Studies in Indian urban development
- New York Oxford University Press. 1986
- 214p.
This book provides a comprehensive analysis of urbanization in India, relating the country's urban growth to its economic development during the twentieth century. The authors identify historical trends, explain regional differences, and compare India's experience with that of other developing countries. India's urbanization is a controversial topic among economic development specialists. Is it excessive? Is too much of India's urban growth concentrated in large cities? To what extent is the pace of such growth affected by the size of a city, the structure of its industrial sector, or the level of its infrastructure investments? The historical, international, and regional findings reported in this book shed light on many such issues. Several chapters analyze the size distribution of Indian cities and elated government policies. Others focus on productivity in cities, poverty and income distribution, and the relation between urban growth and industrial development. One chapter is devoted to an in-depth statistical analysis of the cities of Madhya Pradesh.