Atanu Dey’s article and analysis on the Urbanization and Development of India lends itself to interesting opinions and conclusions on an important topic that encompasses many cross-cutting issues. Dey follows the model of linear development in his conclusion:
Therefore the rural people have to be urbanized for India’s development and growth. Every economy has followed that path which begins with agriculture being the main source of income for the majority of the population and ends with agricultural employment being a very small fraction of the total labor force.
While the general tone of development in countries across the world is centered around cities, I wonder if such a model is healthy for a place like India, where most of its population lies in rural areas. The implications of the migration shift could be destructive, from family issues to shifts in labor markets to environmental impacts.
Another surprising aspect of the article is that Dey asserts that people actually prefer to live in urban slums:
Most Indians living in villages would welcome the chance of living in well-designed efficient cities. They are already doing so as is evidenced by the fact that tens of millions of rural people migrate to cities – often choosing to live in urban slums. They are voting with their feet saying that life in an urban slum is preferable to life in a village.
Perhaps the issue is more about the lack of economic opportunity in villages – given good employment prospects and the availability of basic services in rural areas, I’d venture to say that more people would opt to stay in a place where they have stake over the land and the possibility of a higher standard of living.
Although I believe his conclusion is arguable, the question Dey sets out to answer is a valuable one: is urbanization really the answer? Should India focus more on creating these “mega-cities” rather than developing rural infrastructure?
