Economics Research Paper

Urbanization In India and China
CONTENTS
1) ACKOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………..2
2) DECLARATION……………………………..…………………3
3) OBJECTIVES………………………………………………………...5
4) RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……………………………………6
5) INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………7
6) ....................................…...9-11
7) …......................……11-20
8) ` ………….20-21
9) CONCLUSION………………………………………………...............22-23
10) REFERENCES…………………………………………………………24
OBJECTIVES
 To give a brief background of Urbanization

 To study in detail about Urbanization in India and China.
 To compare urbanization in India and China.
 To study the impacts of Urbanization on world .
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
NATURE OF RESEARCH
This research work is descriptive and Analytical in nature. It describes the Ubanization and
development process in India and China.
SOURCES OF DATA
This study is done with the help of secondary data. This secondary information has been
obtained from published sources such as books, journals, newspapers, official websites,
government publications etc.
MODE OF CITATION
A uniform mode of citation has been adopted and followed consistently throughout this paper.
Review of Literature
There are plenty of publications that delve into the topic of urbanization within
each of the two
countries. However, there is not a lot of literature that compares urbanization

between China and
India. The following brief literature review examines two recent publications
contrasting the two
countries and then two journals that discuss urbanization in each country
individually
 Mohan and Dasgupta (2004) authored a working paper for the Stanford
Center for
International Development, entitled “Urban Development in India in the
21st Century: Policies for Accelerating Urban Growth.” They analyze the
past urbanization of India as well as future projections of urban growth.
They also explain that in India, urbanization is
seen as a negative aspect of development. Mohan and Dasgupta provide
policy suggestions that would make India’s urbanization a lot better.
 The Asia Pacific Housing Journal published an article entitled “Comparing
China and India’s urbanization”. The article looked a recent McKinsey
Quarterly reports on China and India’s urbanization and expanded on the
ideas that were presented. The author states that China has started to
embrace urbanization and is more efficient at doing so compare to India who
on the other hand, is just realizing the grand opportunity that awaits. A core
idea they tried to illustrate though is that even though the previous fact might
be true, India has the ability to gain a lot more in terms of their urban
demographic due to the fact that China is aging at a fast rate. The article
stresses that two major countries have never urbanized at the same time as
much as they are now. The implication of that will change not only the
individual countries’ economies but also shift the world economy.
 Henderson (2007) is one of the many publications that focus on China’s

urbanization. Henderson’s report is written based on a variety of background
papers covering China’s urbanization, especially the hukou system and the
massive gap in rural-urban income that is considered to be worse in China
than in other Asian countries. The report also talksabout the fact that many
cities were half their efficient size, leading to the issue that “China has too
many cities with too few people.decentralize from larger cities to smaller
cities.
INTRODUCTION
Urbanization is a population shift from rural to urban areas, "the gradual increase
in the proportion of people living in urban areas", and the ways in which each
society adapts to the change. It is predominantly the process by which towns and
cities are formed and become larger as more people begin living and working in
central areas. The United Nations projected that half of the world's
population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008. It is predicted that by 2050
about 64% of the developing world and 86% of the developed world will be
urbanized. That is equivalent to approximately 3 billion urbanites by 2050, much
of which will occur in Africa and Asia. Notably, the United Nations has also
recently projected that nearly all global population growth from 2016 to 2030 will
be absorbed by cities, about 1.1 billion new urbanites over the next 14 years.
Urbanization is relevant to a range of disciplines,

including geography, sociology, economics, urban planning, and public health. The
phenomenon has been closely linked to modernization, industrialization1, and the
sociological process of rationalization. Urbanization can be seen as a specific
condition at a set time (e.g. the proportion of total population or area in cities or
towns) or as an increase in that condition over time. So urbanization can be
quantified either in terms of, say, the level of urban development relative to the
overall population, or as the rate at which the urban proportion of the population is
increasing. Urbanization creates enormous social, economic and environmental
changes, which provide an opportunity for sustainability with the “potential to use
1
www.economywatch.com/economy-business-and-finance-news/urbanization-in-china-and-india-a-potential-
gold-mine-28-07.html
resources more efficiently, to create more sustainable land use and to protect the
biodiversity of natural ecosystems.”
Urbanization is not merely a modern phenomenon, but a rapid and historic

transformation of human social roots on a global scale, whereby
predominantly rural culture is being rapidly replaced by predominantly urban
culture. The first major change in settlement patterns was the accumulation
of hunter-gatherers into villages many thousand years ago. Village culture is
characterized by common bloodlines, intimate relationships, and communal
behavior whereas urban culture is characterized by distant bloodlines, unfamiliar
relations, and competitive behavior. This unprecedented movement of people is
forecast to continue and intensify during the next few decades, mushrooming cities
to sizes unthinkable only a century ago.
Today, in Asia the urban agglomerations

of Osaka, Karachi, Jakarta, Mumbai, Shanghai, Manila, Seoul, and Beijing are
each already home to over 20 million people, while Delhi and Tokyo are forecast
to approach or exceed 40 million people each within the coming decade. Outside
Asia, Mexico City, São Paulo, New York, Lagos, Los Angeles, and Cairo are, or
soon will be, home to over 20 million people.
History
From the development of the earliest cities in Mesopotamia and Egypt until the
18th century, an equilibrium existed between the vast majority of the population
who engaged in subsistence agriculture in a rural context, and small centres of
2
populations in the towns where economic activity consisted primarily of trade
2
http://seekerblog.com/2010/07/14/comparing-urbanization-in-china-and-india/
http://www.insightsonindia.com/2014/10/29/urbanization-in-india-facts-and-issues/
at markets and manufactures on a small scale. Due to the primitive and relatively
stagnant state of agriculture throughout this period the ratio of rural to urban
population remained at a fixed equilibrium.
With the onset of the agricultural and industrial revolution in the late 18th century
this relationship was finally broken and an unprecedented growth in urban
population took place over the course of the 19th century, both through continued
migration from the countryside and due to the tremendous demographic
expansion that occurred at that time. In England the proportion of the population
living in cities jumped from 17% in 1801 to 72% in 1891 (for other countries the
figure was: 37% in France, 41% in Prussia and 28% in the United States).
Historical shift of the urban/rural population ratio-
As labourers were freed up from working the land due to higher agricultural
productivity they converged on the new industrial cities
like Manchester and Birmingham which were experiencing a boom in commerce,
trade and industry3. Growing trade around the world also allowed cereals to be
imported from North America and refrigerated meat from Australasia and South
America. Spatially, cities also expanded due to the development of public transport
3
http://ejap.org/environmental-issues-in-asia/expansion-cities.html
systems, which facilitated commutes of longer distances to the city centre for
the working class.
Urbanization rapidly spread across the Western world and, since the 1950s, it has
begun to take hold in the developing world as well. At the turn of the 20th century,
just 15% of the world population lived in cities. According to the UN the year
2007 witnessed the turning point when more than 50% of the world population
were living in cities, for the first time in human history.
Movement
Urbanization results from both industrialization (increasing efficiency among

farmers) and population growth.
As more and more people leave villages and farms to live in cities, urban growth
results. The rapid growth of cities like Chicago in the late 19th century, Tokyo in
the mid 20th, and Delhi in the 21st century can be attributed largely to rural-urban
migration. This kind of growth is especially commonplace in developing countries.
This phenomenal growth can be attributed not just4 to the lure of economic
opportunities, but also to loss or degradation of farmland and pastureland due to
development, pollution, land grabs, or conflict; the attraction and anonymity of
4
http://12thplan.gov.in/forum_description.php?f=17
hedonistic pleasures of urban areas; proximity and ease of mass transport; and the
opportunity to assert individualism.
Urban centres are seen by many as an opportunity to "escape traditional patriarchy

and experience new freedoms": this includes greater access to education, health,
and employment. However, for many who seek these opportunities the opposite
occurs, resulting in extreme poverty, exclusion, vulnerability and marginalization
due to urban sprawl where "urban land is expanding much faster than the urban
population".This results in a strain on the urban area: the urban poor are forced to
create slums, and then ultimately face unhealthy living conditions without access
to the very opportunities they sought in the first place. The United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) estimated that residents in slums had risen to about 863
million in 2012 from over 650 million in 1990.
The rapid urbanization of the world's population over the 20th century is described
in the 2005 Revision of the UN World Urbanization Prospects report. The global
proportion of urban population rose dramatically from 13% (220 million) in 1900,
to 29% (732 million) in 1950, and 49% (3.2 billion) in 2005. The same report
projected that the figure 5is likely to rise to 60% (4.9 billion) by 2030.[10] It is
expected that from 2007 to 2050, the global urban population will nearly double
(from 3.3 billion to 6.4 billion), absorbing all population growth and as well as
inflows from rural areas.
According to the UNFPA State of the World Population 2007 report, sometime in
the middle of 2007, the majority of people worldwide lived in towns or cities, for
the first time in history; this is referred to as the arrival of the "Urban Millennium"
5
www.theguardian.com
or the "tipping point". In future it is estimated 93% of urban growth will occur in
developing nations, with 80% of urban growth occurring in Asia and Africa.
Causes
Urbanization occurs as individual, commercial flight social and government action
reduce the time and expense of commuting and transportation and improve
opportunities for jobs, education, housing, and transportation. Living in a city can
provide opportunities of proximity, diversity, and marketplace competition. As
against this, there may be alienation issues stress, increased cost of living, and
negative social aspects that result from mass marginalization.]Suburbanization,
which is happening in the cities of the largest developing countries, may be
regarded as an attempt to balance these negative aspects of urban life while still
allowing access to the large extent of shared resources.
In cities, money, services, wealth and opportunities are centralized. Many rural
inhabitants come to the city to seek their fortune and alter their social position.
Businesses, which provide jobs and exchange capital, are more concentrated in
urban areas6.7 Whether the source is trade or tourism, it is also through the ports or
banking systems, commonly located in cities, that foreign money flows into a
country.
Many people move into cities for the economic opportunities, but this does not
fully explain the very high recent urbanization rates in places like China and India.
Rural flight is a contributing factor to urbanization. In rural areas, often on small
family farms or collective farms in villages, it has historically been difficult to
access manufactured goods, though the relative overall quality of life is very
6
http://www.indexmundi.com/factbook/compare/india.china
7
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23570826
subjective, and may certainly surpass that of the city. Farm living has always been
susceptible to unpredictable environmental conditions, and in times
of drought, flood or pestilence, survival may become extremely problematic
Particularly in the developing world, conflict over land rights due to the effects
of globalization has led to less politically powerful groups, such as farmers, losing
or forfeiting their land, resulting in obligatory migration into cities. In China,
where land acquisition measures are forceful, there has been far more extensive
and rapid urbanization (54%) than in India (36%), where peasants form militant
groups (e.g. Naxalites) to oppose such efforts. Obligatory and unplanned migration
often results in rapid growth of slums. This is also similar to areas of violent
conflict, where people are driven off their land due to
violence. Bogota, Colombia is one example of this.
Cities offer a larger variety of services, including specialist services not found in
rural areas8. These services requires workers, resulting in more numerous and
varied job opportunities. Elderly people may be forced to move to cities where
there are doctors and hospitals that can cater for their health needs. Varied and high
quality educational opportunities are another factor in urban migration, as well as
the opportunity to join, develop, and seek out social communities.
Urbanization also creates opportunities for women that are not available in rural
areas. This creates a gender-related transformation where women are engaged in
paid employment and have access to education. This may cause fertility to decline.
However, women are sometimes still at a disadvantage due to their unequal

