Increasing Urbanisation: report by UNFPA

India is getting urbanised at a faster rate than the rest of the world and, by 2030, 40.7 per cent of the country’s population will be living in urban areas, according to a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

With better job opportunities and higher wages, States like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are witnessing rapid urbanisation as compared to Bihar and Assam, which are least urbanised. UNFPA’s India representative Nesim Tumkaya disagrees that that rural migration was driving urbanization, ‘Urbanisation is happening more due to the natural rate of population growth than increased migration.’

Among factors contributing to urbanisation, the report gives 61 per cent weight to the natural increase in the urban area, 22 per cent to rural to urban migration and 17 per cent to reclassification of rural areas as urban.

India's urban population is second largest in the world, higher than the total urban population of all countries put together barring China, USA and Russia. In terms of population, Mumbai (fifth) and Delhi (sixth) figure among the world’s top ten cities (and Kolkata is the 12th).

States/Union Territories

Among all the States and Union territories, the National Capital Territory of Delhi is most urbanized with 93 percent urban population followed by Union territory of Chandigarh (89.8 per cent) and Pondicherry (66.6 per cent).

Among the major States, Tamil Nadu is the most urbanized state with 43.9 per cent of the population living in urban areas followed by Maharashtra (42.4 per cent) and Gujarat (37.4 per cent).

Maharashtra takes the lead in terms of absolute number of people living in urban areas with 41 million persons i.e. 14 per cent of India’s total population. Uttar Pradesh accounts for about 35 million, followed by Tamil Nadu’s 27 million. The country’s total urban population on 1st March 2007 was 285 million.

City-size Distribution

Over the years, the city–size distribution of urban population has shifted significantly in favour of metropolitan cities which now account for approximately one–third of India’s total urban population. Another one-third is accounted for by cities in the population range of 100,000 and one million.

Going by the 2001 census, the number of metropolitan cities with a million-plus population has risen to 35. These include Greater Mumbai. Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad.

According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, there will be 70 cities with a million-plus population by 2030, which would have close to half of the total urban population. Also, the mega cities of today will continue to grow and, by 2015, the top six mega cities are expected to have 84 million residents.