Urbanization in India: dynamics and consequences

Lokpriy Lokpriy, International Institute for Population Sciences

The objective of this paper is to understand the extent, trend and pattern of urbanization and the consequences in the socio-economic context in India by using data from Census of India from 1901 to 2001, NSSO. Both, natural increase and rural to urban migration have contributed towards the urban growth in India. The largest contributor is natural growth 41.7% during 1971-81 and 58.7% during 1981-91. Net migration and changes in boundaries contributed 39.4% during 1971-81 and it has reduced to 22 percent in 1981-91. Urbanization in India is not only migration lead but demographic factor has a strong say in deciding the urban population. The papers finding shows that in 1991 the value of Z was about 0.74 and it went down to 0.69 in the 2001, it is thus clear that with the passage of time the distribution of population in urban areas has become more even.