1. International Referred Reseach Journal,February,2011 ISSN-0975-3486 RNI: RAJBIL 2009/300097 VOL-I *ISSUE 17
Research Paper—Geography
URBANIZATION IN MARATHWADA
* Dr.K.B.Kankure, **Dr.M.P.Mankari
February, 2011
February, 2011 ***Dr.S.H.Gone
* Assot. Prof, Head, Dept. of Geography, M.U.College,Udgir
** Asst. Prof. Dept. of Geography, M.U.College,Udgir.
*** Principal, Ujwal Gramin Mahavidyalaya, Ghonsi
Introduction: state in the year 2001. Administratively the area is di-
Urbanization is the process by which villages turn into vided into eight districts.
towns and towns develop into cities. It is a cyclical Objectives :
process through which a nation normally passes as it The present paper has attempted to find out
evolves from an agrarian to an industrial society (Ghosh, spatio-temporal trends of urbanization in Marathwada
1985). The degree of urbanization is an important indi- region.
cator of socio-economic changes that are associated Database and Methodology :
with it (Yusuf Khan, 1990). The economic development The data has been collected from various
of a region is very intimately associated with the level sources which include Census of India, General popu-
of urbanization. Urbanization helps the process of lation tables and District Census handbooks etc. The
modernization and the spread of science. Urbanization percentage of urban population to total population is
generates economic growth, but also creates inequali- calculated to find out spatio-temporal trends of urban-
ties of various kinds within population and regions ization in the study region. The data collected was
(Barkley, 1996). At the global scale, there is a positive processed and organized in the table form and repre-
relationship between the level of urbanization and de- sented through various cartographic techniques.
velopment (Berry, 1961). These trends are replicated at Growth of Urbanization :
the national level. The spatial process of urbanization The growth of urbanization in Marathwada is
is not, uniform all over the world and so also the cause concerned, it is observed that the growth during the
effect relationship between urbanization and develop- past has been extremely poor and as a result of it, the
ment (Gugler, 1996). In developing countries urbaniza- regions share in total urban population for the state is
tion is related to process of development during the too less. Though Marathwada's share is 20.97 percent
colonial period (Phadke and Mukherji, 2003). Therefore of the state's total geographical area, its share of urban
over concentration of urbanization is the main problem population in the state is only 09.34 percent (2001).
in such countries. Marathwada has shown low level of urbanization com-
Study Area : pared to Maharashtra in all census years from 1971 to
Marathwada the study region occurs in the 2001. In 1971, the percentage of population living in
upper Godavari basin, which extends from 17035' North urban areas in Marathwada was 14.63 percent as com-
latitude to 20041'North latitude and from 74040'East pared to 19.70 percent for the country and 31.2 percent
longitude to 78016'East longitude. The study area is for Maharashtra as a whole. In 2001 it increased to 24.30
bordered on the north by Jalgaon, Buldhana, Washim percent against the state percentage of 42.40 and na-
and Yavatmal district; to the east by Kamareddi, tional percentage of 27.80 (Table 1).
Nizamabad and Adilabad districts of Andhra Pradesh to Table No. 1 Level of Urbanization (1971 to 2001)
the south by Gulbarga and Bidar district of Karnataka Based on Census of India, 1971 to 2001 So far as the
and the West by Nashik, Ahmednagar and Solapur
Sr.No. Region U Population
rban
districts. Its shape is roughly triangular. East-west maxi-
mum extent is about 394 kms. And north-south extent is 1971 1981 1991 2001
about 330 kms. Aurangabad is its divisional headquar- 1 M arathwada 14.63 18.44 21.87 24.30
ter and the region is administratively known as 2 M aharashtra 31.20 35.00 38.70 42.40
Aurangabad division of Marathwada. It has a total area 3 India 19.70 23.20 25.50 27.80
of 64,663 sq.kms. which is 21.01 percent of the state and internal disparities within the region are concerned, it is
its population is 15589223 which is 16.11 percent of the observed that the four districts of Aurangabad, Nanded,
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2. International Referred Reseach Journal,February,2011 ISSN-0975-3486 RNI: RAJBIL 2009/300097 VOL-I *ISSUE 17
Parbhani and Jalana have values above the average for census year 1951 to 2001, a continuous upward trend is
the region in 1971 and 1981 census year. In the year 2001 noticed. In this period of five decades urban population
only two districts i.e. Aurangabad and Parbhani regis- Census year Urban Population Decade Variation Decade Variation
(%)
tered high values of urbanization above the average for 1901 22,960 -- --
the region, whereas Beed, Osmanabad and Jalana re- 1911 222,326 -634 -2.8
corded very poor values of urbanization (Table 2). 1921 236,282 +13,956 +6.27
Growth and Distribution of Urban Population Consid- 1931 369,859 +133,577 +56.33
ering the growth of urban population in Marathwada 1941 565,895 +196,036 +53.00
1951 590,425 +24,530 +4.33
during the present century, it is observed that : a) during 1961 995,011 +404,586 +63.52
1971 1,111,704 +116,693 +10.49
S o
r.N. District U anP pu n
rb o latio 1981 1,781,214 +669,510 +37.58
1991 2,801,326 +1,020,112 +36.41
17
91 18
91 19
91 20
01 2001 3,831,720 +1,030,394 +26.89
1 L r
atu 1 .4
29 1 .4
68 2 .3
09 2 .5
38 increased by six and half times. This increase in urban
2 Ndan ed 1 .3
63 1 .7
84 2 .7
12 2 .0
42 population is due to development of agriculture and
3 B eed 1 .6
11 1 .2
66 1 .9
74 1 .9
70 industries through various five year plans.