position in the labour market, their inability to secure assets independently from
male relatives and exposure to violence.
8
http://12thplan.gov.in/forum_description.php?f=17
People in cities are more productive than in rural areas. An important question is
whether this is due to agglomeration effects or whether cities simply attract those
who are more productive. Economists have recently shown that there exists a large
productivity gain due to locating in dense agglomerations. It is thus possible that
agents. locate in cities in order to benefit from these agglomeration effects
Economic effects
As cities develop, effects can include a dramatic increase and change in costs,
often pricing the local working class out of the market, including such
functionaries as employees of the local municipalities. For example, Eric
Hobsbawm's book chapter 11, stated "Urban development in our period [1789–
1848] was a gigantic process of class segregation, which pushed the new labouring
poor into great morasses of misery outside the centres of government and business
and the newly specialized residential areas of the bourgeoisie. The almost universal
European division into a 'good' west end and a 'poor' east end of large cities
developed in this period." This is likely due the prevailing south-west wind which
carries coal smoke and other airborne pollutants downwind, making the western
edges of towns preferable to the eastern ones. Similar problems now affect the
developing world, rising inequality resulting from rapid urbanization trends. The
drive for rapid urban growth and often efficiency can lead to less equitable urban
development. Think tanks such as the Overseas Development Institute have
proposed policies that encourage labor-intensive growth as a means of absorbing
the influx of low-skilled and unskilled labor. One problem these migrant workers
are involved with is the growth of slums. In many cases, the rural-urban low
skilled or unskilled migrant workers, attracted by economic opportunities in urban
areas, cannot find a job and afford housing in cities and have to dwell in
slums. Urban problems, along with infrastructure developments, are also fueling
suburbanization trends in developing nations, though the trend for core cities in
said nations tends to continue to become ever denser. Urbanization is often viewed
as a negative trend, but there are positives in the reduction of expenses in
commuting and transportation while improving opportunities for jobs, education,
housing, and transportation. Living in cities permits individuals and families to
take advantage of the opportunities of proximity and diversity. While cities have a
greater variety of markets and goods than rural areas, infrastructure congestion,
monopolization, high overhead costs, and the inconvenience of cross-town trips
frequently combine to make marketplace competition harsher in cities than in rural
areas.
In many developing countries where economies are growing, the growth is often
erratic and based on a small number of industries. For young people in these
countries barriers exist such as, lack of access to financial services and business
advisory services, difficulty in obtaining credit to start a business, and lack of
entrepreneurial skills, in order for them to access opportunities in these industries.
Investment in human capital so that young people have access to quality education
and infrastructure to enable access to educational facilities is imperative to
overcoming economic barriers.
Environmental effects
The existence of Urban heat islands has become a growing concern over the years.
An urban heat island is formed when industrial and urban areas produce and retain
heat. Much of the solar energy that reaches rural areas is consumed by evaporation
of water from vegetation and soil. In cities, where there is less vegetation and
exposed soil, most of the sun's energy is instead absorbed by buildings and asphalt;
leading to higher surface temperatures. Vehicles, factories and industrial and
domestic heating and cooling units release even more heat. As a result, cities are
often 1 to 3 °C (1.8 to 5.4 °F) warmer than surrounding landscapes. Impacts also
include reducing soil moisture and a reduction in reabsorption of carbon dioxide
emissions.
The occurrence of eutrophication in bodies of water is another effect large urban

