Comments on: Is India Already Urbanized? http://www.airoots.org/2012/12/is-india-already-urbanized/ A blog by Rahul Srivastava and Matias Echanove on adventitious roots, urban forests and villages, natural cities, lost tribes, new nomads and everything in between and under... Tue, 13 Aug 2013 03:30:59 +0200 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Mumbai Paused (@mumbaipaused) http://www.airoots.org/2012/12/is-india-already-urbanized/comment-page-1/#comment-85330 Mumbai Paused (@mumbaipaused) Thu, 20 Dec 2012 09:59:34 +0000 http://www.airoots.org/?p=1356#comment-85330 Most of Kerala and Goa is almost completely urban and has been for some time, Most of Kerala and Goa is almost completely urban and has been for some time,

]]> By: rahul http://www.airoots.org/2012/12/is-india-already-urbanized/comment-page-1/#comment-78896 rahul Fri, 14 Dec 2012 12:20:47 +0000 http://www.airoots.org/?p=1356#comment-78896 Thanks for your very thoughtful comments Tarun. The examples you give of your home town and its connections with Delhi resonate with so many others as well. Look forward to continued conversations Thanks for your very thoughtful comments Tarun. The examples you give of your home town and its connections with Delhi resonate with so many others as well. Look forward to continued conversations

]]> By: Tarun Sharma http://www.airoots.org/2012/12/is-india-already-urbanized/comment-page-1/#comment-78885 Tarun Sharma Fri, 14 Dec 2012 12:09:43 +0000 http://www.airoots.org/?p=1356#comment-78885 Dear both, It is a very interesting take on the notion of urbanization that is perpetuated by speeches of our leaders, academicians and various such fora. The same numbers keep getting repeated and requote dover and over again without dwelling any deeper into their meaning and implications. A very reasonable way of doing that through this post. The numbers, as the Dilnot/Blastland's book correctly says, make the tiger that isn't. Small towns and villages are much more intricately linked to urban areas than they were ever before and hence the watertight rural and urban classification seems intutitive but not realistic. Most villages actually are similar to many of the small towns other than the differential shares of different sectors to local economy. The local market in my hometown is closed on every Thursday. Every Wednesday night, the buses that go to Delhi are full of the local traders who go to Delhi for bulk shopping or selling and then they take the bus back on Thursday night. The quantum of money flows that happen on one such Thursday in a distant economy as Delhi through traders of my hometown, ultimately get balanced during a week or month in the local economy. Thus from purely an economic perspective, the towns villages and cities have very strong inter-linkages. Though the railway network connecting Delhi to my hometown has not been developed in many years and there is only one express train (and no express trains to Delhi), the road network has evolved in past two decades and road connectivity to Delhi has grown manifold. And the flow of goods, services, people, vehicles is continuous and ever increasing and integrating. Not trying to do a cliched comparison with the urban centers of the developed world, but the urban in India is mostly associated with chaos and that of the developed world is still very scenic and even has enough of nature's bounty capsuled neatly within itself that it is as beautiful as our some of our scenic country sides. This disconnect that your post talks about- the one sided view of hyper-urbanization surely can be bridged by revisiting administration, infrastructure, revenue generation and our natural resources but most importantly it requires the change in the mindset of those who live in the city and who want to build the city as our notions of cities for long have stayed as the places of economic activity and opportunity. Dear both,
It is a very interesting take on the notion of urbanization that is perpetuated by speeches of our leaders, academicians and various such fora. The same numbers keep getting repeated and requote dover and over again without dwelling any deeper into their meaning and implications. A very reasonable way of doing that through this post.
The numbers, as the Dilnot/Blastland’s book correctly says, make the tiger that isn’t. Small towns and villages are much more intricately linked to urban areas than they were ever before and hence the watertight rural and urban classification seems intutitive but not realistic. Most villages actually are similar to many of the small towns other than the differential shares of different sectors to local economy.

The local market in my hometown is closed on every Thursday. Every Wednesday night, the buses that go to Delhi are full of the local traders who go to Delhi for bulk shopping or selling and then they take the bus back on Thursday night.
The quantum of money flows that happen on one such Thursday in a distant economy as Delhi through traders of my hometown, ultimately get balanced during a week or month in the local economy. Thus from purely an economic perspective, the towns villages and cities have very strong inter-linkages.

Though the railway network connecting Delhi to my hometown has not been developed in many years and there is only one express train (and no express trains to Delhi), the road network has evolved in past two decades and road connectivity to Delhi has grown manifold. And the flow of goods, services, people, vehicles is continuous and ever increasing and integrating.

Not trying to do a cliched comparison with the urban centers of the developed world, but the urban in India is mostly associated with chaos and that of the developed world is still very scenic and even has enough of nature’s bounty capsuled neatly within itself that it is as beautiful as our some of our scenic country sides. This disconnect that your post talks about- the one sided view of hyper-urbanization surely can be bridged by revisiting administration, infrastructure, revenue generation and our natural resources but most importantly it requires the change in the mindset of those who live in the city and who want to build the city as our notions of cities for long have stayed as the places of economic activity and opportunity.

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