COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO URBAN GOVERNANCE Š …UNIT 4 MULTI-FACETED RAMIFICATIONS OF URBANISATION Contents Page No. 1. Introduction 3 2. Current Urbanisation Scenario 4 3. Global

COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO URBAN GOVERNANCE �CONCEPTS AND PRACTICES

Block 2 : Trends in Urbanisation

Unit 4 : Multi-faceted Ramifications of Urbanisation .......... 3

Unit 5 : Multiculturalism in Urban Society ....................... 26

Unit 6 : Urban Infrastructure � Basic Services ................... 38

National Law University, DelhiSector-14, DwarkaNew Delhi-110078

Centre for Environmental Law, WWF-India172-B, Lodi EstateNew Delhi-110003

UNIT 4MULTI-FACETED RAMIFICATIONS OF URBANISATION

Contents Page No.

1. Introduction 3

2. Current Urbanisation Scenario 4

3. Global Trends 19

4. Multifaceted Ramifications of Urbanisation from the Indian Perspective 20

5. References and Recommended Readings 23

1. IntroductionAchieving the United Nation�s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the internationalcommunity�s unprecedented agreement on targets towards the eradication of extremepoverty and hunger, will depend to a large extent on how well the country governmentsmanage their cities. Cities are currently home to nearly half of the world�s population andover the next 30 years most of the two-billion-plus person increase in global populationis expected to occur in urban areas in the developing world.

In the year 2002, 47.7% of the world�s population lived in urban areas which covered2.8% of the earth�s land surface.1 The absolute figures of urban population increased from750 million people in 1950 (which amounted to 30% of the world�s population) to morethan 2.8 billion in 2000. The share of urban population is projected to further grow to54% in 2015.2 The ever-increasing urbanisation rates have manifold effects on ecosystemsin and around city centers and on human life and well-being and are interrelated withsocio-economic aspects in various ways. The major problems of urban systems are unhealthyand unpleasant living environments for humans and other living beings, deterioratingrelations with adjoining ecosystems and excessive ecological footprints of urban ecosystems.Although these problems can be correlated and mostly coexist in particular urbansettlements, a general trend can be made out: As a city�s economy develops, there seemsto be a shift from issues involving the provisioning of private goods such as water forhousehold consumption to the provision of public goods such as global climate stability.The environmental burden shifts from the local to a more global scale, traditional riskssuch as contaminated water give space to modern risks such as industrial pollution. Thecity�s problems evolve from ones which are connected to poverty to issues related toproduction and consumption patterns.3

As per the 2001 census, 28% of the Indian population (which was then equivalent to 285million people) lived in urban areas.4 The urbanisation rate is expected to increase toabout 40 per cent of total population by the year 2021. It is estimated that by the year2011, urban areas would contribute about 65 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).5

1 UN Report 2002, p.3.2 UN Report 2002, Table 3, p.6.3 MEA Urban Systems, p.807.4 Govt. of India, Census 2001 � available at http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001.5 Govt. of India � �Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission � Overview�, 2005; p.3.

Trends in Urbanisation4

However, such estimates of higher productivity depend upon the availability and qualityof infrastructure services available� infrastructural issues being one of the major challengesthat urban agglomerations in rapidly growing nations such as India face. Up to date,services such as energy, communication, roads, (mass) transportation and water supply,coupled with civic infrastructure, such as sanitation and solid waste management poseimportant concerns to governments and municipal authorities.

2. Current Urbanisation ScenarioI) Demographics

While during the period of 1950 to 1975, global population growth was evenly dividedbetween the urban and rural areas of the world, the period since then has been characterisedby rates of urban growth exceeding the growth rates of rural population. In 2008, for thefirst time in history, over half of the world�s population lived in urban areas and by 2050this will have risen to 70 per cent.6 This is mostly due to the rapid increase in urbanpopulation in many developing countries.

Whereas Latin American nations are conventionally treated as �developing countries�along with nations of Asia and Africa, its level of urbanisation (67.9% of its population) iscomparable to that of Europe (70.9%) or Northern America (81.5%). While the urban shareof the population of African and Asian nations is below the world wide average of 46.7%,both these regions have the highest urban population density rates: on an average, 1270people live on one square kilometre (see Table).7

The proportion of people living in very large urban agglomerations or mega-cities is stillsmall. In 2004, approximately half of the world�s urban population lived in cities with morethan 1 million inhabitants. In 2000, 3.7% of the world population resided in cities of 10million inhabitants or more and by 2015 that proportion is expected to rise to 4.7 percent.8 However, certain cities are projected to attain sizes that have not been experiencedbefore: New megacities with populations of over 10 million and even hyper-cities of over20 million are predicted.9

In spite of this, the bulk of new urban growth will occur in smaller settlements ofpopulation sizes between 100,000 to 250,000, most of which are to be found in thedeveloped and transitional regions of the world. The structure of urban population acrossdifferent size categories changes and reveals a shift of growth dynamics from large tosecond order cities.10 Thus, the proportion of the world population living in small citiesis considerably larger, though it is increasing at a slower pace. The trend towardsconcentration of population in larger urban settlements will not result in a decline of theproportion or the number of persons living in smaller urban settlements.11 Especially insuccessful economies with good transport and communication systems and increasinglycompetent local authorities also outside the large cities, new investment is often targeted

6 UN HABITAT Report 2009, p.8.7 Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University; Global Rural-

Urban Mapping Project, 2004 � available at http://beta.sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw.8 UN Report 2002, Key finding No.13, p.2.9 UN HABITAT Report 2009, p.8.10 Kundu, Amitabh, p.1.11 UN Report 2002, Key Finding No. 15, p.3.

Multi-faceted Ramifications of Urbanisation 5

outside these mega-agglomerations, so that most large cities become more dispensed onthe long run.12 For example, 39 U.S.-American cities have faced population loss between1990 and 2000, as economical restructuring processes made parts of the population moveaway from a historically dominant urban core.13

In India, the share of the urban in the total population has been continuously and rapidlygrowing over the last century: The level of urbanisation increased from 10.8% in 1901 to18.2% in 1971 and 27.7% in 2001. Through the accelerated pace of urbanisation in comparisonto a more moderate expansion of rural population, the urban-rural ratio grew even morerapidly: whereas in 1901, every 100 rural dwellers were faced by 12 urbanites (urban-ruralratio hence being 12.16%), they faced 38 urbanites in 2001 (ratio 38.4%).14

The number of Indian cities with more than one million inhabitants has increased from 5in 1951 to 23 in 1991 and 35 in 2001. As per the 2001 Census, about 37% of the total urbanpopulation lived in these million plus-cities.15

Table 1: Share and Density of Urban Population, Continents and World, 200416

Africa Asia Latin Oceania Europe America WorldAmerica North

Urban population as 38.4 37.5 67.9 70.8 70.9 81.5 46.7share of totalpopulation(per cent)

Share of urban 45.9 50.6 49.3 57.4 44.5 61.5 49.8dwellers in citiesover 1 million(per cent)

Urban population 1,278 1,272 656 427 588 289 770density (personsper squarekilometre)

Average population 27 120 26 4 32 17 46density (personsper squarekilometre)

Driving Forces of Urbanisation � As discussed in the previous units, driving forces behindurbanisation are factors which cause an increase in the proportion of a population livingin urban areas. Apart from the natural growth of urban populations, main reason for thegrowth of urban population is the migration from rural to urban areas on the one side and� mostly in consequence of this movement � the transformation of rural to urban areas onthe other side.

12 MEA Urban Systems, p.804.13 UN HABITAT Report 2009, p.8.14 Datta, Table 6, p.6.15 Datta, p.10.16 Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University; Global Rural-

Urban Mapping Project, 2004, available at http://beta.sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw.


Although high population growth is a serious problem in most developing countries, theactual prominent factor leading to rapid urban growth is internal migration from rural tourban areas. As there is an acute lack of data on migration in many developing countries,the difference between the urban growth rate and the natural (total population) growthrate is used as an approximate indicator of rural-urban migration.17 Statistics show thatrural migration constitutes between 35 and 60% of urban population growth in differentdeveloping countries worldwide. Migrants currently account for 50% of the world�s urbanpopulation.18

a. Push and Pull FactorsThe causes prompting such population resettlements can be divided into pulling andpushing factors, the former generally acting as principal driving forces and the lattermerely facilitating the process. On the one side, rural dwellers are compelled to leavetheir home due to chronic poverty, landlessness, depletion of natural resources or commonproperty resources, lack of year-round employment, debt, natural disasters and unavailabilityof basic facilities and services such as electricity, hospitals or schools.19 On the other side,it is the supposedly better access to these public services and, first and foremost, economicincentives which act as pulling factors and attract rural population to move to urbanagglomerations. It is primarily the difference in the average income or wage levels betweenrural and urban areas which incites migration to urban centers. As wages in cities are kepthigh by union pressure, (stricter) application of minimum wage legislation or through thepayment of relatively high wages by governments, bigger companies and foreign corporations,the rural-urban wage gap in many developing countries is enormous. An urban steel workerin India, for instance, earns 8.4 times the rural wage in his country.20 The prospect ofimproving income situation and living conditions clearly acts as main cause of migrations.It is thus mostly young people, able and ready to work hard, who constitute the massesof rural-urban migrants worldwide: In all developing countries, migration is concentratedin the 15-30 age group.21 A survey carried out amongst young Cambodian migrants revealedthat 45% of those asked had come to the urban centres in �search for work�, while 17%left their rural homes due to �lack of food�. Only 4% of the migrants mentioned �naturaldisasters� as cause for their coming to the city.22 Urbanisation can hence be seen as a freemarket response to disequilibrium in labour markets.

Economic growth, especially if taking place in urban centers without providing for possibilitiesof partaking for rural populations, can consequently be called the main driver of urbanisation.Advancing economies, undergoing structural changes moving away from agricultural toindustrial or service related work, hence have the strongest urbanisation rates.23 This alsobecomes clear from the fact that the most urbanised nations are those with the highestper capita income.24 Most of the world�s largest and most rapidly growing cities eitherhave key roles for global or regional economies or are centers linking large nationaleconomies with the global economy. The exceptions tend to be (former) national capitals,such as Cairo or Delhi.25

17 Wahba, p.3.18 Kundu,Amitabh p.1.19 CDRI, p.19.20 Wahba, p.4.21 Wahba, p.6.22 CDRI, Figure 2.6, p.20.23 McGee, p.11.24 McGee, p.49.25 MEA Urban Systems, p.804.


b. Over-Urbanisation

The economic pressure on many rural dwellers is such, that they move from rural to urbanareas with the prospect of better paid or more constant employment even at the risk ofending up as an unemployed urban resident. As the difference between the employmentpossibilities and average income between rural and urban areas is so tremendous, peopleare still moving to already overcrowded cities, despite the huge social costs of rural-urbanmigration and the uncertainties and risks involved. With the cities� labour markets beingunable to accommodate the masses of mostly unskilled workers, this so-called phenomenonof over-urbanisation rather results in a rapidly growing labour force found in the instableand unproductive informal sector than leading to reduction in unemployment and poverty.26

As the Indian National Commission on Urbanisation has described it, urbanisation becomesa catalyst for economic development, if and as far as job opportunities for rural migrantsare productive and they lead to gainful employment. If, however, urbanisation is merelya process of transfer of rural poverty to an urban environment, it results in a concentrationof misery.27

A dysfunctional urbanisation with an increasing concentration of population in a few largecities without the corresponding increase in their economic base hence results in acoexistence of urban misery and rural poverty.28 Over-urbanisation is posing increasingproblems in numerous developing countries worldwide. As the Director of UN HABITAT putit, �95 per cent of the urban expansion is taking place in those cities least equipped tonegotiate the urban transition � the secondary cities of Africa and Asia. As a result weare witnessing the urbanisation of poverty.�29 To avoid over-urbanisation, policies andlegislation regulating rural-urban migration need to be enacted which should be accompaniedby measures to strengthen the rural economy,30 as unregulated markets as well as marketfailures (such as disparities in average incomes between rural and urban areas) promoteand contribute to over-urbanisation.31

c. The Effect of Migration: Urban Multiculturalism

Due to rising levels of partly even international migration, urban areas in all parts of theworld are increasingly becoming multicultural. It has always been an important characteristicof urban settlements that people from different ethnic, cultural and religious backgroundslive on close quarters.32 An ethnic group can be defined as a collectivity of people whoshare some patterns of normative behaviour and who form a distinct group within a largerpopulation, interacting with people from other collectivities within the framework of asocial system.33 Ethnic groups are generally engaged in a constant struggle for resourceswith other ethnic groups, even more so urban ethnic groups with resources in urbancenters often being scarce and expensive.34 Ethnic solidarity as a form of generalised

26 Kundu, Amitabh p.45.27 Govt. of India, Delhi Planning Department, Economic Survey of Delhi 1999-2000, Chapter 14; available

at http://delhiplanning.nic.in/Economic%20Survey/chapter_14.htm.28 Datta, p.12.29 Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT in her address at the FIG Working Week 2008.30 Kundu, Amitabh p.21.31 Wahba, p.10.32 UN HABITAT Report 2009, p.27.33 Cohen, p.ix.34 Hannerz, p.37.


moral obligation provides for a strong network within most urban ethnic groups.35 Especiallywithin minorities a strong feeling of belonging can be made out, as these ethnic collectivestry to hold their ground against politically or economically stronger ethnic groups.