populations have on the environment. When rain occurs in these large cities, the
rain filters down the pollutants such as CO2 and other green house gases in the air
onto the ground below. Then, those chemicals are washed directly into rivers,
streams and oceans, causing a decline in water quality and damaging marine
ecosystems.
In his book Whole Earth Discipline, Stewart Brand argues that the effects of
urbanization are primarily positive for the environment. First, the birth rate of new
urban dwellers falls immediately to replacement rate, and keeps falling, reducing
environmental stresses caused by population growth. Secondly, emigration from
rural areas reduces destructive subsistence farming techniques, such as improperly
implemented slash and burn agriculture.
In July 2013 a report issued by the United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs warned that with 2.4 billion more people by 2050, the amount of
food produced will have to increase by 70%, straining food resources, especially in
countries already facing food insecurity due to changing environmental conditions.
The mix of changing environmental conditions and the growing population of
urban regions, according to UN experts, will strain basic sanitation systems and
health care, and potentially cause a humanitarian and environmental disaster.
URBANIZATION IN ASIA
Urbanization is a sign of a nation’s prosperity and progress. No country in the
world has ever achieved sustained economic growth or rapid social development
without urbanization. In the Asian continent, the phenomenon of urbanization is
particularly striking. Globally, in 1800, only 2% of the world’s population was
urbanised. By 1950, 30% of the world population was urban. And the World
Urbanization Prospects (UN) has said that by 2020, 55% Asia’s population will
live in urban areas, underlining unprecedented urbanization across Asia in the days
to come. The graph shows how urban population in Asia has increased since 1950.
However, urbanisation has brought with it the huge challenge of making cities
‘liveable’ - by providing adequate infrastructure facilities, water supply provision,
sanitation, heath care and housing. Compounding such problems are growing
issues of climate change, which may threaten the sustainability of water use in
urban centres by reducing water availability and quality from surface and
groundwater sources, while water demand for household and industrial use may
simultaneously increase as temperatures rise.9 There is also an inequitable
distribution of health threats within urban areas. Families with the lowest incomes
are most at risk of their children being malnourished and dying early, and are also
disadvantaged in terms of their living conditions, such as access to piped water.
Importantly, these inequities exist along a social gradient, also affecting middle-
class city dwellers to at least some extent. The Asian experience while being
positive is less than adequate. In the 2000-2010 decade, a huge population in the
region moved out from slum conditions. China and India together upgraded about
125 million people from slums. But, the rapid pace of urbanisation will actually
9
http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Strategic_Plan_draft_new[1].pdf.pdf
increase the absolute number of slum dwellers. Cleary, much more needs to be
done.
Over the next four decades, Asia will experience a marked increase in their
urban populations and by mid-century most of the urban population of the
world will be concentrated in Asia. While changing human geography beyond
recognition, it has also resulted in significant changes in the complexion of
development aims and processes. A World Health Organisation study has said
that in many places in Asia, cities will merge together to create urban
settlements on a scale never seen before. “These new configurations will take
the form of mega-regions, urban corridors and city-regions. The city region of
Bangkok in Thailand will expand another 200 km from its current centre by
2020.” While China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Pakistan would be the
major contributors to Asia’s increasing urban population, an urban sprawl
would also be created that will give rise to unforeseen problems as well as
opportunities. Unplanned expansion of urban centres will create a threat to
health and quality of life. Today only a small proportion of Asia’s urban
population lives amid abundance which could cause social disorder, severe
class conflicts, crimes and extreme economic inequalities. In the last decade,
absolute number of slum dwellers in Asia has actually increased from about
777 to 827 million in 2010 due to rapid urbanization. The UN estimates that, by
2020, 14 of the world’s 25 mega cities will be in Asia and the Pacific. The
mega cities where people already live in densely populated areas will face more
pressure on key issues related to health, growth, jobs and urbanization
URBANIZATION IN INDIA
Urbanization in India began to accelerate after independence, due to the country's
adoption of a mixed economy, which gave rise to the development of the private
sector. Urbanization is taking place at a faster rate in India. Population residing
in urban areas in India, according to 1901 census, was 11.4%. This count increased
to 28.53% according to 2001 census, and crossing 30% as per 2011 census,
standing at 31.16%. According to a survey by UN State of the World Population
report in 2007, by 2030, 40.76% of country's population is expected to reside in
urban areas. As per World Bank, India, along with China, Indonesia, Nigeria, and
the United States, will lead the world's urban population surge by 2050.
Mumbai saw large scale rural-urban migration in the 21st century. Mumbai
accommodates 12.5 million people, and is the largest metropolis by population in
India, followed by Delhi with 11 million inhabitants. Witnessing the fastest rate of
urbanization in the world, as per 2011 census, Delhi's population rose by 4.1%,
Mumbai's by 3.1% and Kolkata's by 2% as per 2011 census compared to 2001
census. Estimated population, at the current rate of growth, by year
2015; Delhi stands at 26 million; Mumbai at 24 million, Kolkata at 16
million, Bangalore at 11 million, Chennai, and Hyderabad at 10 million.

