The essentials
Urban settlements are compact and larger than rural ones, and their people are mainly engaged in non-agricultural, economic and administrative functions. Towns are linked with surrounding villages, exchanging goods and services.
On the basis of evolution, Indian towns fall into three groups. Ancient towns have a history of over 2,000 years and often grew as religious and cultural centres, such as Varanasi, Prayagraj (Allahabad), Pataliputra (Patna) and Madurai. Medieval towns developed as headquarters of principalities and kingdoms, often as fort towns, such as Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Agra and Nagpur. Modern towns were developed by the British and other Europeans, starting with coastal trading ports like Surat, Daman, Goa and Puducherry, and later Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. After independence, new towns were planned as administrative centres (Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Dispur) and industrial centres (Durgapur, Bhilai, Sindri, Barauni).
Key points
- Census definition of urban: (a) all statutory towns with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee; (b) census towns meeting all three criteria – population of at least 5,000, at least 75 per cent of male main workers in non-agricultural work, and density of at least 400 persons per km².
- A town with 1,00,000 or more people is a city or Class I town. Cities with one to five million people are metropolitan cities; those with more than five million are megacities.
- An urban agglomeration is a town and its adjoining urban outgrowths, or two or more adjoining towns, forming a continuous urban spread.
- Functional classes with examples: administrative (Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar), industrial (Jamshedpur, Bhilai), transport (Kandla, Kochi as ports; Mughal Sarai as a rail junction), commercial (Satna, Kolkata), mining (Dhanbad, Jharia, Singrauli), garrison or cantonment (Ambala, Jalandhar, Mhow), educational (Roorkee, Varanasi), religious and cultural (Varanasi, Ajmer, Puri), tourist (Shimla, Nainital, Mount Abu).
Exam tips
Memorise the three criteria for a census town; questions often give data and ask whether a place qualifies.
Common mistakes
A place with 5,000 people is not urban automatically – it must also meet the occupation and density criteria unless it is a statutory town.