In cities in both developed and developing countries, societal divisions have been increasing,partly as a result of the growth of ethnic minority groups in cities, and partly because ofgrowing income and employment inequalities between and within such groups.36 Suchinequality often divides cities spatially, as ethnic or social-economic groups tend to formghetto-like enclaves.37 In Toronto, for instance, Canada�s most important immigrant receptioncenter since the Second World War, many suburban ethnic enclaves have been emergingsince ever the beginning in the 1970s, since the time when huge numbers of immigrantsfrom Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Central and South America arrived.38 Economic andspatial separation can lead to massive tensions as well as to the formation and co-existence of different urban societies with relatively little interactions. Peaceful co-existence happens when even minority groups successfully claim their rights to occupyspace and gain access to employment opportunities as well as public services.39

II) Housing

Urbanisation has both positive and adverse effects on human living conditions in terms ofresidential quality, availability of services and amenities, and health indicators.40 Whilethe affluent urban population benefits from the availability of public services such ashospitals and schools, unhealthy and unpleasant living conditions primarily affect the mostvulnerable groups living in urban areas, those without financial or political power to accesslocal ecosystem services and to evade or combat the effects of environmental degradationand natural disasters.41

a. Slum Development

As population growth in many rapidly expanding urban centers has outpaced the rate ofhousing provisions and availability of space, the demand for land by different groups ofsociety creates a high pressure on scarce urban land and increases its commercial value.Consequently, access to land becomes more and more difficult, especially for those withinsufficient financial power. Access to land, however, is essential for the ability of poorhouseholds to survive and lift itself out of poverty. Aside from being a basis for shelterand access to services, secure land rights provide financial security and protection in timesof acute hardship.42 Lack of access to land, because of its high cost or inadequate propertyrights and land tenure arrangements, causes the development and expansion of slum andsquatter areas within urban settlement.43

As defined by The Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956, slums are areaswhich is primarily characterised by buildings which �are (a) in any respect unfit for humanhabitation; or (b) which, by reason of dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement and

35 Hannerz, p.40.36 UN HABITAT Report 2009, p.7.37 UN HABITAT Report 2009, p.34.38 Preston, p.72.39 Preston, p.72.40 Bentinck, p.131.41 MEA Urban Systems, p.806.42 UN HABITAT Housing, p.5.43 MEA Urban Systems, p.816.


design of such buildings, narrowness or faulty arrangement of streets, lack of ventilation,light or sanitation facilities, or any combination of these factors, are detrimental to safety,health or morals.�44

Increasing parts of urban populations live in such poor housing and environmental conditionswhich pose an affront to human dignity.45 In the developing world, close to 37% of theurban population currently live in slums. In 2009, the number of slum dwellers worldwideamounted to 1 billion people as per estimates of the UN HABITAT.46 In many cities, slumsettlements account for more than 60% of the urban total.47 For instance, the proportionof slum population in Greater Mumbai in 2010 was 53%, which amounts to approximately9 million people,48 in comparison to 48.8% or 6.5 million slum dwellers in 2001.49

The living conditions in squatter settlements are primarily characterised by unavailabilityof ecosystems services such as water or sanitation (see Unit 6) and a scarcity of space.Though the quality of housing can vary substantially between different or even withincertain slums, living conditions are generally harmful to health. In a study carried out inslums in Chennai in 2003, only 64% of the buildings were of permanent nature, the other46% being semi-permanent or temporary housings.50 Depending on the use of buildingmaterials, slum dwellers are often compelled to live in hazardous circumstances: Leakyhouses produce dampness, especially in the rainy seasons, and consequently lead to avariety of diseases such as fevers. The use of low-quality paint can increase exposure totoxic substances; inflammable or weak building materials such as wood, plastic or cardboardfurther increases risks of injuries. Moreover, substandard building designs play an importantrole for human well-being: Inadequate ventilation can cause exposure to different pollutantsand pathogens, poor lighting or heating influences both physical and mental health as wellas potentially decreasing participation in activities such as education.51

Furthermore, slum areas are most likely to be directly affected by environmental forcesas informal settlements are often built in high-risk areas such as steep hill slopes or flood-prone areas that are particularly susceptible to extreme weather conditions.52 Combinedeffects of natural ageing of the buildings, lack of maintenance and neglect, wrong use ofthe buildings, poor sanitation in the disposal of sewage and solid waste, wrong developmentof land, and increasing deterioration of the natural landscape further lead to a poorhousing quality.53 Light, air and privacy are grossly inadequate. All these factors lead tosevere social problems, the culminating effects of which are insecurity of lives andproperty, and poor health and productivity of the urban dwellers.54

The exclusion of a significant portion of urban households from legal shelter tends toreduce a city�s overall economic development: People living in fear of eviction are less

44 The Slum Areas (Improvement And Clearance) Act, 1956 � section 3 (1).45 Olotuah, p.2.46 UN HABITAT Report 2009, p.5.47 Wahba, p.6.48 Jain, Bhavika �Mumbai�s slum population up by 29%: Census� Hindustan Times 17/10/2010.49 Govt. of India, Census 2001 �Metadata and Brief Highlights on Slum Population�, p.2.50 Chandramouli, p.84.51 WHO Report 2002, p.70.52 UN HABITAT Report 2009, p.8.53 Olotuah, p.4.54 Olotuah, p.7.


likely to realise their full potential as workers or citizens, and are unlikely and oftenunable to invest in improving their homes and neighbourhoods.55

Despite their weak economic situation and their mostly being ignored by wealthy urbanitesand neglected by urban planners, cities need the poor to prosper. Processes ofindustrialisation which contribute strongly to a countries economic development and wealthhave always been made possible through huge, low-paid workforces. The large supply ofcheap labour which slum dwellers typically constitute allows for the development of acity�s economic activities in many different sectors such as the industrial or constructionlabour market. The poor are equally important for the service sectors of urbanagglomerations: It is to a large part their cheap work force in occupations such asdomestic helpers, cleaners, maintenance workers, cooks, waiters and rickshaw pullerswhich keeps the city running.56

Low-quality housing can often be found in direct neighbourhood to well-developed, wealthyresidential colonies, as a characteristic feature of urban housing structures is high patchiness.Accordingly, clusters with a huge differential in availability of ecosystem services, qualityof infrastructure and housing, depending upon their economic activity, can be found inclose vicinity. In the outskirts of many affluent cities, greenbelts with high-quality housingcan be found, where wealthy urbanites construct spacious residences to evade urbanpollution and congestion. In poorer urban settlements, on the contrary, these areas tendto be occupied by squatter and slum areas, as the urban poor decide to settle down inperi-urban zones where land is more easily available and where they hope to escape thecosts and threats of urban land regulations.57

An important characteristic especially in rapidly growing urban agglomerations is the co-existence of legal and illegal types of housing within the city boundaries. Categories suchas �regularised unauthorised settlements�, �planned colonies� or �urban villages� can bemade out, indicating the simultaneity of a partly planned and organised, partly unregulatedexpansion of the urban center, comprising formerly rural areas on the city fringes.58 Theurban housing situation is typically in a constant process of development, with land usepatterns and legal status of different clusters undergoing changes in the course of time,for instance illegal settlements being granted authorisation or slum settlements beingevicted or resettled for the purpose of modernising or upgrading certain city parts.

b. Resettlement and Eviction of Slums

In an attempt to combat uncontrolled urbanisation, governments in developing countriesoften launch programmes for improving infrastructural facilities to improve the level ofgovernance as well as to attract private investors from within as well as outside thecountry. Such programmes tend to push out squatter settlements, informal sector businessesand pollutant industries to a few pockets and peripheries of the cities. Income level andquality of basic amenities in the favoured parts of these cities, as a result, go up but areoften associated with increased intra-city disparity and the creation of degenerated peripheryand city fringes.59 This shows how market forces are increasingly determining how space

55 UN HABITAT Land, p.7.56 UN HABITAT Eviction, p.10.57 UN HABITAT Report 2009, p.9.58 Hazards Centre, p.11.59 Kundu, Amitabh p.46.


is used in cities. Displacements are the direct or indirect consequences of a developmentaiming to make more profitable use of urban land. Not only government agencies evictpoor people from large areas of cities to free up the land they manage for urbaninfrastructure projects or to use it for profitable rather than social purposes,60 but privatelandlords as well engage in similar activities for the purpose of commercial developmentof their properties.61 For instance, Deutsche Bank, the world�s fourth-largest bank, isalleged by the Los Angeles City Attorney to have illegally evicted tenants from propertiesit owns.62

Evictions put additional burdens on the city�s poor, already marginalised residents: Theyare further distanced from proper health care and educational facilities as well asemployment opportunities as they are often forced to shift to the outskirts of the urbancenters, where the competition and demand for land is comparatively lower. As slumdwellers are unable to afford both time and transport expenses for commuting to morecentral parts of the city, where most of their work places are located, eviction often leadsto even higher unemployment amongst them. Because of social structures being disturbedand broken up by forceful evictions, slum dwellers are moreover exposed to situations ofalienation and conflict which potentially increase levels of crime and violence. Whilecontributing to modernisation and beautification of city, eviction does not alleviate housingshortage within the urban center. The evicted slum dwellers either move into existing slumareas or new squatter settlements developing on the periphery of the city.63

As defined by the UN, evictions are �a permanent or temporary removal against their willof individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or land they occupy,without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection.�64

Such expulsions clearly violate Art. 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whichstates that �Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health andwellbeing of himself and of his household, including food, clothing and housing.�65 Anotherrelevant international Human Rights Document is the International Covenant on Economic,Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), Art. 11 (1) of which recognises the right to adequatehousing. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights� General Comment No. 7 on Art. 11,which illustrates and explains the Right to Housing, states that �the State itself mustrefrain from forced evictions and ensure that the law is enforced against its agents or thirdparties who carry out forced evictions�.66 Thus, not only state driven evictions but alsothose carried out by private landlords are illegal and in violation of internationally recognisedHuman Rights. However, eviction programmes can legally be carried out, if they providefor adequate resettlement options, avoid rendering slum dwellers homeless and areconsistent with other Human Rights.

60 UN HABITAT Eviction, p.7.61 UN HABITAT Land, p.6.62 Garrison, Jessica; Linthicum, Kate �L.A. suit calls Deutsche Bank a slumlord� Los Angeles Times 05/

05/201163 UN HABITAT Eviction, p.15.64 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Comment 7 on Article 11.1 of the CESCR: The Right to

Adequate Housing � Forced Evictions; 1997; para 3.65 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, Art. 25 (1).66 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Comment 7 on Article 11.1 of the CESCR: The Right to

Adequate Housing � Forced Evictions; 1997; para 8.


III) Effects on Environment and Ecosystems

Through the concentration of economic and social activities and the respective bio-chemicalprocesses, changed and intensified consumption levels, increased levels of pollution andignorance of the existence and importance of naturally existing ecosystems, cities andurban agglomerations impose burdens on ecosystems within, surrounding and even at greatdistance from urban areas.67 Generally, burdens that urban activities impose on othergroups of the population, whether residing close to or distant from the city, and evenfuture generations by reducing their access to ecosystem services, either because theseservices are diverted to urban uses or because the ecosystems themselves are degraded:this raises international issues of spatial justice as well as issues of temporal justice.68

Though most of these negative relationships between urban and other ecosystems havelittle to do with urban settlement patterns per se, some of them are directly caused byand many of them are aggravated and intensified by the spatial concentration of urbanconsumption and production.69

a. Effects on Ecosystems within the Urban Settlement

Apart from affecting human living conditions in the various ways depicted in the other sub-chapters, urbanisation has a strong impact on ecosystem services such as water, air andgreen spaces. These shall be analysed in detail in �Unit 6 � Urban Infrastructure, BasicServices�.

Moreover, urbanisation has grave effects on non-human living beings within the cityboundaries. Through providing abundant food resources and possibilities for shelter, urbanareas typically contain numerous opportunities for the persistence of native nonhumanspecies.70 For instance, an estimated number of 40,000 stray cattle lived in Delhi in 2004and the stray dog population in Moscow is said to be about 35,000.71 Due to economicactivities and a higher share of built-up surface, the ambient temperature in cities isgenerally 2-3 degrees higher than in adjacent rural areas (so-called �urban heat islandeffect�).72 The thus created more moderate climate is another favourable factor for theinvasion or introduction of exotic species, plants as well as animals, from warmer regions.

Urban areas tend to be high in species richness as a result of the high habitat diversityof urban areas. Urban ecosystems are highly patchy and the spatial patch structure ischaracterised by a high variation of species between different areas and a great degreeof isolation between patches. The patchwork nature of urban ecosystems is accentuatedby the variety of individuals and businesses, carrying out their respective activities andmanaging their spaces as per their needs. Parcels of urban land range from municipal parksand private gardens over abandoned industrial areas to railway corridors and metro tunnels,which renders the urban environment full of ecological discontinuities.73 In many studiesthe quantity of different species of plants as well as animals was consequently found tobe higher in urban agglomerations than in the surrounding landscape.74 This fact reflects

67 Grimm, p.264.68 MEA Urban Systems, p.806.69 MEA Urban Systems, p.815.70 MEA Urban Systems, p.807.71 Sternthal, Susanne, Moscow�s Stray Dogs �Financial Times�, 16/01/2010.72 Nowak, p.18.73 MEA Urban Systems, p.808.74 Altherr, p.3.


the ability of plants, animals, and microorganisms to survive and exploit the man-madechanges connected to urbanisation.75 However, the higher number of exotic, invasive oraccidentally introduced species is not merely to be seen as a positive increase in biodiversity.If the most aggressive and adaptable ones amongst these non-native species replace nativeplants or animals, they reduce biological uniqueness of a local ecosystem.76

Notwithstanding the greater diversity of animals and plants within urban areas, the mostimportant consequence of urbanisation is habitat loss due to habitat fragmentation orhabitat alteration.77 Urban construction and production typically conflict with wildlife andhabitat conservation.78 In studies aiming at recording the number and frequency ofoccurrence of animals in cities, the number of mammals and birds typically declines witha higher degree of urbanisation, while going along a rural-urban gradient.79 High levels ofpollution and noise create stress for and pose dangers to living beings, overall decreasingtheir frequency of occurrence as well as their health and persistence. Likewise, the highhuman population density in cities leads to a high visitor pressure, which causes disturbanceand stress to animals. Furthermore, what can be called �planned disturbance� � maintenanceof green spaces, such as mowing of lawns and regular cuts of undergrowth in forests andalong railway tracks � creates another burden of stress on living beings.80

The aforementioned patchiness of urban habitats and the poor connectivity betweenthem, due to roads or built-up space creating barriers difficult to overcome, leads toisolation and fragmentation of habitats, preventing or complicating search for food, shelterand partners for reproduction.

