Por is a village in Vadodara district of Gujarat which is seeing rapid urbanization as well as changing social structure - the study was aimed at studying the various components impacting this change.

1. MAHARAJA SAYAJIRAO UNIVERSITY
BARODA
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
CHANGING SCENARIO OF POR VILLAGE DUE TO URBANIZATION
[SOCIO-ECONOMIC BASE FOR PLANNING]
20TH
OCTOBER 2016

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1. ABSTRACT
Por, a 1000 years old village with Mota Baliyadev Temple heritage has now
became an industrial village. It has undergone a tremendous amount of change
in the last couple of decades and has affected the lives of people in the village
itself as well as the surrounding villages.
Multiple impacts of GIDC can be seen on the Por village with most prominent
being its shift from an agrarian economy in to an industrial economy.
Most of the vacant spaces facing the road are now dotted with sheds and shops.
The skyline of small village is rapidly changing and the land development is
happening at a brisk pace.
The migrants from other villages who work in GIDC have contributed to the rapid
growth in population density. The trees are cut and land is used for building
residential colonies for the migrants.
The agricultural land is converted into industrial land or residential land and the
farmers have turned into small entrepreneurs by selling their land at fancy prices
to the builders.
Figure 1 : CHANGING SCENARIO OF THE VILLAGE
And thus, a shift from traditional to modern in the whole society or social scenario
is observed as the Por village becomes urbanized with the coming up of the
industry.
• 4-5 people
came and
established the
temple
TEMPLE
VILLAGE
• people got
attracted to the
village and
settled
• started
cultivating
AGRICULTURAL
VILLAGE
• Land
acquisition
• GIDC
• Economy shift
INDUSTRIAL
VILLAGE

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2. INTRODUCTION
2.1. SOCIETY
Society is a term derived from Latin word ‘societus’ which was derived from
noun ‘socius’ which describes a bond or interaction between friendly or at
least civil parties.
In simpler terms, it means a group of people who share similar values, laws
and traditions living in organized communities for mutual benefits. People in
a society derive a sense of security and safety from it and are bound by
responsibilities towards the society.
2.2. INDIAN SOCIETY
India is diverse in ethnicity, language, religion, culture, class, caste, economy
and region. India has variety in all its aspects of the society. And yet it has
and is known for its unity.
Although a political democracy, India is a hierarchical society and it is evident
caste groups, among individuals and families and in kinship groups.
Most of the castes in the Indian society are associated with the traditional
occupations such as priests, potters, barbers, carpenters etc. The so-called
‘Underprivileged’ (or the ‘Schedule Castes’ as they are known since 1935)
were traditionally relegated to polluting tasks. Today, the politically correct
term for these groups, who make up some 16% of the population, is Dalit, or
‘Oppressed’. Other groups, usually called tribes (often referred to as
‘Scheduled Tribes’) are also integrated into the caste system to varying
degrees.
After independence in 1947, Dr. Bhimrao Ramji (B.R.) Ambedkar, a Dalit
leader, almost single-handedly wrote India’s constitution, including provisions
barring caste-based discrimination. However, Dalits as a group still suffer
significant disadvantages, especially in rural areas.
2.3. RURAL SOCIETY
Rural society is a sparsely populated society with the emphasis on
agricultural professions. Rural society can be identified through simple
culture, a clean and natural environment and informal social life.
About three-fourths of India’s people live in some 500,000 villages. Indian
villages are often quite complex and are not isolated socially or economically.
Most villages include a multiplicity of economic, caste, kinship, occupational,
and even religious groups linked vertically within each settlement. Residents

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typically range from priests and cultivators to merchants, artisans, and
labourers.
2.4. URBAN SOCIETY
Urban society on the other hand is characterized by modern industrialized
civilization. Urban society has the facilities of modern social life which is fast
and formal. There is fast paced advancement in urban society due to
education, technology and industry resulting in urbanization. Anonymity is an
important trade of an urban society.

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3. STUDY AREA – POR VILLAGE
Por is a 1000 years old village, situated on the banks of River Dhadhar and on
the borders of Vadodara and Anand District. The village which started as a
temple village and then turned into an agricultural village having a rural setup is
now an urban society as it has seen urbanization because of the coming up of
the GIDC. Though, as per the census 2011, it is still recognized and listed as a
village in Vadodara.
3.1. POPULATION DENSITY
Before 1980’s the population of the village was a mere 2000 people. GIDC
came up in 1985 and impacted the village in multiple ways, viz.:
• Population growth
• Change of land-use from agricultural to industrial
• Change of village economy from agrarian to industrial
In 2001, the population crossed 5000 and a decade later it had crossed
7000. Today the population has crossed the mark of 10000
Figure 2 : CHANGES IN POPULATION DENSITY
3.2. CENSUS DATA
3.2.1. 2011 CENSUS DEMOGRAPHIC (CASTE WISE) DATA
Table 1 : DEMOGRAPHIC DATA (2011 CENSUS)
TOTAL GENERAL SC ST
CHILD
(<6 yrs.)
TOTAL 7342 5552 493 1297 954
MALE 3787 2861 259 667 510
FEMALE 3555 2691 234 630 444