History
The transition period

After independence, India faced poverty, unemployment, and economic
backwardness. The first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, focused
on the domain of science and technology, for the sake of economic
development. The mixed economy system was adopted, resulting in the growth of
the Public sector in India.
Modern India
 v
 t
 e
Largest urban agglomerations in India by population

(2011 census)[7]
Ra City State/Ter Popula Ra State/Ter Popula
City Name
nk Name ritory tion nk ritory tion
21,753, Uttar 3,920,0
1 Delhi Delhi 11 Kanpur
486 Pradesh 67
Mumba Maharasht 20,748, Uttar 3,901,4
2 12 Lucknow
i ra 395 Pradesh 74
West 14,112, Maharasht 3,497,7
3 Kolkata 13 Nagpur Kolkata
Bengal 536 ra 77
Delhi Chenna Tamil 8,696,0 Uttar 3,358,5
4 14 Ghaziabad
i Nadu 10 Pradesh 25
Bangalo 8,499,3 Madhya 2,967,4
5 Karnataka 15 Indore
re 99 Pradesh 47
Hydera 7,749,3 Tamil 2,851,4 Chennai
6 Telangana 16 Coimbatore
bad 34 Nadu 66
Mumbai
Ahmed 6,240,2 Thiruvananth 2,687,4
7 Gujarat 17 Kerala
abad 01 apuram 06
Maharasht 5,049,9 2,046,6
8 Pune 18 Patna Bihar
ra 68 52
4,585,3 2,117,9
9 Surat Gujarat 19 Kochi Kerala
67 90
3,073,3 2,030,5
10 Jaipur Rajasthan 20 kozhikode kerala
50 91
The contribution of the agricultural sector to the GDP of India started to decline
and the percentage contribution from secondary sector increased. The period after
1941, witnessed rapid growth of four metropolitan cities in India, which
were Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai. The nation's economy saw a rise due
to industrial revolution and the invention of new technologies increased the
standard of living of people living in urban areas. The growth of public
sector resulted in development of public transport, roads, water supply, electricity,
and hence the infrastructure of urban areas.
Maharashtra was the most urbanized state in India till 1991, stood behind Tamil
Nadu in 2001 and third after it in 2011, with Kerala being second, with the urban-
total state population ratio. However, Maharashtra's urban population of 41
million, far exceeds that of Tamil Nadu which is at 27 million, as per the 2001
census.
Causes of urbanization in India

The main causes of urbanization in India are:
 Expansion in government services, as a result of the Second World War

 Migration of people during the partition of India
 The Industrial Revolution
 Eleventh five-year plan that aimed at urbanization for the economic
development of India
 Economic opportunities are just one reason people move into cities
 Infrastructure facilities in the urban areas
 Growth of private sector after 1990 .
Challenges of Urbanisation in India
1. Urban population will be growing much faster than rural population in the
next few decades.
Urban population (285 million) constituted 27.8% of the total population in

2001in India. Even at this relatively low level of urbanization, India still has the
second largest urban population in the world. The Census of India has estimated
that by 2026, urban population would rise to around 535 million or 38.2 percent of
the total population. This means an addition of 250 million persons or near
doubling of urban population in about two decades from now with reference to
2001.
2. Similarly, the Mckinsey Global Institute projects that that India’s urban
population will be 590 million by 2030 which would be about 40 percent of the
total population of the country and further estimates that by 2030, the number of
million plus cities will increase to 68 of which 13 cities will have more than 4
million and six cities will have more than 10 million persons.
2.1 By 2050, it is estimated that urban population will constitute nearly half
of the total population in India.
2.2 The present condition of Indian cities is not satisfactory,
2.3 The state of basic services in urban areas leaves much to be desired as brought
out below.
a) Water Supply: The urban water supply is beset with problems relating to
coverage, quality, poor operation and maintenance and sustainability. As per 65th
round of the National Sample Survey, 74% of urban households are served by
piped water supply, leaving 26 % population to be covered by other sources like
tube wells and hand pumps etc. The sanitation rating conducted for 423 class I
cities brought out the fact that drinking water samples from only 39 cities
qualified on all three basic tests conducted to check water quality at consumer end:
turbidity, residual chlorine and Thermo Tolerant Coli form bacteria (TTC).
3. Inadequate level of empowerment of Urban Local bodies
Government schemes for urbanization
1.Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme in Small And Medium

Towns(UIDSSMT) :
Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small & Medium Towns

(UIDSSSMT) aims at improvement of urban infrastructure in all 2001 census
towns and cities (other than the 65 cities identified under JNNURM) in a planned
manner. Its objectives are: Improve infrastructural facilities and help create durable
public assets and quality oriented services in cities and towns.
2.Scheme For Urban Infrastructure Development In Satellite Towns Around Seven
Megacities.
3. NATIONAL MISSION FOR SUSTAINABLE HABITAT