b. Effects on Surrounding and Distant Ecosystems

Ecosystems directly adjoining urban settlements and even more distant urban and ruralareas can be affected by urban centers. Urban water demands often conflict with agriculturaldemands: Structural modifications and pollution of streams and rivers can affect hydro-ecology in ecosystems located downstream.81 Moreover, urban water pollution can damagedownstream agriculture. Although institutions for monitoring and reconciling such conflictsexist in many countries, they tend to work neither efficiently nor equitably, as the social,economic and political importance of cities often ensures that their demands are givenpriority. For instance, inequity can be observed in interregional resource allocation: Inmost countries, no system for economic compensation has yet been established, whichwould ensure that regions which provide other (urban) areas with natural resources attheir own cost are duly compensated for such losses. Instead, the distribution of waterbetween different regions is often simply carried out by administrative order.82 In manyrural areas adjoining large urban centers, scarcity of water has consequently become thelimiting factor for agricultural productivity.83 Such shortage of agricultural water supply

75 MEA Urban Systems, p.807.76 Altherr, p.5.77 Altherr, p.5.78 MEA Urban Systems, p.808.79 Altherr, p.7.80 Altherr, p.6.81 MEA Urban Systems, p.815.82 Bai/Imura, p.32.83 MEA Urban Systems, p. 815.


can in some cases even cause the illegal use of untreated urban sewage, which potentiallybears great risks for human health.84

Similarly, urban demands for fuel wood and charcoal have an impact on surrounding areas:�Rings of deforestation� are developing around many African and Asian cities where charcoalis major cooking fuel.85 Agricultural activity close to urban centers is further influencedby changing land use patterns � when urban dwellers and industries on the one side andagriculturalists on the other compete for land in the process of urban expansion, landprices in adjacent rural areas rise, often rendering agricultural activity uneconomical.Moreover, the increasing and changed demand for agricultural produce, for example thetendency of many urban markets to demand standardised produce, favours monocultures,which pose a serious threat to biodiversity.86

Increased levels of pollution resulting from urbanisation and the respective social andeconomic activities of urban dwellers affect both regional as well as global ecosystems.87

Urbanisation generates air pollutants the impacts of which can occur both near theemission sources and many hundreds to thousands of kilometers away, as a result of long-range transport and atmospheric chemistry. Such pollutants hence potentially affect evendistant ecosystems.88 The phenomenon of climate change, which affects all ecosystemsworldwide to different extents, is in large parts caused by industrialisation processesclosely linked to urbanisation. The most important anthropogenic activities that impactclimate are the increase of greenhouse gases and the changes in land use which are bothrelated to increasing urbanisation.89 It is estimated that urban areas account forapproximately 80 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, as per capitaemissions in urban areas are higher than those in rural areas because of differences inproductive and consumptive behaviours between rural and urban populations. However, inmany high-income countries, large cities have lower levels of average greenhouse gasemissions than those of the rural population, as urbanites tend to use environmental-friendly public transport services more frequently and an increased share of energy isgenerated from renewable energy resources due to availability and usage of advancedtechnologies.90 Due to the difference in economic activities, enactment and enforcementof environmental regulations as well as in methodology while measuring urban greenhousegas emissions, data varies considerably for different cities:91 From more than 15 tonnesof carbon dioxide emissions per capita and annum in Sydney or Washington to about 1tonne in Kolkata and Sao Paolo.92

Caused to a considerable extent by urbanisation, climate change will in turn gravely affecturban settlements: The coastal regions of the world are disproportionately more urbanthan other regions such as dryland or mountain territories � with 10% of the world�s seashore area being urban. The reason for this distribution is that the proximity to the sea

84 Bai/Imura, p.34.85 MEA Urban Systems, p.815.86 MEA Urban Systems, p.814.87 Grimm, p.265.88 Grimm, p.268.89 Cai, p.1.90 Satterthwaite, p.2.91 Hoornweg, Daniel et al. �Cities and greenhouse gas emissions� 2011, p.1.92 Kennedy, C. et al. �Greenhouse Gas Emission Baselines for Global Cities and Metropolitan Regions�

p.33, Table 6.


makes the sea�s ecosystem services (such as food provided by fishery products) easilyavailable and allows access to water transportation.93 As these coastal regions areecologically more fragile and susceptible to changes in the ecosystem, they are likely tobe most intensely affected by the expected rise in the global sea level as well as naturaldisasters related to climate change, such as hurricanes.94 Globally averaged air temperatureat the earth�s surface has already increased between 0.3º and 0.6ºC since the late 1800s.The average surface air temperature is currently expected to increase by 1º to 3.5ºC by2100.95

IV) Human Living Conditions and Health

Even though the urbanisation of a region generally leads to a loss of local ecosystemservices, the economic growth affording and/or accompanying such development processesusually outweighs the health hazards so created: Urbanisation often brings about majorinvestments in public infrastructure, for example hospitals, due to which life in urbanhabitats is on average healthier than life in rural surroundings.96 In many developingcountries, better accessibility and quality of public health services thus renders urbansurroundings advantageous to people�s health.97 Even where the quality of care providedby government hospitals is low, as often the case in developing nations, private doctors,clinics and pharmacies can ensure relatively easy access to medicines, basic care in caseof emergencies, and the distribution of information on diseases and hygiene.98 Along withthe improved access to health-care facilities, the rising economic standard in urbancenters is one of the main explanatory factors of the higher average life expectancy inurban and peri-urban areas as compared to rural areas.99 A study showed mortality of adultChinese in rural areas to be 30% higher than in urban centers.100 In 2006, the mortalityrate in India was 6.0 in urban centers, in comparison to 8.1 in rural areas101 � whichmeans, that out of a sample populations of 1,000,000 people each, approximately 6000persons in urban and 8100 persons in rural settlements died within one year. In 2009, theinfant mortality was 55 deaths on every 1000 live-births in rural areas as compared to 34deaths/1000 live-births in urban settlements.102

However, the health services offered in cities are not accessible by everybody. Poor rural-urban migrants often find themselves living in suburbs, without even the most basicfacilities such as supply of drinking water or sanitation and high unemployment rates.Moreover, a range of urban health hazards and health risks associated to urban livingconditions such as substandard housing, air pollution, contaminated drinking water,inadequate sanitation and solid waste disposal services pose additional risks to health andwell-being of the urban poor. Consequently, especially amongst high-poverty groups, mortalityin urban areas can be the same as or even higher than in rural areas. For instance, African-Americans living in poor rural areas tend to have better life-expectancy than African-

93 MEA Urban Systems, p.801.94 Grimm, p.265.95 Nowak, p.6.96 Montgomery, p.4.97 Zimmer, p.3.98 Bentinck, p.133.99 Bentinck, p.133.100 Zimmer, p.2.101 United Nations Statistics Division, Mortality, Table 16: Infant deaths and infant mortality rates by

age and sex; 2008 � available at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sconcerns/mortality/.102 Registrar General, India � Sample Registration System � Bulletin January 2011; Table 1, p.1.


Americans living in inner-city urban areas.103 The probability for black men from high-poverty areas to survive to the age of 65 was 60% in rural and only 37% in urban areas,despite same poverty rates in the respective neighbourhoods. The mortality ratio was 4.1%in urban and 1.9% in rural areas.104 This difference in life expectancy is to be attributedto the extremely unhealthy living conditions in poor urban areas: Increased populationdensity, as compared with rural settings, leads to an increased risk of infectious disease.Environmental toxins are more likely concentrated in urban areas than rural ones and,therefore, may contribute to cancer death rates in urban areas.105

Because of the huge discrepancy in availability and access to public health services, manycities, especially in developing countries, show substantial intra-urban variations in healthdue to urban inequalities.106

a. Spread of Infectious DiseasesHuman settlements are host to many microorganisms, some of which cause human diseases.Changing patterns of settlement influence health conditions as they alter the relationsbetween humans and these microorganisms.107 The living conditions in urban centersaffect availability and quality of ecosystem services, such as water, and hence humanhealth.

The problem of unhealthy and unpleasant living conditions, especially in low-income citiesand neighbourhoods is primarily caused by inadequate access to safe water and a lack ofhygienic sanitation. These insufficiencies are a major factor for the spread of infectiousdiseases and consequently lead to a loss of human well-being and dignity.108

Historically, cities have been playing an important role in spreading infectious diseases.Without sufficiently large urban settlements, a number of diseases, including measles andsmallpox, could not maintain themselves in human populations.109 In a study carried outby the World Health Organisation, unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene, typically foundin urban low-income settlements, ranked sixth amongst the main risk factors for thespread of infectious diseases,110 with more than 80% of all cases of diarrhoeal diseaseworldwide attributable to them.111 According to WHO, approximately 3.1% of deathsworldwide, which amounts to about 1.7 million deaths per year, are directly caused byinsufficient water supply and inadequate sanitary facilities. Out of these, 99.8% occur indeveloping countries, and 90% of the victims are children.112

Hence, the improvement of water supply and sanitary conditions has been made a targetincluded in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Target 7.C states the goalto �Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safedrinking water and basic sanitation.�113

103 Geronimus, p.3.104 Geronimus, Table 1, p.4.105 Geronimus, p.20.106 Zimmer, p.3.107 MEA Urban Systems, p.799.108 MEA Urban Systems, p.806.109 MEA Urban Systems, p.811.110 WHO Report 2002, p.68.111 WHO Report 2002, p.24.112 WHO Report 2002, p.68.113 United Nations Millennium Development Goals, Goal 7 C; available at http://www.un.org/

millenniumgoals/environ.shtml.


Especially in slum settlements, the water available to residents, many times stemmingfrom hand-pumps and bore-wells directly yielding unprocessed groundwater, is often non-potable and unfit for household purposes such as cooking. Concentration levels of bacteriaor chemical particles beyond the desirable limit render the water harmful to health. Ina survey in different Delhi slums, faecal coliform bacteria, which can cause waterbornediseases such as jaundice and cholera, were found present in 3 out of 5 water sources.114

In other cases, water was rendered non-potable by high levels of chlorine, fluoride andother salts. The high incidence of gastro-intestinal diseases in areas of urban low-incomesettlements can to a large extent be traced back to inadequate chlorination, contaminationdue to improper storage and contamination of drinking water sources, mostly on accountof garbage accumulation and open defecation.115 In 63% of the households participating ina survey carried out in a slum in Khulna in Bangladesh, at least one family member hadbeen seriously ill during the past 3 months, with water borne diseases being mostprevalent.116

Toilet and sanitation conditions in squatter settlements are often inadequate. In 2000,almost 35% of all households situated in slums in Chennai, had no access to any latrine.117

As per a study of the Indian National Sample Survey Organisation carried out in 2002, asmany as 51% of the non-notified slums in India had no latrine within their premises.118

Apart from these extreme cases, latrines are often situated far from the dwellers� placesof residence, are over-crowded and badly maintained and hence in an unhygienic condition.Consequently, many slum dwellers have no option but to use open spaces to defecate, acompulsion which clearly poses an affront to human dignity.119 This infringement of privatesphere is problematic especially for women, who have to wait for the dark to avail at leastof a little privacy. However, due to the absence of street lights, such ventures can alsobe dangerous, as slum areas typically are unsafe surroundings in the dark.

Other factors constituting risks to health and lives of slum dwellers are the absence ofproper drainage systems and provisions for waste collection. In the year 2002, only 56%of the households in Chennai slums disposed of closed drainage facility. 30% had nodrainage system whatsoever, 14% used open drainage facilities.120 The consequence iscollection of polluted, stagnant water, which breeds mosquitoes and insects, causingvarious kinds of illnesses such as malaria and dengue. Even the open containers, in whichthe slum dwellers store drinking water they have carried home from pumps and wells, canact as breeding grounds for these disease vectors.121

As becomes clear, many of the environmental conditions that facilitate the transmissionof infectious diseases in urban low-income areas lie in the public domain. They createhealth risks which private actions cannot address effectively, especially as those who aremost affected tend to have very little financial as well as political power with which toinfluence government agencies.122

114 Hazards Centre, p.30.115 Chandramouli, p.87.116 Rana, p.6.117 Chandramouli, p.88.118 Govt. of India, National Sample Survey Organisation: �Condition of Urban Slums 2002� 2003; p.28.119 Hazards Centre, p.31.120 Chandramouli, p.89.121 Chandramouli, p.87.122 MEA Urban Systems, p. 812.


b. Adverse Effects of Environmental Stress � Congestion, Pollution

Apart from contaminated water, it is mainly air pollution and solid waste mismanagementwhich constitutes risks to health and well-being of urban dwellers, with noise and odour� though less noxious � completing the picture.

Air pollution as defined by the Indian Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981means the presence of air pollutants in the atmosphere, viz. any solid, liquid or gaseoussubstance including noise, in a concentration which may be injurious to human or otherliving beings.123 Such particles can be of natural or man-made origin, chemical, physicalor biological and can range from vehicle emissions over dust from construction sites androads to pollen. Pollutants of major public health concern include carbon monoxide anddioxide, ozone and particulate matter.

Pollution of outside or ambient air as well as indoor air pollution cause grave risks tohuman health as well as to other living beings and the environment. The occurrence ofair pollutants increases with human economic activities, such as construction work andtransport. Hence, due to their high population density, urban agglomerations are prone tobe most intensely affected by ambient air pollution. Especially populations in rapidlyexpanding megacities of Asia, Africa and Latin America are increasingly exposed to levelsof ambient air pollution which are comparable to those experienced in industrialisedcountries in the first half of the 20th century.124 In its World Health Report 2002, the WHOestimates that urban ambient air pollution causes about 5% of all cases of lung cancerworldwide. As it is furthermore a major factor in the incidence of other respiratoryinfections, about 1.4% of all deaths worldwide (about 800,000 per annum) can be attributedsolely to air pollution.125 Ambient air pollution hence has a serious impact on humanhealth. However, it poses a smaller risk to human health than water and sanitationproblems.