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3.2.2. GROWTH OF POPULATION (in %) FROM 2001 TO 2011 (as per
census)
Table 2 : PERCENTAGE POPULATION GROWTH
TOTAL GENERAL SC ST
CHILD
(<6 yrs.)
TOTAL 40.2 19.1 63.8 375.1 45.0
MALE 38.1 17.8 62.9 333.1 42.9
FEMALE 42.5 20.5 64.8 429.4 47.5

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4. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
A major shift in the socio-cultural scenario of the Por village has been observed
over the span of its life time and each stage of shift marked a milestone for the
village. The study aims to approach and evaluate this shift from the following
three aspects:
• To study the impact of temple on the village social mix
• To study the impact of GIDC on the village social mix
• To study the overall changing social mix of the village

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5. RESEARCH METHOD
Figure 3 : STEP WISE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
5.1. STEP 01: SECONDARY DATA COLLECTION
On receiving the study area, the first step was to collect the data available
through secondary sources and one such source was the census data. For
the Por village, census data was available for 2001 and 2011.
5.2. STEP 02: OBSERVATION OF TRENDS AND PATTERNS
The census data from 2001 and 2011 was compared and a very interesting
pattern was observed –
The total growth percentage from 2001 to 2011 for Por Village was 40.2%
but 375.1% growth out of the 40% was of the underprivileged population
(Schedule Tribes)
5.3. STEP 03: PRIMARY SURVEY AND DATA COLLECTION
With this information in hand, a primary survey was conducted wherein the
information was collected through Focused Group Discussions (FGD’s) with
the villagers and Questionnaire Distribution to the villagers.
5.4. STEP 04: CONCLUDING
The data thus collected was organized and compared with the findings of the
secondary data collection and it was found out that the primary data was
falling in place with the secondary data and it was concluded that the
development in that decade in and around the village was affecting the social
make-up of the village
STEP 01
•collection of secondary data [census data]
STEP 02
•study and analysis of data to study the trends and patterns
STEP 03
•primary study and data collection through surveys and FGD's
STEP 04
•analysis of the data to compare with the primary data and arrive
at a conclusion

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6. CHANGING SOCIAL SETUP AND EMPLOYMENT AVENUES
Figure 4 : AFFECT OF VARIOUS FACTORS ON DENSITY AND SOCIAL MAKE-UP CHANGES
History of Por goes back a 1000 years, when the village had started developing
as a temple village. With Mota Baliyadev temple, newly established, it attracted
the Brahmin sect and all the employments were related to the temple jobs. The
sect obviously, settled down near and around the temple and hence the
Brahampuri Faliya came up.
Gradually other people and castes got attracted to this tiny temple village and
started settling down. These people needed new employment avenues. Being
close to the river and with huge amount of land all around, these second set of
settlers became the farmers and the village grew to become an agricultural
village with an agrarian economy. These people were mostly belonging to Patel
caste.
But till before 1980’s, the village had grown only about 2000 people big. In 1985
when the GIDC came, the village started seeing a population burst. GIDC opened
up employment avenues for the underprivileged and attracted them to the village.
With more people now employed with GIDC and/or travelling to nearby towns to
work with industries rather than farming, the economy has shifted again. And
today it’s an industrial economy with a population of over 10000 people.

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7. CONCLUSIONS
7.1. FINDINGS
7.1.1. Rapid population growth and urbanization due to industrialization of
Por-Ramangamdi area
7.1.2. Population burst is observed – for a 1000 year old village, the
population had grown to a mere 2000 till 25 years ago in 1981. With
coming up of GIDC in 1985, the population grew suddenly to cross
10000 (more than 5 times) in 25 years
Figure 5 : IMPACT OF GIDC - URBANIZATION
7.1.3. Huge number of migrations have occurred from nearby villages as
well as from different states due to industrialization
7.1.4. Por village has seen a spatial spread post industrialization
• 1986 (0.28 sq.kms.) to 2003 (0.50 sq.kms.) – 79% growth from
1986
• 2003 (0.50 sq.kms.) to 2016 (1.20 sq.kms.) – 140% growth from
2003
7.1.5. IMPACTS OF GIDC:
• Spatial growth of village
o Reduction in farm lands
o Increase in residential areas
• Employment avenues for underprivileged
Figure 6 : IMPACT OF GIDC

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7.1.6. Before GIDC came in Por, the population of Por mostly comprised of
Brahmins, Desai and Hindus. But after GIDC, Por-Ramangamdi
established migration of people from under privileged (more than 300%)
took place as they found new avenues for employment
7.1.7. Even though the percentage of population growth of the under
privileged is higher, they are small in numbers - The community
population was almost nil in 2001
7.2. SUGGESTIONS
When the housing sector started developing, it not only developed but
subconsciously got divided into different falias based on the caste. The
earliest settlers were the Brahmins who got attracted to the temple came,
settled and became a part of the village forming the Brahamapuri Falia
opposite the village. Gradually the other castes settled and formed their own
falias.
Figure 7 : CASTE WISE DIVISION OF THE VILLAGE
7.2.1.Development of community spaces so that people of all castes and
communities can come and use it thus increasing interaction between
them and eventually dissolving of the social barrier
7.2.2.Opting for a planned growth rather than haphazard growth taking place
due to industrialization
7.2.3.Provision of better amenities and infrastructure so as to support the
increasing population

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8. REFERENCES
8.1. Census Data 2001 and 2011
8.2. http://indikosh.com/vill/547312/por