Urban Development

Urban growth is recently occurring rapidly. The first urban settlement that reached a population of around one million was in the city of London in 1810 A.D. In 1800, only 3% of the global population lived in cities. 

Classification of Urban Settlements:

Urban areas’ classification varies per country. Here are the common bases of classification of urban settlement: population size, administrative setup, and occupational structure.

Population Size:

• The lowest population size for a settlement to be designated as urban is 2000 in Portugal and Argentina, 2500 in Thailand and the U.S.A, 1500 in Colombia, 5000 in India, etc
• Besides the population size, the 400-person density per sq. km and the share of non-agricultural labourers are taken into account by India

Administration Setup:

• Classifying a settlement as urban in certain countries is based on the administrative setup
• For instance, in India, a settlement is classified as urban when it has a Notified Area Council, or Municipality, or Cantonment Board

Occupational Structure:

• In certain countries like India, in addition to the population size, economic activities are also taken into consideration while designating a settlement as urban
• A settlement is designated as urban in Italy when more than 50 % of its economically productive population is occupied with non-agriculture occupation. India has set its standard at 75%

Location:

• Location centres of urban areas are examined as per the reference of their functions. For instance, the sitting requirements of a holiday resort vary from an industrial town, seaport, or military centre
• Strategic towns need sites that offer a natural defence, mining towns need the presence of valuable minerals, tourist centres require attractive marine beaches or scenery, industrial towns need local supplies and raw materials, ports require harbours, etc
• Besides the site, the situation also plays a crucial role in the town expansions. For instance, the urban areas that are located close to mandatory trade routes have experienced more rapid development

Functions of the Urban Centres:

The early urban towns were centres of trade, defence, religious importance, industry, and administration. But, now the significance of religion and defence evolving functions have declined generally.

• In today’s era, few new functions like residential, mining, transport, recreational, manufacturing, and recent activities related to IT-Information Technology are transferring in specialised towns
• Certain cities are classified on the basis of their dominant functions. For Instance, London is classified as a port city, Sheffield as an industrial city and Chandigarh as an administrative city, and others
• Many early 19th-century fishing ports situated in England have now developed tourism. Many old market towns are now called manufacturing activities

Classification of Towns and Cities

Classification of Towns based on Forms:

An urban settlement may be square, crescent, star, or linear-shaped.

• In fact, the form of style of buildings, architecture, and settlement, and other types of structures are an outcome of its cultural and historical traditions
• Cities and towns of developed and underdeveloped countries reflect differences in development planning. Most of the urban settlements of underdeveloped countries have evolved historically through irregular shapes and sizes. For instance, Canberra and Chandigarh have planned cities and smaller towns, and India’s cities have progressed from walled cities to sprawling metropolises

Addis Ababa (The New Flowers):

• Addis Ababa- the name of the Ethiopian capital as the name specifies, Addis-New, Abeba-Flower, is a new city that was established in the year 1878
• It is located on a hill valley named topography
• The road pattern influences the local topography

Types of Urban Settlement:

Urban Settlement types depend on the services available, functions, and sizes.

Town:

• The concept of town is commonly understood as a village
• The size of the population is not the only standard of classification. Functional contrasts between villages and towns may not always be simple, but specific functions like retail, wholesale trade, professional services, and manufacturing exist in towns

City:

• A city may be considered as a leading town that has exceeded its regional or local rivals
• Cities are bigger than towns, comprising a large number of economic functions
• Cities have major financial institutions, regional administrative offices, and transport terminals
• When the size of population crosses the 1 million mark, it is known as a million city

Conurbation:

• The word conurbation was composed by Patrick Geddes in the year 1915 and it is applied to a larger area of urban development which resulted from the merging of separate cities or towns
• For instance, Tokyo, Chicago, Greater London, and Manchester

Million Cities:

• In the mid-70s, there were a total of 162 million cities, and there came a threefold increase in 2005 which resulted in 438 million cities
• In the year 2016, there were a total of 512 million cities that had at least one million inhabitants
• By the year 2030, it will reach 662 cities that have at least one million residents
• New York, Paris, and London are the first million cities

Megalopolis:

• Megalopolis is a Greek word that means ‘great city ‘and was composed by Jean Gottman in the year 1957
• It signifies a super metropolitan extending as a conurbations union
• For instance, the urban landscape in the north from Boston to the south of Washington is a Megalopolis urban development

Distribution of Mega Cities:

A megalopolis is a general term used for cities that are together with their suburbs that have a population of more than ten million people. New York was the first megalopolis or megacity.

Problems of Urban Settlements in Developing Countries:

• Developing countries lack infrastructures such as health, education, sewage disposal, and electricity facilities
• They suffer from many problems such as lack of drinking water, congested houses, and streets, etc
• They suffer from environmental problems such as noise pollution, water pollution, and air pollution

Conclusion

In India, urban planning primarily focuses on the use and development of land in cities. In most town planning legislation, development is solely seen as a physical expression.