Illness due to indoor air pollution, on the contrary, is as widespread as water bornedisease.126 Indoor air pollution is caused by the use of traditional energy sources such ascoal and bio-mass (wood, dung, crop residues) for cooking and home heating. Bio-mass isstill the main source of energy for about 3.5 billion people worldwide.127 Exposure topollutants from burning these fuels is particularly intense for women and young children,who spend much of their time indoors and near the fire.128 For them, the amount ofpollutants inhaled on a daily basis has been compared to that of an active cigarettesmoker.129

The effect of air pollution on human health is especially grave when combined with theburden of heat stress, for instance the abovementioned �Urban Heat Island Phenomenon�.Heat stress can cause discomfort and even health risks, especially to very young or elderlyurban residents and in locations which are already excessively warm.130 The combined

123 The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, Section 2 (a) and (b).124 WHO Report 2002, p.68.125 WHO Report 2002, p.69.126 WHO Report 2002, p.70.127 Worldbank on Public Health Issues, Indoor Air Pollution; available at http://web.worldbank.org.128 MEA Urban Systems, p.813.129 Bruce, p.798.130 Nowak, p.12.


impact of the two factors, air pollution and heat stress, is presumed to be more intensethan the simple additive effects of the two stresses.131

Solid waste pollution further deteriorates the quality of urban living conditions. Due tochanging patterns of production and consumption, urban development is often accompaniedby an increasing generation of waste. Urban surroundings tend to bring people into closercontact with waste products, which can partly be chemically harmful, because of generallack of space and more crowded living conditions, thereby posing serious threats to humanhealth.132

Moreover, congestion and over-crowdedness constitute factors which pose a burden tohuman health in urban centers. Despite being a typically urban characteristic, it is especiallyresidents of low-income settlements who have to suffer from congestion and the associatedimpact, as slum dwellers normally live under the most crowded conditions. As they lackaccess to land, the urban poor depend on rented accommodation, which they often sharewith many others to save money133 and to avoid the most extreme health impact of acomplete lack of housing, which affects millions of people worldwide.134 Overcrowding,especially in combination with inadequate ventilation, causes and increases exposure todifferent pollutants and pathogens, thereby facilitating the spread of infectious diseases.Moreover, the lack of privacy leads to a high level of stress, which can prove detrimentalto mental as well as physical health.

Not only household crowding, but also the stress experience related to intra-urban travelhas been found to have a substantial negative effect on mental health.135 Traffic jams, forinstance, apart from wasting time and fuel and hence being disadvantageous for a city�seconomy, lead to augmented levels of vehicle emissions and increased occurrence ofmotor vehicle injuries, which are associated with 3,000 premature deaths per year in theU.S. alone.136 Over-crowdedness of public transport systems such as buses, metros ortrains, potentially influence well-being and mental condition of a large share of urbanpopulations, as such transport systems represent a major interface between the locationof activities and the general movement of people in an urban system.137 Apart fromcausing stress and frustration, especially to those who depend on these services on a day-to-day basis, the fact that people have to travel on closest quarters also plays an importantrole in the transmission of diseases.

3. Global TrendsThe United Nations project that almost all of the population increase expected during2000-2030 will be absorbed by the urban areas of the less developed regions. The urbanpopulation in developing countries is estimated to rise from approximately 2 billion in 2000to about 4 billion in 2030. In contrast, the urban population of the more developed regionsis expected to increase slowly, passing from 0.9 billion in 2000 to 1 billion in 2030.138

131 Satterthwaite, p.7.132 MEA Urban Systems, p.811.133 Bentinck, p.135.134 WHO Report 2002, p.70.135 Asiyanbola, p.2.136 Levy, p.2.137 Levy, p.3.138 UN Report 2002, Key Finding No. 3, p.1.


Rural-urban migration in combination with the universal reduction of fertility levels expectedto occur in the future, these changes will lead to the eventual reduction of the ruralpopulation of the less developed regions. The rural growth rate of many developingcountries will consequently become negative in 2025-2030 for the first time. It is thusexpected that the rural population of the less developed regions will reach a peak around2025 and then begin to decline just as the rural population of the more developed regionshas done since 1950.139

To transform urban India into an entirety of �community-driven, totally sanitised, healthyand livable cities and towns,�140 a goal stated by the Indian Ministry of Urban Development,it is of central importance to improve urban infrastructure systems nationwide. Theupgrading of urban living conditions will necessitate massive investments � for instance,it has been estimated that for 100 per cent coverage of the urban population under safewater supply and sanitation services by the year 2021, an investment of Rs.172,905 croreswould be required.141 Urban transport infrastructure investment in cities with population100,000 or more during the next 20 years would be of the order of Rs.207,000 crore.142

As the Indian Government is not able to finance these projects from within its budgets,a compulsion has arisen to access financial resources from the market and to induce theprivate sector to participate in urban development programmes.143

Furthermore, it is imperative for many rapidly growing megacities, in India and elsewhere,to decelerate the process of urbanisation, as the infrastructure in many of these urbanagglomerations is already heavily burdened with the number of people it has toaccommodate. This can only happen if migration is controlled effectively � by regulationsimposed on rural-urban movements by the legislature of the respective countries and,more importantly, by an integrated rural development. Such an approach would have tocomprise educational and health institutions and other infrastructural facilities, as well asthe development of rural housing which will serve to improve the general living conditionsof the rural dwellers. Only through an enhancement of rural living conditions will it bepossible to slow down the process of accelerated urbanisation, accompanied by an alarmingdeterioration of urban living conditions.144

4. Multifaceted Ramifications of Urbanisation from the IndianPerspective

In India, the share of the urban in the total population has been continuously and rapidlygrowing over the last century: The level of urbanisation increased from 10.8% in 1901 to27.7% in 2001. Due to the enormous population growth, the importance of natural growthwith respect to the increase of urban population is comparatively high in India. During1971-81, about 41% of India�s urban growth could be attributed to natural increase whichreflects the then role of demographic momentum. 36% of the increase in urban populationwas due to rural-urban migration and municipal boundary changes and 19% due totransformation of rural into urban area. Urban growth due to natural increase has increased

139 UN Report 2002, Key Finding No. 6, p.1.140 Govt. of India, Ministry of Urban Development �National Urban Sanitation Policy� 2006; p.7.141 CPHEEO, p.3.142 Govt. of India, Estimation of Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES).143 Govt. of India, Ministry of Urban Development on �Urban Infrastructure�, available at http://

www.urbanindia.nic.in/urbanscene/urbaninfra/urbaninfra.htm.144 Olotuah, p.8.


from 42% in 1971-81 to about 60% during 1981-91.145 Even during 1991-2001, naturalgrowth played a major role in stepping up the urban growth,146 with only 21% of thegrowth of urban population being accounted for by migration.147 Most migrants moving tobe urban centers originated from surrounding rural districts with 82.1% of the rural-urbanmigration in the 1990s being intra-state migration.148

Table 2: Decomposition of Urban Growth in India149

Components of Urban Growth 1961-1971 1971-1981 1981-1991 1991-2001

Natural increase 64.6 51.3 61.3 59.4

Transformation of rural into 16.7 29.1 17.0 19.2urban areas

Migration 18.7 19.6 21.7 21.0

As per a 1981 survey, �employment� was the most cited reason for rural-urban migrationwith 47.5% of the male migrants citing it as their main incentive, followed by reasons suchas re-unification of families (23.5%) and education (8.1%).150

The majority of these migrants, however, are deemed to fail in obtaining their mainobjectives of improving their employment and income situation by migrating to urbanagglomerations: In most Indian cities, urbanisation occurs without corresponding pace ofindustrialisation or respective development of a strong demand for unskilled labour force.Urbanisation is mainly a product of poverty-induced migration occurring more due to ruralpush than urban pull factors. This so-called �distress migration� leads to massive growthof slum settlements, of unemployment rates, inequalities and causes an overall degradationin the quality of urban life.151

An example for vast dimensions of over-urbanisation is Kolkata with more than 30% of itspopulation living in slums. Many slums emerged in the 1940s and 1950s, as an outcomeof industrialisation-based rural�urban migration, locating themselves around industrial sitesand near infra-structural arteries.152 Today, more than 40% of Kolkata�s slum dwellers havebeen living in squatter settlements for two generations or longer, and more than halforiginate from the Kolkata hinterland. With the majority engaged in the informal sector,with average monthly earnings of between 500 and 1700 rupees and a household size offive to six persons, approximately three-quarters of the Kolkata slum population are belowthe poverty line. The Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums (EIUS) scheme, inoperation since 1974, which aims at improving living conditions in slum areas by providingbasic civic amenities along with physical and social infrastructure, has been partiallysuccessful. Some public services and basic amenities in many slum areas have beenconsiderably improved, for instance through the construction of 159 km of drainage andsewerage network between 2005 and 2008, the provision of solid waste containers and the

145 Datta, p.12.146 Mitra/Murayama, p.4.147 Kundu, Amitabh p.16.148 Mitra/Murayama, p.8.149 Mitra/Murayama, Table 1, p.4.150 Mitra/Murayama, p.15.151 Datta, p.12.152 Kundu, Nitai p.299.


installation of electric lighting in public spaces.153 60 slums have been provided withimproved toilets, urinals and internal pathways.154 However, no programme has beenefficient in decreasing the number of Kolkata�s slum population or in preventing thegrowth of new slums through migration or natural increase.

Another Indian city facing massive problems due to rapid growth of their population andsquatter settlements in specific is Mumbai. The city�s rapid economic development, especiallythe opening of oil and dying mills in the early 20th century, have been resulting in thecreation of employment opportunities which in turn attract a heavy influx of migrants.155

During the initial period after independence, in the 1950s and early 60s, migrants constitutedabout 50% of the total growth of population in Mumbai. Subsequently, the rates havedeclined, but as per the 2001 census, migrants still accounted for about 37 per cent ofthe decadal growth of population of Mumbai.156

Especially rural residents from less developed areas are often driven to Mumbai in searchfor employment which can enable them to improve the living conditions of their families.Around 9 of every 10 migrants had a rural background and most of them came foreconomic reasons: More than two third of the rural migrants and around 50% of the urbanmigrants moved to Mumbai searching for employment opportunities.157 About 40% of theserural-urban migrants stem from rural Maharashtra.158 Rural residents from very poor statessuch as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh contribute significantly to the total of migrants, with theshare of migrants from Uttar Pradesh continuously increasing to 24% in 2001(Census 2001).International migrants, in the contrary, constitute only about 1% of the total migrants.159

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in female migration, with femalemigrants now accounting for about 34% of the total migrants.160 60% of the migrants areaged between 15 and 24 years.161 Three fourth of all migrants were Hindus and one ofevery 5 migrants was from a backward caste.162

Due to a lack of integrated development policies, the rapid expansion and rising populationdensity of Mumbai creates more problems for human well-being and livelihood by posinga heavy burden on public services and infrastructure.163 These problems lead to anincreasingly xenophobic atmosphere and hostile attitude towards migrants. As manyimmigrants from poor areas such as Bihar and U.P. are willing to work for very low wages,many people fear that the �native� population of Mumbai could soon be deprived of accessto job opportunities and other related amenities.164

153 Kundu, Nitai et al. p.2.154 Kundu, Nitai et al. p.9.155 Prasad, p.1.156 Singh, p.1.157 Prasad, p.1.158 Deshmukh, Smita �Migration into city rising? Not quite, says census� in: Times of India, 05/05/

2003.159 Singh, p.3.160 Singh, p.3.161 Prasad, Table 1, p.2.162 Prasad, p.3.163 Singh, p.3.164 Singh, p.1.


Table 3: Distribution of Migrants from U.P. to Mumbai (per age, gender etc.)165

Characteristic Percentage

Age

Less than 15 20.3

Between 15 and 24 60.7

Above 24 17

Gender

Male 63.7

Female 36.3

Religion

Hindu 74.9

Muslim 14.4

Other 10.7

Education

Illiterate 27.1

Up to Primary School 20.8

Up to Middle School 19.1

Up to High School and Above 33.0

Employment Status when coming to Mumbai

Employer 0.2

Paid Employee 19.3

Self-Employed 11.1

Non-Worker 33.0

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biodiversity� Basel 2007.

Asiyanbola, Abidemi �Chronic stressor in cities in Africa � Nigeria�.

Bai, Xuemei; Imura, Hidefumi �Towards sustainable urban water resource management: acase study in Tianjin, China� Kanagawa 2001.

Bentinck, J. �Unruly urbanisation on Delhi�s fringe - changing patterns of land use andlivelihood�, Groningen 2000.

Bruce, Nigel et al. �Indoor Air Pollution� in �Disease Control Priorities in DevelopingCountries� 2006; p.795.

Cai, M. et al. �Impact of Land Use Change and Urbanisation on Climate� 2004.

Cambodia Development Research Institute (CDRI) �Youth Migration and Urbanisation inCambodia�, Phnom Penh 2007.

Chandramouli, C. �Slums in Chennai: A Profile� in Bunch, Martin: �Proceedings of the ThirdInternational Conference on Environment and Health, Chennai, 15-17 December, 2003�Chennai 2004.

165 Prasad, p.2.


Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) �Status ofwater supply, sanitation and solid waste management in urban areas� Delhi 2005.

Cohen, Abner �Urban Ethnicity�, London 1974.

Datta, Pranati �Urbanisation in India� Kolkata 2006.

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Garrison, Jessica Linthicum, Kate �L.A. suit calls Deutsche Bank a slumlord� Los AngelesTimes 05/05/2011.

Geronimus, Arline �Urban/Rural Differences in Excess Mortality Among High Poverty�.

Populations: Evidence from the Harlem Health Survey and Pitt County Hypertension StudyAnn Arbor 2004.

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Hazards Centre (Delhi-based NGO) �The eviction and resettlement process in Delhi�, Delhi2007.

Jain, Bhavika �Mumbai�s slum population up by 29%: Census� Hindustan Times 17/10/2010.

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Rana, Sohel �Status of water use sanitation and hygienic condition of urban slums: A studyon Rupsha Ferighat slum, Khulna� Meherpur 2008.

Satterthwaite, David �The implications of population growth and urbanization for climatechange� 2009.