4 O an ad
sm ab 1 .4
29 1 .6
24 1 .1
59 1 .8
54 Table No. 2
5 Aran ab
u g ad 1 .7
61 2 .8
47 3 .7
26 3 .1
79 District-wise Urbanization (1971 to 2001)Based on cen-
sus of India, 1971 and 2001 Many causes can be attrib-
6 Jalana 1 .7
61 1 .4
59 1 .9
61 1 .0
97 uted to this poor growth of urbanization in Marathwada.
7 P hi
arb an 1 .0
66 2 .6
42 2 .1
85 3 .5
23 Table No. 3 Growth of urban population in Marathwada
M wa
arath ad 1 .6
43 1 .4
84 2 .8
17 2 .3
40 (1901-2001)
Based on census of India, (1991 & 2001) Series 12,
first two decades urban population was almost stag-
nant (Table no. 3 and fig. no.1). This is mainly because
of lack of economic growth and high mortality rates, due
to prevalence of scourges as plague, malaria and influ-
Fig No.2
Maharashtra, Part Il-A Considering the spatial distribu-
enza, etc. b) Urban population increased two and half tion of urbanization in various districts of Maharashtra
times from 1921 to 1951. The growth may be attributed (2001) it is observed that the values of urbanization In
to overall economic growth in the state and in Marathwada are low, i.e. between just 15 to 38 percent.
Marathwada. C) The decade of 1941-1951 has regis- The reasons that explain this fact are: a) Marathwada is
tered a growth of 4.33 percent only; This might be away from the main railway lines and national high-
explained on the ground that the out migration of popu- ways, b) Lack of mineral resources in the region c)
lation occurred towards industrially developing area of therefore, resultant poor industrial growth in the region.
Bomay-Pune, during the second world war. D) From
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3. International Referred Reseach Journal,February,2011 ISSN-0975-3486 RNI: RAJBIL 2009/300097 VOL-I *ISSUE 17
District-wise percentage of urbanization for the year identified as the reasons for this change. The map for the
1981, 1991 and 2001 shows that urban population is year 2001 reveals an interesting pattern with Aurangabad,
concentrated in some pockets. Relatively higher values Parbhani and Nanded registering higher values, all located
of urbanization are found in Aurangabad and in Parbhani along the railway line. Secondly Latur and Jalana districts
districts. The map for the year 1981 clearly shows two have indicated higher growth rates. These districts are
pockets of Aurangabad and Parbhani with values rang- developed in trading activities of agricultural products.
ing between 32 to 38 percent. The values of urbanization Conclusion :
in other districts are relatively less. This is because Urbanization is an indicator of the level of
Aurangabad and Parbhani cities, occurring in respec- socio-economic development of a region. According to
tive districts are important centres where industrial and 2001 Census, Marathwada has about 24.58 percent urban
commercial activities are highly developed. They are population which lives in 57 urban centres. This urban
also centres of educational, administrative and histori- population differs significantly from rural population in
cal importance, located along highways and railways. terms of occupations, socio-economic value systems,
The map for the year 1991 reveals faster growth of way of life was well as in the level of interaction. The
urbanization in Aurangabad, Jalana, Nanded and level of urbanization in Marathwada is low than those
Parbhani districts. Aurangabad, Jalana, Nanded and for Maharashtra and India. In the year 2001, the propor-
Parbhani cities are located along Manmad Kachiguda tions of urban population to total population have been
railway line. Increase in commerce and industries owing higher in Aurangabada and Parbhani districts than those
to development of agriculture and industries could be for regional average.
R E F E R E N C E
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Economic Development, CEN Newsletter No. 237. 2) Berry, B.J.L. (1961), "Basic Patterns of Economic Development", in N.
Ginnsberg (ed), "Atlas of Economic Development", the university of Chicago Press. 3) Ghosh, B. N. (1985),"Fundamentals of
Population Geography", sterling publisher New Delhi. P 156. 4) Gugler, J. (1996), "Regional Trajectories in urban Transformations
Convergences and Divergences", in Gugler (ed), Urban transformation of the developing world", oxford university press, New
York, PP. 1-13. 5)Islam, N. (1999), "Migration Urbanization and Development in Bangla Desh", Paper presented at dialogue
on "Population, Development and Environment: The emerging issues", Centre for policy dialogue, Dhaka. (Summarized in CPD
Dialog Report-16). 6) Phadke, V.S. and Mukherji, D. (2003), "Urbanization and Development in Maharashtra, 1961-91 some
Observations", Transactions, Institute of Indian Geographers, Vol. 25 Nos. 1 and 2 PP. 116-123. 7) Ugade, V.R. (2005), 'An analysis
of population trends in Marathwada' Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, SRTM University, Nanded. 8) Yusuf Khan, S. (1990), "Western
Maharashtra A Study in Population Geography", Ph.D. thesis, University of Poona, P 207.
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