SPATIAL MODELLING OF URBAN GROWTH AND URBAN INFLUENCE: APPROACH OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN DEVELOPING ECONOMY (INDIA)

(ProQuest: . denotes formulae omitted.)IntroductionIndia is predominantly a rural country where most of the people lives in villages, hamlets or a small group of huts (Verma 2006). It is noticeable that, India is experiencing rapid rate of population growth and urbanization. In 2001, it recorded 27.78 per cent urbanization which was much lower than the world average 47 per cent, Asian average 38 per cent, but little higher than Bangladesh i.e., 25 per cent and Sri Lanka i.e., 23 per cent (United Nations 2001). The process of urbanization is a complex system which comprises a set of interdependent entities, objectives, activities, infrastructure and land (Tiwari et al. 1986) and however it is the testimony of socio-economic and cultural development of a region or human group (Ali et al. 2008). In India, the process is the consequences of industrialization (Bhagat 2002). Therefore, it is equipped with the potentialities of development of the non-agricultural sectors (Ali et al. 2007). Urban growth is occurred due to the movement of people from- rural area to towns, smaller towns to bigger towns or cities and peripheral village to towns. Such a movement is generated due to the pull factors which attract immigrants towards urban centres and push factors which cause outmigration (Ahmad et al.,2006). Urban centres with location of seats of government, education, medical, financial and industrial units radiate growth impulses outward and subsequently bring significant economic change in the region (Mandal 2000). Besides, they provide a variety of highly centralized services for the surrounding rural part, like, marketing of agricultural products, supply of fertilizers, engineering goods, agricultural implements which are important for regional development (Hoselitz 1971). In due course of time, specialization of business is generated in the urban centres and later, the fruits of its benefits diffused to the countryside (Lampard 1955). Therefore, the proper growth and development of urban centres is imperative for regional economic progress (Hoselitz 1971). Urban centres do not grow in isolation, rather in response to changing situation (Thakur 2002). Urban growth is the out come of concentration of population in response to the availability of diverse amenities and facilities in the urban centre. Subsequently, urban population is found distributed among the settlements of varying sizes from smaller towns to giant cities (Pascione 2001) as per their functional importance. Small towns might have been villages but with time due to the increasing agglomeration economies they gradually become urban centres by virtue of their nodality, function and services - local as well as central (Verma 2006). In its evolving pattern, small and intermediate towns grow slowly as compared to large cities in early phase of urbanization, but in latter phase, small towns grow as the consequence of congestion and crowding in large and intermediate towns. Therefore, growth of towns follows the cycle of urbanization from the phases of smaller town, intermediate town and primate city (Geyer and Kontuly 1993). It is worthy to mention that continuous increase of urban size can not be sustained. The decline in growth rate will certainly set in with increasing size of urban centres in long run (Mills and Becker 1986). However, their natural growth should be allowed in order to reap the benefits of their growth momentum. But the optimality of urban size is elusive and finally finds its own in due course of time (Bhagat 2005). The optimum level of its growth depends upon the capacity of the urban centre in providing all required facilities to the people in fair manner. High capacity enhances the level of optimum while huge inflow of migrants than the capacity causes over burden on the civic finances for providing basic amenities. Such a stage of over-urbanization gives rise to all evils in urban centre, i.e., housing problem, water scarcity, lack of medical facility, unemployment, increasing poverty and suicide, spread of slums and squatters, increase of beggars and pavement dwellers, delinquency, snatching, kidnapping, traffic congestion and overcrowding, atmospheric pollution and so on. …