Singh, D. P. �Migration and Occupation in Mumbai � Issues and Implications� Mumbai 2001.

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UNIT 5MULTICULTURALISM IN URBAN SOCIETY

Structure Page No.

1. Introduction 26

2. History of Multiculturalism 27

3. Multiculturalism in the West and the East 29

4. Advantages and Disadvantages of Multiculturalism 33

5. Conlcusion 37


1. IntroductionIn today�s world there is no sphere or corner of the human inhabitation that is notconsisting of an inter mingling cultural aspect. Each and every human society has moreand more diverse cultural populations and the trend is just catching up. Due to theimprovement in communication and transportation there has been a constant increase inthe cultural mix of different places. This migration and inter mixture has also arisen dueto the need of human beings to socialise with each other and to acquire essential necessities.During the ancient times the main reason for travel was exchange of goods essential toa civilisation and therefore people from different regions and backgrounds used to travelto newer areas to acquire such goods and many a times stay there. With this the culturesstarted to mix. The main mixture does not only contain a mix of the various internationalreligious groups but also a huge grouping of the regional groups that makes up for the richand improved cultural pool.

Multiculturalism can be defined as the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiplecultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at theorganisational level. Although it does not only apply to the social sphere and can beconnoted to wider areas such as political which includes the mixture of different ethnicand religious groups and not providing any of them any particular favours and advantages.

According to the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy Multiculturalism can be defined as�a body of thought in political philosophy about the proper way to respond to cultural andreligious diversity.�1

According to dictionary.com multiculturalism means: �The state or, the condition of beingmulticultural, or the preservation of different cultures or cultural identities within aunified society, as a state or nation. The site defines multicultural as pertaining to, orrepresenting several different cultures or cultural elements.�2 The Oxford Dictionarydefines Multiculturalism as �the practice of giving importance to all cultures in a society�3

this is utilised in respect to avoid racism and prejudice towards one race or religion of

1 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/multiculturalism/.2 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/multiculturalism.3 http://www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.com/dictionary/multiculturalism.

Multiculturalism in Urban Society 27

any person and to treat all believes and traditions of various cultures with equal importance.According to Collins English Dictionary Multiculturalism can be defined as: �A situation inwhich all the different cultural or racial groups in a society have equal rights andopportunities, and none is ignored or regarded as unimportant.�4

The definition of Multiculturalism may also vary from one place to another. For example,in Canada it can be defined as �the presence and persistence of diverse racial and ethnicminorities who define themselves as different and who wish to remain so.�5 In Australiait can be said to be a term which recognises and celebrates Australia�s cultural diversity.It accepts and respects the right of all Australians to express and share their individualcultural heritage within an overriding commitment to Australia and the basic structuresand values of Australian democracy. It also refers to the strategies, policies and programmesthat are designed to:

♣ make our administrative, social and economic infrastructure more responsive to therights, obligations and needs of our culturally diverse population;

♣ promote social harmony among the different cultural groups in our society;

♣ optimise the benefits of our cultural diversity for all Australians.

While Australian multiculturalism values and celebrates diversity, it is not an �anythinggoes� concept since it is built on core societal values of mutual respect, tolerance andharmony, the rule of law and our democratic principles and institutions.6

Multiculturalism although on one hand means that no religion can be ignored or biasedagainst but it does not give any practice or tradition an unrestricted right to be performedand it is limited to the legal and the moral aspect of a region. For example, somethingin any culture that might be morally unacceptable to the majority of the population canbe termed as wrong and may be banned or rules can be made against it. The usage ofSection 125 of the CrPC to provide maintenance to Muslim women and making laws againstSati which had become a custom overtime in some Hindu societies are a few examples.

2. History of MulticulturalismIn the ancient times the societies were separate and different societies of various landswere there. These had no contact with each other and lived according to their own wayswhich were uniform in practice. With the increasing curiosity of humans and improvementin the ways of transportation various people from the European Continent and the Asiancontinent set out on voyages to find out whether other civilisations similar to themexisted. This curiosity led people from the European continent and the Asian continent toend up in the different land like the American continent, the Indian Sub Continent, theAfrican Continent etc. The presence of goods and materials that were unique to theseregions and their use soon spread through out these new continents. This made differentpeople from various backgrounds come and settle in these zones so that they could harvestand secure these goods for their own use. The British, the Dutch, the Aryans, The Portuguese,The French etc. all made voyages and established their own consulates in these variouslands. Along with them they brought their own distinct culture and as they settled there

4 http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-cobuild/multiculturalism.5 http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/researchpublications/936-e.htm.6 http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/nmac/chapt_2a.htm.


decided to spread their own cultures. This stated the inter mingling of the cultural poolof the civilisations. With time within these populations newer cultures evolved leading toa much more complex cultural pool. These cultural pools were further increased by theinflux of globalisation which opened the road for people from various backgrounds andcultures to get acquired to each other at an international level leading to increasing theflow of knowledge of the cultural uniqueness. In today�s scenario there are Indians thatare teaching the people in the United States of India English, there are people from theUnited States that are spreading the message of Yog which is an Indian concept, peoplefrom different areas working together in harmony putting aside their ethnic differencesand any issues that may have arisen in the past.

Historical Development in India

The roots of India�s multiculturalism extend back over three thousand years. Somescholars say that the Vedic Aryans had descended from the easternmost wing of an Indo-European dispersion originating in the Caucasus (there are various conflicting theories ofAryan origin), who poured over the Khyber, Bolan, and other passes of the Hindu Kushmountains.

In Rig-vedic times people lived in an Aryan-Dravidian mixed society. Their knowledge wasof goods and they had an organised system of living with sewages and other facilitieswhich made sure that the people did not suffer from rampant diseases. They appeared tohave worshipped a phallic yogic fertility deity i.e. Lord Shiva and the Mother Goddess,whose fecundity and �power� are required to animate every male Hindu deity.

That great cultural synthesis of Rig Vedic Society was designed to be flexible enoughthrough its caste system to incorporate the greatest range of diverse peoples under theprotection of Hinduism�s white umbrella. Buddhism and Jainism were never religions.Before the end of the classical age of Guptan imperial unification, both doctrines werereclaimed by Hinduism.7 With time a newer race took to the Indian Continent like theMughal�s that invaded the Indian continent. They were the descendents of the Timuridsand followed the Islamic Culture. These took over the Indian continent around the year1526 and their power went on till the 18th century. During their reign most of the IndianContinent was united under one power that is the Mughals. With the passage of time theMughals began to weaken and their power began to decrease due to the increasingresistance of the Sikh Misl and the Hindu Maratha Empire due to the strict implementationof Islamic Laws by the Emperor Aurangzeb. The Mughal culture did not only bring into Indiaa new culture or religion but also many monuments that now we admire like the Red Fort,The Taj Mahal, Jama Masjid, etc. The Mughals were over taken by the invasion of theEuropean Powers and hence increasing the cultural mix further more. The Various Europeanpowers established their factories and constructed their places of worship and henceintroduced a newer religion into the sub-continent. The British were the most instrumentalof the European Powers in developing the Indian Society as they established variousfactories in places like India, Africa, America and hence spread their religion through out.In 1947 after the British left India the constitution was established to make sure that thereshall be equal importance given to all the religions existing in the country and thereforeto provide the proper and fair propagation of all religions and not doing any bias. Today

7 http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-56750450/multiculturalism-history-india-multicultural.html.


Indian has become a mélange of various cultures from all over the world with almost allkind of various religion and beliefs existing here. The people of the country have developedthe understanding of these religions and beliefs and have created a society of trust, peaceand harmony.

3. Multiculturalism in the West and the EastMulticulturalism has been official policy in several Western nations since the 1970s, forreasons that varied from country to country, including the fact that many of the greatcities of the Western world are increasingly made of a mosaic of cultures.

In the Western English-speaking countries, multiculturalism as an official national policystarted in Canada in 1971, followed by Australia. It was quickly adopted as official policyby most member-states of the European Union. In the recent times many of these nationsare leaving the idea of multiculturalism and moving towards a mono-cultural society. Thisis due to the thought that the extensive cultural influx is not able to adapt to the originaland the existing cultural standing of the nations. For example, Netherlands and Denmarkwith United Kingdom are in debate whether to follow in their footsteps or not. Manywestern nations are in their descriptive sense multicultural and others are communal andtry and establish a regime of only one of the religions or traditions. The policies that thesestates adopt often have parallels with multiculturalist policies in the Western world, buttheir historical background being different, the goal may be a mono-cultural or mono-ethnic nation-building. For Example, in the Malaysian government�s attempt is to createa �Malaysian race� by the year 2020.

Multiculturalism in America

Multiculturalism in America originated in 1950�s during the civil rights movement bringingwith it issues like discrimination, inequality and oppression. In the 19th century, Americaexperienced massive immigration and people placed their demands on political and socialinstitutions for their social recognition. Immigration for jobs and to earn money to providefor the families increased, laying roots to multiculturalism in the United States of America.The theory of multiculturalism is still not a prominent policy, established at the federallevel. In the last few years, influx of South Americans and Asians have rapidly increased.To deal with this, people must create a multicultural society based on equality and shouldaccept American history on racism.

For the United States of America, the option of Mono-culturalism can not exist as at everyaspect of essential services there are immigrants from all over the world with variousdistinct cultures. For example, the current president of the United States is both a Muslimand a Black and this shows the degree of acceptance of the ideal of multiculturalism. Theradical views on multiculturalism education system has been instrumental in bringingabout this change in the views of the people of the United States with the introductionof much more cultural perspective in them and teaching the development and the historyof different cultures and hence spreading the traditional following of different culturesthroughout the country. This is also important to make sure that the immigrant populationwhich is involved in doing work and form the backbone of the American industry do notget damaged and hence prevent loss of industry.


Multiculturalism in United Kingdom

The UK government believes that each UK citizen should enjoy basic human rights. TheHuman Rights Act, 1998 sets out people�s social and economic rights. There are nearly 61million people living in multicultural Britain and about 5 per cent are from a minorityethnic group. Different communities have settled in the UK and, for centuries, have lefttheir own legacies. Today, approximately 4.6 million people - or 7.9 per cent of thepopulation - are from a minority ethnic group according to the 2001 Census. Some groupswho have settled in the UK since the first millennium include:

♣ The Celts. They lived in Britain from the first millennium BC but were pushed intoScotland, Wales and Cornwall after the Roman invasion

♣ The Romans, who settled in the UK after the successful Roman invasions. They alsobrought the first black people to Britain

♣ Settlers from Northern Europe. These include the Danes, Angles and Saxons who cameto the UK as Roman authority was collapsing

♣ Jewish settlers started to arrive after 1066, gypsies came in the 16th century, andMuslims from the 18th century onwards

♣ After the collapse of the British Empire, UK attracted immigrants from India, Pakistan,Bangladesh in the 1960s - 1970s and from the Caribbean in 1940s and 50s

♣ Political and religious refugees and asylum seekers are frequently granted refuge inthe UK today

♣ The expansion of the European Union has seen a number of eastern Europeans cometo the UK in recent years.

Britain is a multi-faith society where everyone has the freedom to practice their ownreligion. According to the 2001 Census, the main faiths in the UK are:

♣ Christianity - 71.6 per cent

♣ Islam - 2.7 per cent

♣ Hinduism - 1.5 per cent

♣ Sikhism - 0.6 per cent

♣ Judaism - 0.5 per cent

♣ Buddhism - 0.3 per cent

Religious diversity can be found in many different areas of life in the UK.8

We can see the diversity at various levels from at schools to the television broadcastingand from the shops to the company�s that are there. Many laws have been formed toprovide a protection from the evils of racism and discrimination etc. Although there existcertain groups that take part in racism and discrimination of people from the various othercountries as inferior to them the culture the cuisines the music and the fashion of Britainhas been touched by the intermingling of different cultures and traditions and hence hasbecome a vibrant and evident. There are many people from the minorities that providefor various achievements to Britain at Sports, Music, Television, Science etc.

8 http://ukinnorway.fco.gov.uk/en/visiting-uk/about-uk/people-politics/multicultural-britain,


Multiculturalism in the European Union

Historically, Europe has always been poly-cultural being a mixture of Latin, Slavic, Germanicand Celtic cultures influenced by the importation of Hebraic, Hellenic and even Muslimbelief systems; although the continent was supposedly unified by the super-position ofRoman Catholic Christianity, it is accepted that geographic and cultural differences continuedfrom antiquity into the modern age. The countries that form the European Union arethemselves very much distinct in culture, language, traditions etc. There has been constantfriction between these countries throughout history and this constant conflict has causedthem to not unite and hence prevent the extreme mixture of the cultural bowls. With theformation of the European Union and unification of currency and certain other aspects thecountries have become much more culturally entwined. Although certain states don�t thinkthat unification of the cultural and traditions is a good idea and that such unification willlead to loss of cultural integrity still the unifications are at one level well accepted. Someof the European countries have introduced policies that they term as policies for �socialcohesion�, �integration�, and �assimilation�. The policies include:

♣ Compulsory courses on national history, on the constitution and the legal system.

♣ Introduction of an official national history, and promotion of that history, by exhibitionsabout national heroes, monuments and events.

♣ Tests designed to elicit �unacceptable� values. For Example, the Baden-Württembergin which the immigrants are asked what they would do if their son says he is ahomosexual and the answers are seen. In this case the acceptable answer is generallythat we will accept such a confession.

♣ prohibitions on Islamic dress � especially the niqab.

Multiculturalism in Malaysia

Malaysia is a multiethnic country, with Malays making up the majority, close to 52% of thepopulation. About 30% of the population is Malaysians of Chinese descent. Malaysians ofIndian descent comprise about 8% of the population. The remaining 10% comprises:

♣ Native East Malaysians, namely Bajau, Bidayuh, Dusun, etc.

♣ Other native tribes of Peninsular Malaysia, such as the Orang Asli and Siamese people,and

♣ Non-native tribes of Peninsular Malaysia such as the Chettiars, the Peranakan and thePortuguese.

