Suburbanization and demographic changes in the Delhi fringe area, 1951-71
Date
1984
Authors
Pachauri, Mahesh Kumar
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Abstract
This study is concerned with the impact of the city of Delhi on the rural settlements of its fringe in; terms of the processes involved in changing the socio-economic and demographic structure. The study revealed that there are substantial differences between India and the United States in these aspects. The spatial heterogeneity of suburbanisation in the Delhi area required identification of four ecological regions, namely, the city, suburbs, fringe and rural area.
Since the transition from urban to rural is not abrupt, the fringe was divided into four units of a decreasing order of urban influence: the true urban fringe, partial urban fringe, partial rural fringe and true rural fringe. These were defined by a technique involving the superimposition of maps prepared for four Indices of suburbanisation: considering sex ratio, density of population, ratio of farm workers and ratio of tertiary workers.
Historical evolution, population growth and migrational patterns were found to be main determinants of the suburbanisation process in the region. The incorporated area after 1951 was approximately half of the total urban area of Delhi in 1971, which included 21 percent of the rural settlements under study. The rural population of Delhi Union Territory which amounted to approximately 49 percent of the total in 1901 was reduced to only 10 percent by 1971 Study of the physical and structural processes of suburbanisation revealed that the maximum urban impact was visible on the rural settlements located up to 16-19 kilometers away from the city centre.
The socio-economic and demographic characteristics were hypothesised to vary with levels of suburbanisation in a logical order in various ecological units over time. The study revealed that the density of population in the region was positively related · with the level of suburbanisation. The high degree of compactness of the city was indicated by the steep gradients of density from the city to peripheral rural areas in 1961, and in the 1951-61 period invading waves of suburbanization caused the depopulation of the agrarian community. Consequently, the population change during 1951-61 showed a negative relationship with the level of suburbanization, but during 1961-71 there was a positive relationship. The sex ratio showed a negative correlation with the level of suburbanization.
The study of the social fabric revealed that settlements with a high level of suburbanisation have small families. The high ratio of households per house in the urban fringe may be explained by the shortage of dwelling units, the high ratio of rented accommodation and the tendency to maintain a single family system. The equality of sexes in literacy was higher in settlements with high suburbanisation. The availability of jobs in different locations in different periods resulted from two different relationships of workers with the level of suburbanisation. The female participation in the work force decreased in the fringe with increase in suburbanisation. However, their participation in the city during 1961-71 increased greatly, as they were attracted to higher-paying jobs.
The ratio of workers in primary occupations was low near the city, since farm-land was lost to urban land uses. However, there were some deviations from the general trend in case of female primary workers due to local factors. The ratio of secondary sector workers was high in the zones of high suburbanisation, though there were some exceptions because of the 'site factor'. The ratio of tertiary workers, conforming to the hypothesis, was positively related with the level of suburbanisation. The percentage change during 1961-71 in all three occupational categories showed that changes were generally greater in the case of female workers than of male workers. The variations of male workers were at a maximum in the rural fringe, while those of female workers were at a maximum in the urban fringe.
A comparative study of the Delhi fringe with those of United States cities revealed differences in the suburbanisation process and the location of various demographic and socio-economic factors.
The basic problem of the Delhi fringe is its unplanned use of land and growth of population, and its lack of civic amenities and responsible administration. It requires integrated planning at the metropolitan level, with three main thrusts: population planning, land use planning and economic planning.