Urbanization & Growth of Slums in India: Evidence from Census of India (2001-2011)

Urbanization & Growth of Slums in India: Evidence from Census of India (2001-2011)

Urbanization has been recognized as a symbol of development as well as a burden over resources. The latter dimension is particularly so in developing countries since the process of urbanization is very rapid.

The main reason for rapid urbanization is natural growth, migration from rural to urban areas, and small cities to large cities. It leads to many issues like haphazard urban growth, overcrowding, lack of essential services, ill health, unemployment, inadequate housing facilities, and others.

Such problems in developing countries, especially in India, may become acute from its current state of being chronic. Therefore, the present research work is an attempt to understand the level, trend, and pattern of urbanization and growth of slums in India during the 2001-2011 census years.

Moreover, to examine the association between urbanization and the growth of slums in India during the last two decades. In India, the rate of urbanization and slum growth is not equally proportionate.

Some states/UTs have a high urban percentage, but a low slum growth rate has been registered, i.e., Chandigarh followed by Pondicherry, Goa and Mizoram. In comparison, some states have low urban population growth, but a high percentage of the slum population is emerging.

The urban population in the world is usually on a rapid increase. It is projected to increase by 72% by 2050, evidently found that from 3.6 billion in 2011 to 6.3 billion in 2050. About 31.16% of the urban population is found in India and the number of million-plus cities increased from 5 cities in 1951 to 53 cities in the year 2011.

This increasing trend of urbanization is the biggest challenge of the present century. Also, for the first time since independence, the absolute increase in the urban population was higher than that in the rural population.

It led to many issues like loss of agricultural land, scarcity of food, high land values, vulnerable and unhealthy environment, inadequate housing, and lack of basic services and this resulted in the rapid growth of slums and slum populations.

An essential feature of India’s urbanization has been the growth and persistence of informal settlements (slums) in its fast-developing cities. Whether living conditions in Indian urban slums constitute a path to human development or a poverty trap is therefore an issue of vital importance. According to the Census of India, three measures are used to define an urban area:

(1) a population of 5,000 or more;

(2) a density of at least 1,000 persons per square mile; and

(3) at least 75% of workers engaged in non-agricultural employment.

On the other hand, the UN-Habitat defines a slum at the household level using housing deprivations as criteria: A household is a slum dweller if it lacks one or more of the following five elements:

1) access to adequate drinking water;

2) access to adequate sanitation;

3) housing with adequate space;

4) housing with adequate structure to protect against climatic conditions; and

5) secured tenure.

The definition and identification of slums is of current policy and programmatic importance to the Government of India, which is increasingly concerned with growing poverty, inequality and poor health among its 400 million urban residents.

In India, slums have risen dramatically since after independence due to the partition of India and the industrial revolution.

As per the 2011 census year, India’s slum-dwelling population increased from 27.9 million in 1981 to 65.5 million in 2011, accounting for about 17.37 percent of the total urban population in 2011. Thus, rapid urbanization and growth of slums are increasing every year, which, requiring more development of new areas for housing, social amenities, and commercial and other urban land uses.

India’s official slum statistics underestimate the degree of housing problems in India. Furthermore, it will reflect the levels of multiple deprivations that may be useful in classifying the most deprived populations and targeting the most deserving beneficiaries of slum policies.

The Indian government has developed policy initiatives such as the Rajiv Awas Yojana, which envisages a “Slum free India”.

The word ‘slum’ is crudely defined as a congested area with poorly built tenements, overcrowding, scarce of essential utility services and subject to unhygienic conditions half the population of low- and middle-income countries will live in urban areas by 2030, and poverty and inequality in these contexts is rising.

Slum dwelling is one way in which to conceptualize and characterize urban deprivation but there are many definitions of what constitutes a slum. Hence, the Government of India (GOI) has implemented various slum up-gradation schemes to improve the plight of slum dwellers and to make the slum areas liveable for the residents.

These schemes are namely Slum Clearance and Slum Development Scheme (1956), Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums (1972), National Slum Development Program (1996), Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (2005), Rajiv Awas Yojana (2011), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (2015), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (2015). However, the Government of India has a significant challenge to properly implementing policies because of rapid slum growth and the non-inclusive pattern of urbanization.

Read more: Slums and barriers to urbanisation