The Malaysian New Economic Policy promotes structural changes in various aspects of lifefrom education to economic to social integration. Established after the May 13 racial riotsof 1969, it sought to address the significant imbalance in the economic sphere where theminority Chinese population had substantial control over commercial activity in the country.

The Malay Peninsula has a long history of international trade contacts, influencing itsethnic and religious composition. Predominantly Malays before the 18th century, the ethniccomposition changed dramatically when the British introduced new industries, and importedChinese and Indian labour. Several regions in the then British Malaya such as Penang,Malacca and Singapore became Chinese dominated. Co-existence between the three


ethnicities was largely peaceful; despite the fact the immigration affected the demographicand cultural position of the Malays.

Preceding independence of the Federation of Malaya, a social contract was negotiated asthe basis of a new society. The contract as reflected in the 1957 Malayan Constitution andthe 1963 Malaysian Constitution states that the immigrant groups are granted citizenship,and Malays� special rights are guaranteed. This is often referred to the Bumiputra policy.These pluralist policies have come under pressure from racialist Malay parties, who opposeperceived subversion of Malay rights. The issue is sometimes related to the controversialstatus of religious freedom in Malaysia.

Multiculturalism in India

The culture of India has been shaped by its long history, unique geography and diversedemography. India�s languages, religions, dance, music, architecture and customs differfrom place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality. Theculture of India is an amalgamation of these diverse sub-cultures spread all over the Indiansubcontinent and traditions that are several millennia old.9 The distinctive cast systemprevalent in India shows a clear social stratification and these stratas are divided by welldemarcated groups called the Jatis or castes.

Religiously, the Orthodox Hindus form the majority, followed by the Muslims. The actualstatistics are: Hindu (80.5%), Muslim (13.4%, including both Shia and Sunni), Christian(2.3%), Sikh(1.9%), Buddhist(0.8%), Jain(0.4%), and others like the Bahá�í, Ahmadi, Jewand Parsi populations constutite (0.6%).10

Linguistically, the two main language families in India are Indo-Aryan and Dravidian. Indiaofficially follows a three-language policy. Hindi is the federal official language, English hasthe federal status of associate/subsidiary official language and each state has its own stateofficial language. The Republic of India�s state boundaries are largely drawn based onlinguistic groups; this decision led to the preservation and continuation of local ethno-linguistic sub-cultures. Thus, most states differ from one another in language, culture,cuisine, clothing, literary style, architecture, music and festivities.

Occasionally, however, India has encountered religiously motivated violence, such as theMoplah Riots, the Bombay riots, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and 2002 Gujarat riots. Besidesthis there have been constant terrorist attacks that have taken place. These attacks areaimed at focusing the sensitive religious issues that India has faced since the Independencewith the aftermath and grudge of the religious riots as a precursor, but the integrity ofthe Indian cultures is so strong and well understood by all the cultures that the mainobjective of these act to form a rift between two religious groups generally fails and allthe religions come together to fight against the acts of terrorism. The people of India havebeen seen to act as a solid unitary body whenever the country has required assistance dueto natural disasters, war or any terrorist insurgence. The respect for each others culturescan be seen in India with a real spirit. The constitution of India also promotes that nogovernment shall work towards the promotion of one religion and that there shall be nodiscrimination on the grounds of such religion. The constitution clearly lays down theprovisions in the fundamental rights part of the constitution to provide this protection as

9 Mohammada, Malika. The foundations of the composite culture in India. Aakar Books, 2007.10 http://censusindia.gov.in/Ad_Campaign/drop_in_articles/04-Distribution_by_Religion.pdf


the concept of cultural diversity is an essential element for the growing and successivedevelopment of the Indian country as a whole and also its status in the internationalarena. The Articles 2511 , 2612 2713 and 2814 provide for religious rights and restrictionsand clearly state that there shall be no preference given to any particular religion and thatall the states shall Endeavour to promote and spread all the religions equally.

4. Advantages and Disadvantages of MulticulturalismThe essence of discussing the advantages that a nation has from multiculturalism providesevery one an idea whether it is something that should be promoted or not. In today�s worldthe essence of multiculturalism is alive in most of the regions of the world and is increasingonly as with the increase in the population humans need to look for new lands and jobsthat they can use to sustain their existence and improve their development. The migrationof people from one country to another and one region to another also provides the peoplea freedom that they never earlier had and the scope of ones expertise have become muchmore finer as well as one expanded to an extent. We can discuss the advantages ofmulticulturalism in two ways firstly as Justifications and then plain and simple advantages.

11 Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion1) Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons

are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise andpropagate religion

2) Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the State frommaking any lawa) regulating or restricting any economic, financial, political or other secular activity which

may be associated with religious practice;b) providing for social welfare and reform or the throwing open of Hindu religious institutions

of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus Explanation I The wearing andcarrying of kirpans shall be deemed to be included in the profession of the Sikh religionExplanation II In sub clause (b) of clause reference to Hindus shall be construed as includinga reference to persons professing the Sikh, Jaina or Buddhist religion, and the reference toHindu religious institutions shall be construed accordingly.

12 Freedom to manage religious affairs Subject to public order, morality and health, every religiousdenomination or any section thereof shall have the righta) to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes;b) to manage its own affairs in matters of religion;c) to own and acquire movable and immovable property; andd) to administer such property in accordance with law.

13 Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion No person shall be compelledto pay any taxes, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated in payment of expenses forthe promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religions denomination.

14 Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educationalinstitutions1) No religion instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of

State funds2) Nothing in clause ( 1 ) shall apply to an educational institution which is administered by the

State but has been established under any endowment or trust which requires that religiousinstruction shall be imparted in such institution

3) No person attending any educational institution recognised by the State or receiving aid out ofState funds shall be required to take part in any religious instruction that may be imparted insuch institution or to attend any religious worship that may be conducted in such institution orin any premises attached thereto unless such person or, if such...


Multiculturalism in way arises out critique of liberalism. Liberals are ethical individualists;they insist that individuals should be free to choose and pursue their own conceptions ofthe good life. They give primacy to individual rights and liberties over community life andcollective goods. Atomists believe that you can and should account for social actions andsocial goods in terms of properties of the constituent individuals and individual goods. Thetarget of the communitarian critique of liberalism is not so much liberal ethics as liberalsocial ontology. Communitarians reject the idea that the individual is prior to the community,and that the value of social goods can be reduced to their contribution to individual well-being. They instead embrace ontological holism, which views social goods as �irreduciblysocial�. Diverse cultural identities and languages are irreducibly social goods, which shouldbe presumed to be of equal worth. The recognition of the equal worth of diverse culturesrequires replacing the traditional liberal regime of identical liberties and opportunities forall citizens with a scheme of special rights for minority cultural groups.

A second justification for multiculturalism comes from within liberalism. Culture is said tobe instrumentally valuable to individuals, for two reasons. First, it enables individualautonomy. One important condition of autonomy is having an adequate range of optionsfrom which to choose. Cultures provide contexts of choice, which provide and makemeaningful the social scripts and narratives from which people fashion their lives. Second,culture is instrumentally valuable for individual self-respect.

The Advantages of Multiculturalism can be stated as:

1) Everything we see around us has been influenced in different ways by differentcultures and hence this inter mixing of cultures provides for a culturally unique andnew style, fashion, food, art etc.

2) Through multiculturalism, we have opened minds and have had the opportunity tolearn about many different things and hence benefiting the country in an economicway. Also a society of intermixed cultural people makes the people much moretolerant of each others cultures and increases harmony in the nation.

3) Immigration has highly advantaged nations and the individuals themselves and hencethis inter-mingling of culture acts as a benefiting factor for the nations as a whole.

4) The concept of immigration of people from one place to another also provides forincreased labour force and hence provides the increased productivity to the nation.Also these poor immigrants occupy the cheaper and underdeveloped areas of the cityand hence provide for the development of these areas.

5) With the cultural inter mixing the availability of various culturally unique objectsincluding food and other techniques like medical therapy etc are well available andevolved. Today you can get Chinese, American, Italian etc. food in India and the viceversa outside. Indians are learning the western arts with respect to medicine, trade,industrial relations etc and implementing them for their own nation building.

6) The availability of essentials such as Drugs and efficient technology have becomemuch more convenient due to the intermingling of the cultures and the immigrationof people from different regions to one another.


7) Also it is believed that the development of children in a multicultural society is betterthan a secluded one as they are much more in interaction with kids from other regionsand cultures and hence develop easy understanding of their distinct cultures and learnnewer and more efficient ways which might not be there in the families. For example,a young boy from India who starts to intermingle with a society of boys from theUnited Kingdom will in time become more fluent in English than he might learn atschool.

8) Also the multicultural aspect helps people acquire literature and taste of differenteras and histories of development. Also it instills a concept of peace and brotherhoodamong people and hence maintaining the harmony of the nations without which theycan not progress.

Some may argue that multicultural aspect of nations may sometimes prove disadvantageousto them. This may be caused due to high level of friction between two communities orthe non acceptance of ones practices by another, etc. It would be immature to deny thefact that the lives of ethnic minorities aren�t always easy. These people must try toadapt and it�s always hard to change many aspects of their daily life. They are many timestreated by the native population as these people were never the citizens of the town andhave just come in even though they might be living for a longer period than the locals.Also such indiscrimination and attitude towards them can cause them to turn hostile andhence lead to acts of terrorism and indiscriminate violence that may lead to damage tomay innocent lives. Also these minorities might get extra importance and then there is afeeling of the native people that they are being ignored and hence leads to furtherinstability and friction.

The critique of the concept of Multiculturalism can be given as:

1) Cosmopolitan view of culture:

Some critics contend that the multicultural argument for the preservation of culturesis premised on a problematic view of culture and of the individual�s relationship toculture. Cultures are not distinct, self-contained wholes; they have long interactedand influenced one another through war, imperialism, trade, and migration. Peoplein many parts of the world live within cultures that are already cosmopolitan,characterised by cultural hybridity. To aim at preserving or protecting a culture runsthe risk of privileging one allegedly pure version of that culture, thereby crippling itsability to adapt to changes in circumstances.

2) Toleration requires indifference, not accommodation:

A second major criticism of multiculturalism is based on the ideas of liberal tolerationand freedom of association and conscience. If we take these ideas seriously andaccept both ontological and ethical individualism then we are led to defend theindividual�s right to form and leave associations and not any special protections forgroups. By granting cultural groups special protections and rights, the state overstepsits role, which is to secure civility, and risks undermining individual rights of association.States should not pursue �cultural integration� or �cultural engineering� but rathera �politics of indifference� toward minority groups. Also the presence of internaldiscrimination within the groups will hamper the concept and idea of providingprotection as the state will not be in a position to make any major differences.


3) Diversion from a politics of redistribution:

A third line of critique contends that multiculturalism is a �politics of recognition�that diverts attention from a �politics of redistribution�. We can distinguish analyticallybetween these modes of politics: a politics of recognition challenges status inequalityand the remedy it seeks is cultural and symbolic change, whereas a politics ofredistribution challenges economic inequality and exploitation and the remedy itseeks is economic restructuring. Working class mobilisation tilts toward the redistributionend of the spectrum, and the LGBT movement toward the recognition end. Criticsworry that multiculturalism�s focus on culture and identity diverts attention from oreven actively undermines the struggle for economic justice, partly because identity-based politics may undermine potential multiracial, multiethnic class solidarity andpartly because some multiculturalists tend to focus on cultural injustice without muchattention to economic injustice.

4) Egalitarian objection:

A fourth objection takes issue with liberal multiculturalist�s understanding of whatequality requires. Brian Barry argues that religious and cultural minorities should beheld responsible for bearing the consequences of their own beliefs and practices. Hecontrasts religious and cultural affiliations with physical disabilities and argues thatthe former do not constrain people in the way that physical disabilities do. A physicaldisability supports a strong prima facie claim to compensation because it limits aperson�s opportunities to engage in activities that others are able to engage in. Incontrast, religion and culture may shape one�s willingness to seize an opportunity, butthey do not affect whether one has an opportunity. Barry argues that justice is onlyconcerned with ensuring a reasonable range of equal opportunities and not withensuring equal access to any particular choices or outcomes.15

5) Problem of vulnerable internal minorities:

A final objection argues that extending protections to minority groups may come atthe price of reinforcing oppression of vulnerable members of those groups � whatsome have called the problem of �internal minorities� or �minorities within minorities�.Multicultural theorists have focused on inequalities between groups in arguing forspecial protections for minority groups, but group-based protections can exacerbateinequalities within minority groups. This is because some ways of protecting minoritygroups from oppression by the majority may make it more likely that more powerfulmembers of those groups are able to undermine the basic liberties and opportunitiesof vulnerable members. Vulnerable subgroups within minority groups include religiousdissenters, sexual minorities, women, and children. A group�s leaders may exaggeratethe degree of consensus and solidarity within their group to present a united frontto the wider society and strengthen their case for accommodation.

The �internal minorities� objection is especially troublesome for liberal egalitarian defendersof multiculturalism who aim to promote inter-group equality while also challenging intra-group inequality, including gender inequality. But granting �external protections� to minoritygroups may sometimes come at the price of �internal restrictions�, as is the case when

15 Barry, B., 2001, Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism, Cambridge, MA:Harvard.


the right of self-government is accorded to a group that violates the rights of its membersby limiting freedom of conscience or upholding sexually discriminatory membership rules.

5. ConclusionIn short a multicultural society is one where the people from all over the world belongingto different cultures and back grounds accumulate and come to live together in perfectpeace and harmony and without causing any discriminations or indifference to any othergroup. There needs to be mutual understanding and the desire to understand the culturesand traditions of the other communities so that every one can live and work positivelytowards nation building. The legal norms of the nation shall make sure that there is nodiscrimination and also shall make sure that the native population of the region does notget neglected by the legal implementations for the minorities. The acceptance and equalityshall be the perfect tool to fight the evils like terrorism and cultural differences. Althoughthere are many critics to the doctrine of the multiculturalism today�s urban society cannot establish itself without this intermix of cultures and people from different regions astoday in the world a global scale is reached and the requirement of every nation is thedevelopment through its dependence and trust with other nations that have differentcultures and traditions and that can only be achieved with respect and understanding forthese differences.

