This document discusses urbanization and its impacts. It defines urbanization as the process of people moving from rural to urban areas, driven by factors like industrial growth, employment opportunities, modernization, and political instability. While urbanization can improve quality of life through jobs and infrastructure, it also causes problems like overcrowding, poverty, and environmental hazards for cities. Solutions include better city planning, education, creating more opportunities, and using plants for waste land management and soil conservation.

1. NAAC REACCREDITED WITH A GRADE(CGPA OF( 3.24)COLLEGE WITH POTENTIAL FOR EXCELLENCE(STATUS BY UGC)LEAD
COLLEGE (STATUS BY SGBAU, AMRAVATI)
DST-FIST SUPPORT
DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY
IMPACT OF URBANIZATION & WASTELAND DEVELOPMENT
DR. RASIKA N. PATIL
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY
SHRI SHIVAJI COLLEGE OF ARTS COMMERCE AND
SCIENCE AKOLA

2. What Is Urbanization?
• As the world’s population is increasing, a rising number of people are moving from rural areas to more urban
settings. This global phenomenon is called urbanization — essentially increasing the population of rural areas
(an area with 2500 residents or fewer), and turning them into urban areas (a central city, and surrounding
areas, with a population exceeding 50,000 people). More than half of the world’s population now lives in
urban areas, and this shift in population is driven by a variety of factors.
• Economic, political, and social issues merge with circumstances of modernization to make people want to
migrate from rural to urban areas. Causes of urbanization include:
• Industrial Growth: The explosion of industrialization and manufacturing enterprises within a certain urban
area gives rise to more employment opportunities — which is another factor of urbanization.
• Employment: Rural areas commonly are agricultural. Urbanization and industrial growth create opportunities
for jobs that pay more, are more diverse, and may be less physically demanding.
.

3. • Social Factors: Many urban areas allow for better living standards, including superior
educational facilities, better access to healthcare, modern housing, and more recreational
activities.
• Economic Problems: Many people may choose to migrate from a world area, as it is generally
not as economically stable or wealthy as a booming urban city.
• Political Turmoil: War, civil unrest, and other sources of political disorder often are woes of
developing areas. This turbulence — and potential danger — can be enough to make anyone
want to move.
• Modernization: New technology upgrades the infrastructure of urban areas. Better
communication, medical facilities, and various social amenities can attract those from rural
areas.

4. • Urbanization is a complex process, as many of its driving factors play into and give rise to one
another. Once a rural city becomes urbanized, it may begin to thrive from several beneficial
features — most of which are what attracts more people to them.
• Positive Effects of Urbanization
• Especially for those coming from rural areas, urban areas can create an overall better quality of life
in several ways. When urban areas become bustling cities and towns, they become a society of
culture that can facilitate financial and educational growth.
• Employment Opportunities
• With industrialization comes the creation of jobs. Usually making a shift from an agricultural
economy, industrialization paves the way for modern industries and will need more people to
perform various jobs. Rural jobs such as farming and mining may be labor-intensive (that is, if they
have not been taken over by machines or automatic devices), while urban employment
opportunities — such as healthcare, business, and education — will need a considerable amount of
people with a variety of skills to fill many jobs.

5. Modernization
• Modern technology provides for a better city infrastructure. With modernization, cities can adapt to
cultural needs and provide support systems for future development. Additionally, modernization
can make for a more sustainable city layout, with better housing/businesses, market centers, and
public transit systems. For example, in advanced cities, mobile technology can assist large
businesses in advanced mobility hubs for vehicles — significantly reducing the amount of traffic in
growing cities.
• The very presence of the Internet and IoT technology can expand communication to nearly any
corner of the globe, and has the capability to efficiently run utilities and lighting for a whole city.
These are just a few illustrations of how technology and modernization can provide efficient
solutions to many facets of life, facilitating a better standard of living.