Urbanization in China
Urbanization in the People's Republic of China increased in speed following the
initiation of the reform and opening policy. By the end of 2014, 54.7% of the total
population lived in urban areas, a dramatic increase from 26% in 1990.
History
China's increase in urbanization was one of the several functions of the surpluses
produced from the agricultural sectors in China (farming and pastoral dependency).
This judgment is based on (1) the fact that not until the end of the Qing Period did
China begin importing moderate quantities of foodstuffs from the outside world to
help feed its population; and (2) the fact that the handicraft sector never challenged
agricultural dominance in the economy despite a symbiotic relationship between
them.10
By the same token, urbanization rarely exceeded ten percent of the total population
although large urban centers were established. For example, during the Song, the
northern capital Kaifeng (of the Northern Song) and southern capital Hangzhou (of
the Southern Song) had 1.4 million and one million inhabitants, respectively. In
addition, it was common that urban residents also had one foot in the rural sector
due to private landholding property rights.
10
http://www.slideshare.net/PlanComIndia/urbanisation-in-india-12th-plan-2012-2017
Modern history
Urban population grew steadily at around 3%-4% from 1950 to 1965. Urban
population experienced a 'great jump' in 1958-1961 during the "Great Leap
Forward" in conjunction with the massive industrialization effort. During the
Cultural Revolution years of 1965-1975, urban population growth dropped as a
result of 'rustication'. From 1962 to 1978, it is estimated that almost 18 million
urban youth moved to the countryside.
However, after reforms were launched at the end of 1978, urban population growth
began to accelerate. The inflow of foreign direct investment created massive
employment opportunities, which fostered urban population growth. In the 1990s,
urban population growth started to slow. This reflected a slower increase in
employment growth following the restructuring of the state-owned enterprises
(SOE).
The majority of China's people live in the eastern segment of the country, the
traditional China proper. Most are peasants living, as did their forebears, in the
low-lying hills and central plains that stretch from the highlands eastward and
southward to the sea.11 Agriculture predominates in this vast area, generally
favored by a temperate or subtropical climate. The meticulously tilled fields are
evidence in part of the government's continuing concern over farm output and the
food supply.
Although migration to urban areas has been restricted since the late 1950s, as of
the end of 1985 about 33 percent of the population was urban. An urban and
11
https://www.american.edu/cas/economics/ejournal/upload/Global_Majority_e_Journal_6_1_Porter.pdf
industrial corridor formed a broad arc stretching from Harbin in the northeast
through the Beijing area and south to China's largest city, the industrial
metropolitan complex of Shanghai.
The uneven pattern of internal development and settlement, so strongly weighted

toward the eastern part of the country, doubtless will change relatively little even
with developing interest in exploiting the mineral-rich and agriculturally
productive portions of the vast northwest and southwest regions. The adverse
terrain and climate of most of those regions have historically discouraged dense
population.
In 1987 China had a total of twenty-nine provincial-level administrative units

directly under the central government in Beijing. In addition to the twenty-one
provinces (sheng), there were five autonomous regions (zizhiqu) for minority
nationalities, and three special municipalities (shi)--the three largest cities,
Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin. (The establishment of Hainan Island as a
provincial-level unit separate from Guangdong Province was scheduled in 1988.)
A 1979 change in provincial-level administrative boundaries in the northeast
region restored Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to its original size (it had
been reduced by a third in 1969) at the expense of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and
Liaoning provinces. Urban areas were further subdivided into lower-level
administrative units beginning with municipalities and extending down to the
neighborhood level.
The pace of urbanization in China from 1949 to 1982 was relatively slow because
of both rapid growth of the rural population and tight restrictions on rural-urban
migration for most of that period. According to the 1953 and 1982 censuses, the
urban population as a percentage of total population increased from 13.3 to 20.6

percent during that period. From 1982 to 1986, however, the urban population
increased dramatically to 37 percent of the total population. This large jump
resulted from a combination of factors. One was the migration of large numbers of
surplus agricultural workers, displaced by the agricultural responsibility system,
from rural to urban areas. Another was a 1984 decision to broaden the criteria for
classifying an area as a city or town. During 1984, the number of towns meeting
the new urban criteria increased more than twofold, and the urban town population
doubled. In the mid-1980s, demographers expected the proportion of the
population living in cities and towns to be around 50 percent by the start of the
21st century. This urban growth was expected to result primarily from the increase
in the number of small- and medium-sized cities and towns rather than from an
expansion of existing large cities.
4
ratio of urban consumption share to
3.5
urban population share
2.5
1.5
0.5
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
density (urban population share)
China's statistics regarding urban population sometimes can be misleading because