6. References and Recommended ReadingsMohammada, Malika, The foundations of the composite culture in India. Aakar Books,

2007.

The Constitution of India, 1950.

Barry, B., 2001, Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism, Cambridge,MA: Harvard.

Benhabib, S., 2002, The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era,Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Gooding-Williams, R., 1998, �Race, Multiculturalism and Democracy,� Constellations, 5(1):18�41.

Kelly, P., 2002, Multiculturalism Reconsidered: Culture and Equality and Its Critics, Oxford:Polity Press.

Kymlicka, W., 1995, Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights, Oxford:Oxford University Press.

Jim S. Furman., 2008, Tensions in Multicultural Teacher Education Research Demographicsand the Need to Demonstrate Effectiveness Education and Urban Society, vol. 41, 1:pp. 55-79., University of New Orleans.

Michael A. Burayidi, 2000, Urban planning in a multicultural society, Greenwood PublishingGroup.


UNIT 6URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE � BASIC SERVICES

Structure Page No.

1. Introduction 38

2. Types of Basic Infrastructure 39

3. Socio-cultural Aspects of Urban Infrastructure Management 43

4. Some Solutions: Efficient Ecosystem Services 45


1. IntroductionIn the cities where population growth has outpaced the ability to provide vital infrastructureand services, the worst environmental problems are experienced close to home, withsevere economic and social impacts for urban residents. Inadequate household watersupplies, waste accumulation, and unsanitary conditions exact an enormous toll on theworld�s one billion slum dwellers in terms of unnecessary death and disease. Developingcountry cities also experience the world�s worst urban air pollution as a result of rapidindustrialisation and increased motorised transport. Worldwide, urban air pollution isestimated to cause one million premature deaths each year and cost two per cent of GDPin developed countries and five per cent in developing countries.1

Along with the many social and economic benefits of urbanisation comes a plethora ofenvironmental ills, some of staggering proportion. Cities span less than three per cent ofthe world�s land area, but the intense concentration of population, industry and energyuse can lead to severe local pollution and environmental degradation. Furthermore, acity�s ecological footprint extends far beyond its urban boundaries to the forests, croplands,coal mines and watersheds that sustain its inhabitants.

The term �infrastructure� refers to the physical and organisational structures needed forthe operation of a society or an enterprise. The term also includes all the services andfacilities necessary for an economy to function. Urban infrastructure refers to the technicalor physical structures that support an urban society, such as roads, railways, sewagesystem, electric grids, water supply, telecommunication, public transport etc. Such physicalcomponents are often a series of interrelated systems providing commodities and servicesessential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal living conditions in urban areas.

The very logic of the global rise of urbanisation is founded on the availability of powerful,centralised, and inexpensive infrastructure. Cities are intensive centers of social activityand the central feature in the economical technology of civilisations. Global accelerationin city formation and urban growth can be ascribed to a number of technological innovations,none more profound in their impact than the rise and spread of fossil fuel resources,products, systems, and tools.

1 UNEP 2008.

Urban Infrastructure � Basic Services 39

However, such a huge dependency on infrastructure services for urban economic developmentcan also be one of the major catalysts in environmental challenges that the world facestoday. For instance, transportation is one of the basic pillars of urban infrastructure. Fuelsare the backbone of facilitating this infrastructure since they are needed for the intensesocial and economic activities taking place within a city. All basic urban communicationinfrastructures, both traditional (such as roads, rail, air, and seaports) and advanced (suchas telecommunications), have been nurtured in a world of near absolute fossil fueldependency, which is also one of the major concern for environmentalists all over theglobe.

An urban society is plagued by such chain of paradoxes. On one hand where urbaninfrastructure caters to not just economic but also overall development, on the other handit also caters to various hazardous environmental and health hazards of monstrous volume.In such a tricky situation where one cannot do away with the basic infrastructure thatrepresents the very nature of anything urban, the best possible way of tackling the Goliathis by managing urban infrastructure to the optimum.

Optimal utilisation of urban infrastructure would imply that urban infrastructure must bemanaged in a way that facilitates an urban place or region progressively towards the goalof sustainable urban habitat. Attention must be paid to technological and governmentalpolicy which enables urban planning for sustainable architecture and other such initiatives.In theory, such a concept would simply mean that management of urban infrastructuremust lead to the development of sustainable communities by ensuring that infrastructuralknowledge makes improvements that do not deplete natural resources. Consequently thetransition and mass adoption of renewable resources features heavily in sustainableinfrastructures.

Generally speaking the following could be considered sustainable urban infrastructure:

♣ Public transport system

♣ Energy demand management initiative that facilitate distributed generation

♣ High efficiency buildings and other development constraints such as discouraging non-green buildings and non-energy efficient landscaping

♣ Connected green spaces and wildlife corridors

♣ Low impact development practices

♣ Conservation of water and land resources

♣ Encouraging policies on efficient hazardous waste management and disaster management

2. Types of Basic InfrastructureBasic urban infrastructure include both the fixed structures as well as the services providedin cities. When we talk about the basic services in urban infrastructure, it should bedeemed to include the control systems, software required to operate, manage and monitorthe systems, as well as any accessory buildings, plants, or vehicles that are an essentialpart of the system. Also included are fleets of vehicles operating according to schedulessuch as public transit buses and garbage collection, as well as basic energy or communicationsfacilities that are not usually part of a physical network, such as oil refineries, radio andtelevision broadcasting facilities, etc.


Listed in the following pages are a few physical urban infrastructures. Physical infrastructurerefers to fixed and capital assets that either facilitate habitation and employment or servethe function of conveyance or channelling of people, vehicles, fluids, energy, or information,and which take the form either of a network or of a critical node used by vehicles, orused for the transmission of electro-magnetic waves. Such infrastructure is also theoreticallycalled Hard infrastructure.

Some Hard Infrastructure2 :

1) Transportation infrastructure

♣ Road and highway networks, including structures like tunnels, bridges, underpasses,subways, signage and markings, electrical systems like street lights and trafficlights, edge treatments like curbs, footpaths, sidewalks and landscaping as wellas specialised facilities such as road maintenance deots and rest areas

♣ Mass transit systems like metro train, subways, trams, trolleys, buses and othermodes of public transport

♣ Railway network including structures and terminal facilities like rail yards,stations,level crossings, signaling and communications systems

♣ Canals and navigable waterways requiring continuous maintenance (dredging,etc)

♣ Seaports and lighthouses

♣ Airport, air navigational systems and intra-airport transfer facilities

♣ Pedestrian walkways, footpaths, etc

♣ Ferries

2) Energy infrastructure

♣ Electrical power network, including power generation plant/unit, electrical grid,substations and distribution units.

♣ Natural gas pipelines, storage and distribution terminals, as well as the localdistribution network. Some definitions may include the gas wells, as well as thefleets of ships and trucks transporting liquefied gas.

♣ Petroleum pipelines, including associated storage and distribution terminals. Somedefinitions may include the oil wells, refineries, as well as the fleets of tankerships and trucks.

♣ Specialised coal handling facilities for washing, storing, and transporting coal.

Water and Sewage infrastructure

♣ Drinking water supply including the system of pipes, storage reservoirs, pumps,valves, filtration and treatment equipment and meters, including buildings andstructures to house the equipment, used for the collection, treatment anddistribution of drinking water

♣ Drainage systems (storm sewers, ditches, etc)

2 The hard infrastructure includes all physical structures such as roads and bridges, ports, airlines,railway, power, telecom while the soft infrastructure includes education, health, tourism, etc.


♣ Sewage collection, disposal and treatment units

♣ Irrigation systems and canals/reservoirs

♣ Major flood control systems and pumping stations

♣ Other disaster and damage control technologies and structures

♣ Coastal management structures such as seawells, breakwaters, groynes, floodgatesas well as the use of soft engineering techniques such as beach nourishment, sanddune stabilisation and the protection of coastal wetlands and mangroves/forests

3) Communications infrastructure

♣ Postal and telegraph services

♣ Telephone and telecommunication networks and telephone exchange systems

♣ Mobile phone networks and towers

♣ TV and radio broadcast and transmission stations, including the regulations andstandards governing broadcasting

♣ Cable TV, physical networks including receiving stations and cable distributionnetworks

♣ The Internet, including the internet backbone, core routers and server farms,local internet service providers as well as the protocols and other basic softwarerequired for the system to function

♣ Satellite communication

♣ Underground and undersea cables

4) Solid waste management infrastructure

♣ Municipal waste collection and recycling units

♣ Solid waste landfills

♣ Solid waste incinerators

♣ Hazardous waste disposal facilities

5) Earth monitoring and measurement networks

♣ Meteorological monitoring networks

♣ Tidal monitoring networks

♣ Stream Gauge or similar systems like fluviometric monitoring networks

♣ Seismometer networks

♣ Earth observation satellites

♣ Geodetic benchmarks

♣ GPS

♣ Spatial Data Infrastructure

Some types of soft infrastructure

Soft Infrastructure refers to all the institutions, which are required to maintain the health,cultural and social standards of a country, state or sometimes even a company. In the


context of urban environment, soft infrastructure would include both physical assets suchas highly specialised buildings and equipment, as well as non-physical assets such as thebody of rules and regulations governing the various systems, the financing of these systems,as well as the systems and organisations by which highly skilled and specialised professionalsare trained, advance in their careers by acquiring experience, and are disciplined ifrequired by professional associations (professional training, accreditation and discipline).

Unlike hard infrastructure, the essence of soft infrastructure is the delivery of specialisedservices to people. Unlike much of the service sector of the economy, the delivery of thoseservices depend on highly developed systems and large specialised facilities or institutionsthat share many of the characteristics of hard infrastructure.

1) Governance infrastructure

♣ The system of government and law enforcement, including the political, legislative,law enforcement, justice and penal systems, as well as specialised facilities(government offices, courthouses, prisons, etc), and specialised systems forcollecting, storing and disseminating data, laws and regulation

♣ Emergency services, such as police, ambulance, fire brigade, etc, includingspecialised vehicles, buildings, communications and dispatching systems

♣ Military infrastructure, including bases, arms depots, training facilities, commandcenters, communication facilities, major weapons systems, specialised armsmanufacturing, strategic reserves, etc

2) Economic infrastructure

♣ The financial system, banking and financial institutions, exchanges, money suppliesand reserves, accounting standards and regulations, e-banking systems, etc

♣ Major business logistical facilities and systems, including warehouses, logisticsand management facilities, etc

♣ Manufacturing infrastructure, including industrial and SEZs, mines and processingplants for basic materials used as inputs in industry, specialised energy,transportation and water infrastructure used by industry, plus the public safety,zoning and environmental laws and regulations that govern and limit industrialactivity, and standard organisations

♣ Agricultural, animal husbandry, forestry and fisheries infrastructure, includingspecialised food and livestock transportation and storage facilities, agriculturalprice support systems (including agricultural insurance), agricultural healthstandards, food inspections, agricultural research centers and schools, the systemof licensing and quota management, enforcement systems against poaching, forestwardens, and fire fighting

3) Social infrastructure

♣ The health care system system, including hospitals, the financing of health care,including health insurance, the systems for regulation and testing of medicationsand medical procedures, the system for training, inspection and professionaldiscipline of doctors and other medical professionals, public health monitoringand regulations, as well as coordination of measures taken during public healthemergencies such as epidemics


♣ The educational and research system, including elementary and secondary schools,universities, institutions, specialised colleges, research institutions, the systemsfor financing and accrediting educational institutions

♣ Social welfare systems, including both government support and private charity forthe poor, for people in distress or victims of abuse

4) Cultural, sports and recreational infrastructure

♣ Sports and recreational infrastructure, such as parks, sports facilities, the systemof sports leagues and associations

♣ Cultural infrastructure, such as concert halls, community centers, museums,libraries, theaters, studios, and specialised training facilities

♣ Business travel and tourism infrastructure, including both man-made and naturalattractions, convention centers, hotels, restaurants and other services that catermainly to tourists and business travelers, as well as the systems for informing andattracting tourists, and travel insurance

3. Socio-culturalAspects of Urban InfrastructureManagementThe current trend is to recognise the urbanisation with the increase in the number ofsquatter settlements; of people occupying land illegally or informally; and of people wholack any kind of shelter at all. For example, the street-sleepers of cities such as Mumbai.The fact remains, however, that the continuing existence and continued growth of poorhousing and environmental conditions in developing countries poses a great challenge tothose concerned with the relationship between urban growth and health. Central to thischallenge is the question of housing and the services that should go with it, such as watersupply and sanitation. This is not, however, an unmanagable issue.

One of the most effective ways of managing urban sprawl is to opt for effective (butdifficult) methods like opting for horizontal growth instead of vertical growth of the cities.However, it would be most effective when taken up during the stage of planning itself.For instance, an Indian city like Mysore has traditionally been a quite and peaceful citynot having a population that can be termed metropoliton. However, since the last fewdecades, specially after the onset of the Software industry in India, Mysore is fast becomingthe hub of IT after Bangalore. The city�s population is projected to be pegged at nearly1.2 million and this is based on the population growth index of 22.2 per cent. Given thepresent growth rate, the population is expected to cross the 15.7 lakh mark by 2020 and22 lakh by 2030, which will only add to the pressure on land and demand for housing.

While such population growth coupled with urbanisation will increase the demand onproperty services and add to the pressure on the real estate market, the long-term impactof this unfolding scenario on the character of the city is not studied yet. In such scenario,many experts suggest the planning of vertical growth of the city as opposed to thehorizontal sprawl of Mysore, preferred by many. There however, has been an eagerness toshift to vertical growth that will make apartments a more viable proposition in theabsence of land to sustain the demand for housing in Mysore, off late.

In most countries, average incomes are higher in urban centers than in rural areas : levelof urbanisation is higher in higher-income countries, although even in lower-income countries


almost one third of population lives in urban areas; and 60% of world�s urban populationlives in low- or lower middle-income countries; table: �Population in Urban Areas andpercentage of total population�3

The demographic profile of Mysore is set to alter further with better connectivity toBangalore by way of track doubling work between the two cities, likely to be completedby 2013. This is expected to reduce the commuting time to less than two hours andobservers forecast more investment in Mysore, resulting in creation of jobs that will usherin the service sector as well.

