Some political analysts see the relationship between urban and rural areas as exploitative. They focus on urban-rural conflict and ways in which urban areas grow at the expense of rural areas. According to this thesis, growth of urbanization may not lead to development of all and growth and expansion of urbanization may simultaneously lead to marginalization and exploitation of rural masses.
DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION AND URBANIZATION
It is also possible to argue that in developing countries demographic transition, and not the development, contributed to growth of cities, weakening the correlation between urbanization and development. When the population of developing countries started growing at a fast rate (above 2 percent) due to fall in the death rate, it could not be absorbed in agriculture which was almost stagnant. Therefore, the surplus population started moving towards cities, whether there was any need for them there or not. This led to a rapid growth of urbanization, though without development. Undoubtedly, India, a developing country, has one of the oldest civilizations and has had a long history of cities. Old cities of India were, however, fort cities or places of pilgrimage and were small in number and size. Their functions were political and religious. The large cities of today are so large that their population is larger than the population of many countries. Administration, trade and commerce, industry, and transport and communication have emerged as the new functions of cities. |