of the various criteria used to calculate urban population. In the 1953 census, urban
essentially referred to settlements with populations of more than 2,500, in which
more than 50 percent of the labor force were involved in nonagricultural pursuits.
The 1964 census raised the cut-off to 3,000 and the requirement for nonagricultural
labor to 70 percent. The 1982 census used the 3,000/70 percent minimum but
introduced criteria of 2,500 to 3,000 and 85 percent as well. Also, in calculating
urban population, the 1982 census made a radical change by including the
agricultural population residing within the city boundaries. This explains the
dramatic jump in urban population from the 138.7 million reported for year-end
1981 to the 206.6 million counted by the 1982 census. In 1984 the urban guidelines
were further loosened, allowing for lower minimum population totals and
nonagricultural percentages. The criteria varied among provincial-level units.
Although country urban population—382 million, or 37 percent of the total

population in the mid-1980s—was relatively low by comparison with developed
nations, the number of people living in urban areas in China was greater than the
total population of any country in the world except India. The four Chinese cities
with the largest populations in 1985 were Shanghai, with 7 million; Beijing, with
5.9 million; Tianjin, with 5.4 million; and Shenyang, with 4.2 million. The
disproportionate distribution of population in large cities occurred as a result of the
government's emphasis after 1949 on the development of large cities over smaller
urban areas. In 1985 the 22 most populous cities in China had a total population of
47.5 million, or about 12 percent of China's total urban population. The number of
cities with populations of at least 100,000 increased from 200 in 1976 to 342 in
1986.
In 1987, China was committed to a three-part strategy to control urban growth:

strictly limiting the size of big cities (those of 500,000 or more people); developing
medium-sized cities (200,000 to 500,000); and encouraging the growth of small
cities (100,000 to 200,000). The government also encouraged the development of
small market and commune centers that were not then officially designated as
urban places, hoping that they eventually would be transformed into towns and
small cities.12 For more on this understudied dimension of China's urbanisation see
the special issue of China Perspectives (September 2013) edited by Ben Hillman
and Jon Unger of the Australian National University. The big and medium-sized
cities were viewed as centers of heavy and light industry, and small cities and
towns were looked on as possible locations for handicraft and workshop activities,
using labor provided mainly from rural overflow. The urbanization of small and
medium-sized towns has created different challenges for ethnically diverse areas,
leading in some cases to an ethnic stratification of labor and greater potential for
ethnic conflict.
In 2005, China had 286 cities. Most of China's cities have a population of one
million and below. Shanghai is the largest city in China, with a population of 19
million, followed by Beijing with a population of 17.4 million. These are the two
mega-cities in China.
From 2010 to 2025, it is estimated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural

Development that 300 million Chinese now living in rural areas will move into
cities. The fast pace of urbanization will create at least 1 trillion yuan in annual
investment opportunities in building water supply, waste treatment, heating and
other public utilities in the cities. The Chinese government is also demolishing
12
http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Strategic_Plan_draft_new[1].pdf.pdf
rural villages and building new cities and towns to relocate villagers to. It
ultimately aims to integrate about 70% of China's population, about 900 million
people, into cities by 2025.
World urbanization growth

According to Professor Lu Dadao, president of the Geographical Society of China
(GSC), China's urbanization took 22 years to increase to 39.1% from 17.9%. It
took Britain 120 years, the US 80 years, and Japan more than 30 years to
accomplish this.
As shown in the table (right), China's urban population growth is higher than that
of Asia as well as the world.
Comparing urbanization in China and

