What are urban settlements?
The definition of urban settlement varies from country to country, however, the following are the main characteristics of urban settlements:- Most of the urban population is involved in non-primary activities like manufacturing and the service sector.
- Urban settlements usually have a high population density, usually more than 400 people per square kilometer.
- Notified by the Government as an urban settlement.
- As per the 2011 census, the area should have more than 5000 population.
- At least 75 % of the male working population should be involved in the nonprimary sector.
- The area should have a municipality or corporation or canton board or urban area should have been notified by the town area committee.
- Population density should have more than 400 per square kilometer.
Hierarchy of urban settlements UPSC | Hierarchy of Urban Centres :
Based on the population size the following five urban hierarchies -
- Megalopolis
- Conurbation
- Million City or Metropolis city
- City
- Town
Megalopolis:
A megalopolis is a very large urban agglomeration, which is also called a first-tier urban agglomeration. An urban settlement with a population of more than one crore [ 10 million] is called a megalopolis. New York was the first city to attain megapolis status in 1950, with a total population of approximately 12.5 million. So far, there are about 32 megalopolises in the world. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Chennai are examples of megapolises in India.
Conurbation:
Large areas of urban development that result from the merger of adjoining towns or cities are called conurbations. Conurbation urban settlements have populations between 5 million to 10 million.
Million City or Metropolis city:
An urban center that has more population of between one million to 5 million population is termed a million city.
City :
A city is much larger than a town and has a large number of economic functions. The city may have transportation terminals, major financial institutions, and regional administrative offices. The population city is between 5 lakhs to one million.
Town :
The population size of the city is less than 5 lakhs. The population of the city is the least among the urban settlements. There is not a very clear distinction between a village and a town, but a town provides certain functions such as manufacturing, retail, wholesale trade, and professional services.
The town has further divided into the following hierarchy:
- Class 1: Population between 1 lakh to 5 lakh
- Class 2: Population between 50,000 to 1 lakh
- Class 3: Population between 20, 000 to 50,000
- Class 4: Population between 10, 000 to 20,000
- Class 5: Population between 5, 000 to 10,000
You may like also:
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon