, 123, no. 11 (2019), 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Duijne, R. J. and Nijman, J., ‘India’s emergent urban formations’, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 109, no. 6 (2019), 1978–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, J., ‘Development of urban and regional planning in India’, Land Economics, 34, no. 4 (1958), 310–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Bank, Urbanization beyond Municipal Boundaries: Nurturing Metropolitan Economies and Connecting Peri-urban Areas in India (Washington, DC, World Bank, 2013).Google Scholar
Accessibility standard: WCAG 2.0 A
Why this information is here
This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.Accessibility Information
The HTML of this chapter
conforms to version 2.0 of the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG), ensuring core accessibility principles are addressed and meets the basic
(A)
level of WCAG compliance, addressing essential accessibility barriers.
Content Navigation
Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Reading Order & Textual Equivalents
Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
Short alternative textual descriptions
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
Full alternative textual descriptions
You get more than just short alt text: you have comprehensive text equivalents, transcripts, captions, or audio descriptions for substantial non‐text content, which is especially helpful for complex visuals or multimedia.
You get more than just short alt text: you have comprehensive text equivalents, transcripts, captions, or audio descriptions for substantial non‐text content, which is especially helpful for complex visuals or multimedia.
Structural and Technical Features
ARIA roles provided
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.