India( Present Scenario)
China's urbanization rate in 2005 was higher than that of India and roughly on par
with the levels in East and South-East Asia. However, the country still has a long
way to go in catching up with the western developed countries. China and India
are both urbanizing rapidly, but China has embraced and shaped the process, while
.India is still waking up to its urban realities and opportunities .
China and India are in the vanguard of a wave of urban expansion that is
restoring the global prominence that Asia enjoyed before the European and North
American industrial revolution. By 2025, nearly 2.5 billion Asians will live in
cities, accounting for almost 54 percent of the world’s urban population. India and
China alone will account for more than 62 percent of Asian urban population
growth and 40 percent of global urban population growth from 2005 to 2025.
In 1950, India was a more urban nation than China (17 percent of the population
lived in cities, compared with China’s 13 percent). But from 1950 to 2005, China
urbanized far more rapidly than India, to an urbanization rate of 41 percent,
compared with 29 percent in India. New research from the McKinsey Global
Institute1 expects this pattern to continue, with China forecast to add 400 million to
its urban population, which will account for 64 percent of the total population by
2025, and India to add 215 million to its cities, whose populations will account for
38 percent of the total in 2025.
Never before in history have two of the largest nations (in terms of population)
urbanized at the same time, and at such a pace. This process will drive fundamental
shifts—in both countries—which will have significant consequences for the world
economy and offer exciting new opportunities for investors.
In India, urban per capita GDP is projected to grow at a rate of 6 percent a year
from 2005 to 2025, while China will see growth of 7.3 percent. The number of
urban households with true discretionary-spending power in India could increase
sevenfold, to 89 million households, in 2025. In China, there are 55 million
middle-class households today. That number could more than quadruple to nearly
280 million in 2025, to account for more than three-quarters of all China’s urban
households. For businesses, the significant increase in per capita urban incomes
and middle-income households offers the potential of vibrant new markets to
serve.
So what markets are likely to benefit the most from these trends? In India, by 2025,
the largest markets will be transportation and communications, food, and health
care, followed by housing and utilities, recreation, and education. Even India’s
slower-growing spending categories will represent significant opportunities for
businesses because these markets will still be growing rapidly in comparison with
their counterparts in other areas of the world. In China’s cities, the fastest-growing
categories are likely to be transportation and communications, housing and
utilities, personal products, health care, and recreation and education.
In addition, in both China and India, urban infrastructure markets will be massive.
For example, from 2005 to 2025, India will need to add 700 million to 900 million
square meters of floor space a year; in China, the required numbers could be 1,600
million to 1,900 million square meters. During the same period, India will need to
add at least 350 to 400 kilometers of metropolitan railways and subways annually,
while the corresponding number in China will be closer to 1,000 kilometers.
CONCLUSION
There is little doubt about the scale of the new markets in China and India
unleashed by the pace and scale of their urbanization. But businesses still need to
be able to serve these markets in practical terms. The way cities are run—and the
productivity that results—is a major factor for companies. Here, China is in much
better shape than India. While India has barely paid attention to its urban
transformation, China has developed a set of internally consistent practices across
every element of the urbanization operating model: funding, governance, planning,
sectoral policies, and the shape, or pattern, of urbanization, both across the nation
as a whole and within cities themselves.
India has underinvested in its cities; China has invested ahead of demand and given
its cities the freedom to raise substantial investment resources by monetizing land
assets and retaining a 25 percent share of value-added taxes. While India spends
$17 per capita on capital investments in urban infrastructure annually, China
spends $116. India has devolved little real power and accountability to its cities,
but China’s major cities enjoy the same status as provinces and have powerful
political appointees as mayors. While India’s urban-planning system has failed to
address competing demands for space, China has a mature urban-planning regime
(emphasizing the systematic development of run-down areas) consistent with long-
range plans for land use, housing, and transportation.
The starkest contrast between the two countries is that China has embraced and
shaped urbanization, while India is still waking up to its urban reality and the
opportunities that its cities offer for economic and social transformation.
However, if India fixes its urban operating model, it has the potential to reap a
demographic dividend from the increase—of around 250 million expected in the
next decade—in the working-age population. This dividend is even larger than that
in China, which is aging rapidly. By 2025, nearly 28 percent of its inhabitants will
be aged 55 or older, compared with only 16 percent in India, whose demographic
profile is much more youthful. If India optimizes the productivity of its cities and
maximizes their GDP, the economy could add more than 170 million urban
workers to its labor force from 2005 to 2025, compared with 50 million in China
over the same period. The stakes are high.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. www.youarticlelibrary.com
2. www.kalyan-cityblogspot.in
3. www.wikipedia.com

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Urbanization In India and China

 To give a brief background of Urbanization

countries. However, there is not a lot of literature that compares urbanization

 Henderson (2007) is one of the many publications that focus on China’s

Urbanization is relevant to a range of disciplines,

Urbanization is not merely a modern phenomenon, but a rapid and historic

Today, in Asia the urban agglomerations

Historical shift of the urban/rural population ratio-

Urbanization results from both industrialization (increasing efficiency among

Urban centres are seen by many as an opportunity to "escape traditional patriarchy

However, women are sometimes still at a disadvantage due to their unequal

The occurrence of eutrophication in bodies of water is another effect large urban

sector. Urbanization is taking place at a faster rate in India. Population residing

standing at 31.16%. According to a survey by UN State of the World Population

report in 2007, by 2030, 40.76% of country's population is expected to reside in

accommodates 12.5 million people, and is the largest metropolis by population in

Mumbai's by 3.1% and Kolkata's by 2% as per 2011 census compared to 2001

census. Estimated population, at the current rate of growth, by year

2015; Delhi stands at 26 million; Mumbai at 24 million, Kolkata at 16

million, Bangalore at 11 million, Chennai, and Hyderabad at 10 million.

The transition period

Largest urban agglomerations in India by population

Causes of urbanization in India

 Expansion in government services, as a result of the Second World War

Challenges of Urbanisation in India

next few decades.

Urban population (285 million) constituted 27.8% of the total population in

2.2 The present condition of Indian cities is not satisfactory,

3. Inadequate level of empowerment of Urban Local bodies

Government schemes for urbanization

1.Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme in Small And Medium

Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small & Medium Towns

2.Scheme For Urban Infrastructure Development In Satellite Towns Around Seven

3. NATIONAL MISSION FOR SUSTAINABLE HABITAT

The uneven pattern of internal development and settlement, so strongly weighted

In 1987 China had a total of twenty-nine provincial-level administrative units

urban population as a percentage of total population increased from 13.3 to 20.6

China's statistics regarding urban population sometimes can be misleading because

Although country urban population—382 million, or 37 percent of the total

In 1987, China was committed to a three-part strategy to control urban growth:

From 2010 to 2025, it is estimated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural

World urbanization growth

Comparing urbanization in China and

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