6. Problems of Urbanization
• In theory, urbanization is a brilliant concept. However, urbanized cities are running into major problems as a result of a
rapidly growing population.As it stands today, urbanization has several major drawbacks.
• Congestion
• With so many people moving from rural areas, many urbanized cities are starting to see an overcrowding issue. Major
cities such as New York and Hong Kong are dealing with major congestion problems. Overpopulation is contributing to
extreme traffic, the depletion of resources, pollution, and unemployment among many other issues.
• Poverty
• Many urban cities have seen a population explosion that can be hard to plan for. As a result, employment opportunities may
dry up quicker than expected — leading to unemployment. Additionally, housing problems may arise with a very high
population density and can lead to poor housing conditions. These housing conditions are only exacerbated by
unemployment issues. Unemployment and poor housing (or, the unattainability of adequate housing) is creating an influx
of crime in urban cities as well.
• Environmental Hazards
• Water and sanitation issues are surfacing because of rapid population increases. With so many people needing resources
such as food, water, fuel, and waste management, the population of urbanized cities are suffering from a lower quality of
life due to environmental reasons such as water scarcity, pollution, and sanitation. Additionally, this is leading to the spread
of disease and poor health in heavily populated areas.

7. Solutions To Urbanization
• Urbanization is a double-edged sword. Experts are finding successfully reaping the benefits of urbanization while
minimizing its major drawbacks may lie in the reconsideration of several aspects.
Education
• It will fall upon the city government to prepare and plan for a rapidly growing population. Planting trees,
conserving energy and resources, and educating the public can make for a more efficient city.
City Planning
• Newly urbanized cities can take note from smart cities, and the technology they use to power their city in response to
urban activity. Future-ready technology can solve many congestion issues facing urban populations by facilitating a more
efficient transportation ecosystem. To reduce traffic congestion and pollution further, cities will have to consider
technology that provides parking solutions to reduce the number of cars driving around on the roads.
• Cities can work with hospitals, businesses, and hotels (all traffic-heavy enterprises) to create an efficient answer to
parking and traffic issues. City planners also have to consider either controlling their population growth or expanding
their city – and how to economically prepare and adapt for these changes.
Create Opportunities
• To combat unemployment and crime, urbanized cities must create more job opportunities to accommodate their citizens.
It will be essential for urbanized cities to foster job growth and creation by working with new technologies, creating new
and innovative companies within its city, and considering new global markets.

8. Waste Land Management through Plants

9. Waste Land :
• Land is considered "degraded" when its productivity is diminished.
This type of land is that land which is presently lying unused or which
is not being used to its optimum potential due to some constraints.
Land degradation caused by agriculture takes many forms and has
many causes. Some of the most important types of land degradation
are:
• Degradation related to overgrazing by livestock.
• Degradation related to soil erosion.
• Degradation attributable to soil salinization.
• Degradation attributable to waterlogging.

10. Classification of waste land:
National wastelands development board classifies wastelands into two categories:

11. Categories of Wastelands in India
Category Area (in sq.Kms.)
Snow Covered/Glacial 55788.49
Barren Rocky/Sheet Rock 64584.77
Sands-inland/coastal 50021.65
Land affected by salinity/alkalinity 20477.38
Gullied/or ravenous land 20553.35
Upland with or without scrub 194014.29
Water logged & Marshy 16568.45
Steep sloping area 7656.29
Shifting cultivation land 35142.20
Mining/Industrial Wastelands 1252.13
Degraded/pastures/grazing land 25978.91
Under utilized/degraded notified forest land 140652.31
Degraded land under plantation crop 5828.09
Grand Total: 638518.31 sq. kms

12. Choice of Plant Species for Waste land Management:
• Salt affected waste land have high content of soluble salt usually more than 0.2%, impossible for the
plant to absorb water from saline soils. The soil pH value is generally between 7.3 and 8.5.
• Plant species used for remediation:
• Suaeda salsa
• Kalidium folium
• Tetragonia tetragonioides
• Sesuvium portulacastrum
• Arthrocnemum indicum
• Suaeda frutic
• S. portulacastrum
• Suaeda maritime
• Sesuvium portulacastrum
• Atriplex .etc

