Unruly Urbanization on Delhi's Fringe: Changing Patterns of Land Use and Livelihood

THIS RESEARCH REPORT looks at part of the rural-urban fringe of Delhi, and at the problems and possibilities that confront its residents when faced with environmental and socio-economic change in urbanizing villages.
India has experienced a relatively moderate pace of urbanization and remains a largely agricultural country. (In 1991, 26 per cent of the population was estimated to live in urban areas.) But the author suggests that existing figures do not adequately reflect the degree of change experienced through more dispersed urban growth, and the spread of urban activity into the fringes of urban areas. Delhi is growing more rapidly than most Indian cities, with an annual population growth rate of about 5 per cent – but it shares numerous realities with other Indian cities.
The area selected for this research, on the north side of Delhi, encompasses 59 villages which represent a continuum – some of them still relatively rural and some at this point entirely urbanized. Basic household surveys were undertaken in six of these villages, chosen to represent the range of this continuum. More in-depth work was done in three villages that were strongly influenced by urbanization, and one case study concerns a completely urbanized village. In addition to surveys and interviews, the study made use of a range of secondary sources, including census data, local land records, maps and remote-sensing material, newspapers and the existing literature.
The study explores five central issues, each dealt with in a separate chapter:
• In describing the regional and local setting, the author refines a model for defining phases in the process of urbanization and uses this to select and characterize the research villages. He finds that the original population tends not to
be displaced as a result of urbanization and that, in many cases, agriculture continues to be combined with other uses in this heterogeneous area.
• Land use patterns and changes in the selected villages are discussed and classified to reveal the impact of urbanization in each, and the discussion is supplemented by the use of remote-sensing images. Rural land is converted not only to permanent built-up areas but is also used for sand and loam excavations, brick kilns and the so-called “farmhouses” or estates of wealthy urbanites.
• The interaction and relative economic and political power of various local and outside actors is discussed within the expansion of urban land and the determination of land use, along with the various implications. The combination of government control and planning, along with more chaotic use by the informal sector, has resulted in many cases in legal conflicts and rampant growth.
• The main issue in the research is the effect of urbanization on livelihoods, and the analysis explores implications for both the original population and migrants. Urbanization has resulted in partial agricultural decline but also in widely increased opportunities, along with more intensive use of remaining fields.
• The living conditions for residents of these urbanizing villages are discussed in general terms, and in particular for one completely urbanized village. There have been improvements in terms of infrastructure and civic amenities but these improvements in many cases are offset by congestion and pollution.
The book includes a glossary, summaries in Hindi and Dutch, and a CD Rom that provides some basic household and census data, remote-sensing images, maps of the study area and videos of various villages and occupations.