This will add to the size of the salaried and the middle class in Mysore and increase thedemand on the housing front as well as the retail market segment in the medium and longterm.

The economics of Urban InfrastructureUrban growth gives rise to economies of scale. Industries benefit from concentrations ofsuppliers and consumers which allow savings in communications and transport costs. Largecities also provide big differentiated labour markets and may help accelerate the pace oftechnological innovation.4

The empowerment of local governments to take economic and service delivery decisionsrequires a new framework for public finance, where urban expenditures are driven throughurban local governments. To support greater urban local government oversight andaccountability for urban and municipal functions, and to support control of service deliveryinvestments, operations and financing to urban and municipal governments across functionalurban areas, the current fragmentation of authority between State and local governmentneeds to be resolved.

While urban infrastructure is important in its own right and is in the nature of a localpublic good, there are important urban-rural linkages and externalities. The organisationalcapacity, and professional staff, that comes about for urban infrastructure service provisioncan take on additional functions in a significant �footprint� of outlying rural areas. Thiswould harness economies of scale and scope. For example, a regional water utility for acluster of small towns can also serve neighbouring rural communities - either directly asa service provider, or indirectly through technical inputs for panchayat - led deliverysystems. Rural areas surrounding cities tend to indirectly derive significant income fromthe prosperity of the city, through sale of high value crops, through SMEs and throughlabour supply.

As we know, urbanisation is correlated to globalisation and trade. Where there is urbanisationthere is also an accumulation of wealth and energy resources. Energy underpins economicgrowth, globalisation flows and technological advances, all of which operate through urbancenters. Hence, energy is a very important catalyst to urbanisation and urban infrastructure.

Urban income inequalities are largely prevalent not just in developing but also withindeveloped countries. Such an unequal distribution of wealth has been widespread andsignificant since the mid 1980s. Among the developing nations, this has affected mostcountries with large increases observed in Canada and Germany. Consequently, social

3 Figures from www.worldbank.org and �World Urbanisation Prospects� UN 20024 Wahba 7


exclusion, urban segregation and persistent pockets of destitution and poverty areincreasingly common in cities of developed countries.5

The Gini coefficient is a measure of statistical dispersion developed by the Italian statisticianand sociologist Corrado Gini and published in his 1912 paper �Variability and Mutability�.The Gini coefficient is a measure of the inequality of a distribution, a value of 0 expressingtotal equality and a value of 1 maximal inequality. Worldwide, Gini coefficients for incomerange from approximately 0.22 (in Beijing, capital of China: considered the most equalcity in the world) and 0.23 (Sweden) to 0.70 (Namibia) although not every country hasbeen assessed.

Growing inequality in urban settlements around the world has given rise to cities withstark contrasts between areas of wealth and poverty, with escalating crime levels increasingthe desire by the wealthy to segregate themselves from the poor. Income inequality henceleads to spatial fragmentation and consequently to segregated cities. Economic recessionhas large impact on living conditions � with urban areas contributing disproportionatelyto gross domestic product (GDP), cities are expected to be hardest hit. Consequently,unemployment rates rouse most significantly in urban centers. Minorities are the hardesthit: Unemployment rates are higher among minority groups. For instance, in US, averageunemployment rate was 8.5% in 2008, amongst blacks (13.3 per cent) and Hispanics (11.4per cent), as compared to whites (7.9 per cent) � aggravated problem of homelessnessin urban centers.

Over-urbanisation and its related problems (pollution, restricted availability of ecosystemservices, and congestion leading to bad conditions for transportation and commuting) arenegative externalities, causing a market to operate inefficiently. On long run, tendencyis to decentralisation or at least putting industries up at outskirts. Shift by farmers insurrounding rural areas to producing higher-value goods in response to consumer demandsin urban areas; agriculture is also disrupted by land speculation or the conversion of landto urban uses. Solution to this is a simple and optimum management of urban infrastructureand services and nothing more.

4. Some Solutions : Efficient Ecosystem ServicesUrban centers are incomplete ecological systems, typically occupying less than 1% of theecosystem area upon which they draw. People in urban areas have historically been heavilydependent on adjoining systems for food, clean water, waste disposal, and a range ofother services. The intensity of interaction between an urban system and its surroundingstends to fall off with increasing distance. Interaction also tends to be more intense alongcertain corridors (such as rivers and roads) and within environmentally bounded areas,such as watersheds.

These adjoining urban systems, which are also called peri-urban areas, are undergoing atwofold transformation, with arable land coming under increasingly intense cultivation andboth arable and non-arable land being increasingly built over to provide space forcommercial, industrial, and residential establishments and for roads and parking facilities.Land use patterns are often in the process of changing from rural (agriculture) to urban(buildings).

5 Habitat report 2009, p.31.


The over utilisation of urban systems is posing the issue of increased ecological footprint.Ecological footprint can be understood as a measure of human demand on the Earth�secosystems. An ecological footprint is a standard measurement of a unit�s influence on itshabitat based on consumption and pollution. It compares human demand with earth�secological capacity to regenerate. It represents the amount of biologically productive landand sea area needed to regenerate the resources a human population consumes and toabsorb and render harmless the corresponding waste.

Since for human sustenance a certain area of land and water ecosystems required, on acontinuous basis, to produce resources which a specified human population consumes, andto assimilate the wastes produces by this population, just a general usage of ecologicalresources will not be termed as ecological footprint. It is not the use but the abuse ofsuch recourses that increase human footprint on the face of planet earth.

The trick is to generate infrastructure that is ecologically viable and helps in reductionof human ecological footprint. Urban planners are now increasingly looking into the aspectof strenthening ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtainfrom ecosystems. These include provisioning services such as food and water; regulatingservices such as flood and disease control; cultural services such as spiritual, recreational,and cultural benefits.

Ecosystems located on private land are difficult for government agencies to regulate; evenwhere public land is involved, the benefits of ecosystem services typically crossadministrative and sectoral boundaries. The problems are also many, such as of deterioratingrelations with adjoining ecosystems, especially in large, middle-income industrial cities;indirect driving forces being industrialisation, motorisation; direct causes are ambient airpollution, groundwater degradation, river pollution, resource plundering and land usepressure � loss of natural ecosystem services, declining agricultural productivity insurrounding areas.

For instance, the Vancouver had already in 1990s used up the productive output of a landarea nearly 180 times larger than its political area to maintain its consumer lifestyle.6 Inaffluent cities like Vancouver and suburbs: excessive ecological footprints caused by largeamounts of waste generation, greenhouse gas emissions, import and export-oriented trade� leads to global climate change, loss of biodiversity.

Since the net flow of ecosystem services is invariably into rather than out of urbansystems, these flows have increased even more rapidly than has urban population growthin recent centuries. A solution to all these problems would be sustainable cities.

a) Green spaces � cleaning, recreation / cultural

Not only do green spaces serve to recreational and cultural values but also air filtration,regulation of microclimate, noise reduction, surface water drainage, nutrient retention,genetic library, pollination, seed dispersal, and insect pest regulation. However, now adays there is a trend to take up artificial landscaping and use of non-native or exotic plantspecies that end up using large quantities of water, fertilizer, and pesticides. Such importantresources are applied, or rather wasted, to maintain the aesthetics of the green lawns,especially in affluent countries, with numerous adverse consequences.

6 Rees 306.


The solution lies in encouraging viable flora and native species. Because of its proximityto numerous emissions sources, urban vegetation can have increased to lessen the impactson global climate change, both directly (e.g., removing greenhouse gases) and indirectly(e.g., altering nearby emissions).

b) Food

Urban agriculture is an important source of food and supplementary income. It has manyadvantageous aspects such as providing income and food security for producers; employmentfor under- or unemployed, lower prices for urban consumers, etc.

Encouraging such practices lessen the associated environmental health risks as well.Moreover, it can bring numerous advantages for urban ecosystem such as reduced runoffthat can diminish costs of wastewater treatment and solid waste disposal. Many still areskeptical about the health problems associated with urban agriculture as it is feared thatdue to its proximity of cities, chances of food contamination, especially when heavilypolluted groundwater is used; water pollution, increased prevalence of disease vectorssuch as malarial mosquitoes, etc are high. This is an aspect that needs further study.Urban farmers are mostly not from poorest groups as these find it difficult to even accessland.

One can also think of other ecosystem services such as cooling and pollution reduction asagriculture remains illegal in many of the cities where it is practised which constrains itspotential, - but making it legal would make is even more difficult for poor residents togain access to land.

c) Air

High emissions per vehicle are associated with outdated technologies, older vehicles,poorly surfaced or badly maintained roads, weaker environmental legislation or weakenforcement of the regulations, poor vehicle maintenance (as vehicle emission inspectionsare less rigorous or nonexistent), and the dominance of low-quality fuels. A frequentlyheard complaint voiced by people living along busy roads is that the dust created bytraffic, especially trucks transporting bricks and sand, causes respiratory problems.

Urban air pollution is largely and increasingly the result of the combustion of fossil fuelsfor transport, power generation and other human activities. This can be easily curbed byusing newer and more efficient technologies.

d) Water and sanitation

Water quality and availability within city is bound to be insufficient with spiraling population.Nature of usage of water in a typical area would consist of residential, industrial, commercialand public uses. System losses also play considerable role.7 Urban areas usually have a highpercentage of paved areas, which concentrates rainwater rather than dissipating it, tendsto intensify flooding and can especially flash floods.8

Water shortage, or rather shortage of infrastructure for water supply has plagued manyIndian cities since a long time. For instance, in Chennai in 2004, only 26% of slum dwellers

7 Baumann, D. et al. �Urban Water Demand Management and Planning�, New York 1989; p.31.8 Hassan, p.816.


had access to drinking water within their premises, 55% had access within 500 meters fromtheir residence. 19% of slum dwellers had to go more than 500 meters to access drinkingwater.9

According to WHO and UNICEF ��improved�� supplies of water is defined as being able toobtain at least 20 liters of water per person per day from a household connection, andhaving public standpipe, borehole, protected dug well, protected spring, or rainwatercollector within 1 kilometer of the user�s dwelling (WHO and UNICEF 2000). In many low-income urban settings, however, standpipes or other publicly available water sourcesavailable within a kilometer may be shared with hundreds and occasionally thousands ofpeople, and there are often serious deficiencies in the quality of the water and theregularity of the supply (Hardoy et al. 2001; UN-Habitat 2003a).

For sanitation, WHO and UNICEF define ��improved�� provision as access to a private orshared toilet with connection to a public sewer or a septic tank or access to a private orshared pour-flush latrine, simple pit latrine, or ventilated improved pit latrine. In manyurban settings, however, dozens of households share each latrine, making access difficultand maintenance inadequate, sometimes causing people and especially children to avoidusing the latrines (UN-Habitat 2003a).

Although the concentrating of settlements increases the burden on environment andaggravates local disturbances , especially where such concentration is poorly managed;there is also potential of urbanisation: concentration of population in urban areas makesit easier to treat wastewater. Better level of regulatory and enforcement mechanismsmakes one of the biggest pollution sources controlled to a large extent.

e) Waste management

Though people in city often have access to electricity, many of which may also be illegal,in contrast to people in rural areas face frequent power cuts. What more many rural areasare yet to receive a proper electricity line.

In cities, presence of large consumers of electricity such as factories and other industrialunits cause many power breakdowns. Factory owners also successfully lobby the authoritiesfor a better supply. On the other hand, many households in city clusters as well as thoseof most unauthorised colonies nearby have illegal connections. The result is an unforeseenhigh demand in electricity, exceeding the capacity of the local transformers. Regarding thesupply of piped water, similar mechanisms are at work. Illegally tapped water decreasesthe pressure in the pipes, so that water is only available for a few hours per day. Theprocess of urbanisation is usually accompanied by an extended period of disruptions of thewater supply. The wealthier households can overcome this problem by storing in watertanks on the roofs of their houses. The poor households have to improvise in simpler ways,storing water in jerry cans and earthen pots.10

The agglomeration economies and economies of scale characteristic of cities reduce theper capita requirements for and costs of water and sewer systems, waste collection, andrelated infrastructure; create opportunities for recycling, reuse and remanufacturingunavailable to smaller communities. City planners can enable such energy savings strategiesfor co-generation and district heating, and reduce the need for energy intensive.

9 Chandramouli p.87.10 Bentinck 136.


f) Transportation

The average personal energy consumption associated with transportation needs is inverselyrelated to urban density. For all urban activities, transportation is the backbone. This callsfor more densely concentrated and public transport-based forms of urban development.

A more developed transport network implies more usage of fossil-fuels. Both intra-urbanand inter-urban transport, consume approximately 75% of the world�s fossil fuel production.However, since 1970s there have been concerns over this trend. This were the early signsof a declining stage of the fossil-fuel economy when savings in energy conservation andfuel efficiency began to be identified as the cheapest, fastest, and most immediatelyuseful means to reduce emissions. Denser cities were shown to be more fuel-efficient,while car dependent, low-density urban structures incapable of sustaining public transporthave come to be understood as a major hindrance to achieving sustainable urban life.

g) Health care services

We will dealing with management of urban health and sanitation in detail in Course 3,Block 3.

h) Urban tourism

Urban tourism is closely linked to transportation. It can be utilised as a service to generaterevenue which would in turn facilitate funds that can provide for other developmentalinfrastructure and public services. City planners must look for viable tourism models suchas cultural and seasonal tourism, heritage management, etc. We will dealing with urbantourism and heritage management in detail in Course 4, Block 1

5. References and Recommended ReadingsBaumann, D. �Urban Water Demand Management and Planning�, New York 1989 �World

Urbanisation Prospects� UN 2002.

Documents

COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO URBAN GOVERNANCE Š …UNIT 4 MULTI-FACETED RAMIFICATIONS OF URBANISATION Contents Page No. 1. Introduction 3 2. Current Urbanisation Scenario 4 3. Global