13. The below plants species analyzes the viability of using
phytoremediation for salt affected soils and explores the remedial
mechanisms involved.
Suaeda salsa Tetragonia tetragonioides

14. Mining/Industrial waste land:
• Surface mining (sometimes called quarrying or opencast mining) requires the removal of topsoil
(the fertile layer of soil and organic matter that is particularly valuable for agriculture) to get at the
valuable rocks below. Most metals, for example, occur in rocky mixtures called ores, from which
the valuable elements have to be extracted by chemical, electrical, or other processes.
• That leaves behind waste products and the chemicals used to process them, which historically were
simply dumped back on the land. Since all the waste was left in one place, the concentration of
pollution often became dangerously high. Industrial activity generate waste which includes any
material that is rendered useless during a manufacturing process such as chemical solvents, paints,
sandpaper, paper products, industrial by-products, metals, and radioactive wastes.

15. Wasteland Development Schemes:
• Till the sixth five year plan, no specific programme of wasteland development was taken up. It is
only in 1985 with establishment of NWDB that the problem of wasteland development received a
new thrust. With the setting up of NWDB, a number of new schemes were initiated to secure
people‘s participation, besides continuation of ongoing afforestation schemes.
• These are: Grants-in-aid to voluntary agencies:
• Decentralized People’s nurseries
• Silvipasture farms
• Seed development
• Area oriented fuel wood and fodder projects
• Ariel seeding programme
• Plantation of minor forest produce
• Margin money schemes
• Rural employment scheme

16. Role of trees in soil and water conservation
• The establishment of a vegetative cover is one of the most effective means of soil and water
conservation. When the protective cover of vegetation on the soil is removed, the structurally
unstable tropical soils are exposed to the beating action of rains. Losses due to erosion immediately
after land clearing are normally alarmingly large.
• The potential role of trees in reducing run-off and erosion losses is well appreciated and
understood. Natural forest communities provide a multilayer defense against the impact of
raindrops. The different state of canopy progressively reduces the force of rain, thereby reducing
the adverse effect of its impact on the soil. Further more the litter and the humus layers on the soil
surface act as a cushion against erosion.
• The soil conservation is particularly important in highlands with undulating topography and steep
slopes, which are increasingly being brought under cultivation. For example, in South-East Asia,
there is a long tradition of planting Leucaena leucocephala in contour hedgerows for erosion
control and soil improvement. These countour rows of leucaena survive through the long dry
season because of their long taproots, which can reach water deep in the ground. Loppings and
prunings from the hedgerow species also provide mulch to aid in preventing sheet erosion between
trees. Removal of vegetative cover from the soil generally results in an increase in bulk density, a
decrease in porosity and reduction in infiltration rates.

17. • The use of trees and other woody perennials to protect agricultural fields from these adverse effects is a
widespread practice. Trees acting as windbreaks and shelter belts also assist in regulating the ecoclimate
within the tree stands.
• These also reduce evaporation and temperature. The clearing of vegetation affects not only the
farmlands in the immediate vicinity, but also destroys the water catchment areas causing flooding of
rivers and rapid silting of dams. Different vegetative methods for soil and water conservation
• 1. Strip planting: In this method, erosion permitting and erosion resisting crops are alternatively raised
at right angle to the slope of the land to retard the velocity of rain water
• 2. Rotational cropping : In this method, either grain crops grasses or legumes along with trees are
planted in the field . This will help to improve and maintain soil fertility.
• 3. Cover cropping: Trees and grasses are grown to cover the earth’s surface. Trees like Acacia nilotica,
Azadirachta indica, Eucalyptus tereticornis, silk cotton, teak and casuarinas can be planted to arrest
erosion along with trees. Agave americana can be planted for stabilization of gullies. Acacia nilotica and
Azadirachta indica can be planted on the banks of rivers, percolation ponds, lakes to strengthen the
bunds and to prevent erosion.