Trends of Urbanization in India: Issues and Challenges

Abstract

The highly populated urban residential area consisting mostly of closely packed, decrepit housing units in a situation of deteriorated or incomplete infrastructure, inhabited primarily by impoverished persons treated as a slum. It is a part of the city/town where the housing is a low quality and living conditions are poor. While slums differ in size and other characteristics, mostly lack reliable sanitation services, supply of clean water, reliable electricity, and other basic services. Slum residences vary from shanty houses to professionally built dwellings, which, because of poor-quality construction or provision of basic maintenance have deteriorated. The sprouting of slums in the urban areas is the direct outcome of greater economic opportunities available in the cities and towns. The demonstration effect of improved standard of living prevailing in the urban area has also attracted not only the population from smaller settlements, but also the rural migrants to almost all the major urban centers resulting in the emergence of slums even in the heart of the cities/towns. These slums occurred due to various factors such as shortage of developed land being beyond the reach of urban poor, large influx of population, rural migration to cities in search of jobs and inadequate provision of basic amenities and infrastructural facilities in the urban areas. In general, slums are the products of failed policies, bad governance, corruption, inappropriate regulation, dysfunctional land markets, unresponsive financial systems and a fundamental lack of political will.