The process of urbanization in India has had a tremendous impact on small towns, district places, villages and the predominantly agrarian society in this country. Although the rate of urbanization is different in different states, according to the Census of India it is very high in the states which were so far underdeveloped, agrarian and mostly tribal. The previously agrarian communities are being shifted to new places, transformed into nuclear urban communities, and generally other avenues are being preferred, by urban economists, to communities with agrarian traditions. All of this has a major influence on how we are going to read into new urban communities and their urban public space. This paper attempts to examine the phenomenon of the transformation of rural to urban societies and the quality of the relevant public space.
Agricultural land (Fig. 1) is now being considered less important in the wake of the IT industry and other economic avenues, like outsourcing etc, as an effect of globalization on smaller towns in their transit to urbanization. Some economists have been justifying this transformation and are suggesting ways and means of providing better economic deal for farmers and also shifting them to different locations. The four issues that have been discussed by Lavesh Bhandari1 are 1. The fear that has to do with (losing) ‘prime agricultural land’. 2. Productivity of the agricultural land 3. Conversion of agricultural land to industrial/commercial land, and, 4. Agriculture as a major contributor to air/water pollution.
The author has argued that all cities were always located on the banks of rivers (Fig. 2), which naturally were a prime land. The yield of the agricultural land being very low it was possible to enhance productivity in future. Thirdly, the author argues that the percentage of industrial/commercial land in big cities is only 5–10% and the ‘big ticket items really are housing and transport which occupy 50–70% of land’. Adequate compensation to farmers, shifting them to different locations, is the only answer, according to him. The entire argument is more of a narration as to what is happening now rather than any pointers to sustain agrarian communities. This factor is alarming because it appears that either agriculture is a waste of time and a lost cause, or that it must be replaced by other occupations which are economically more promising. Sadly, there is no pointer suggested to know how in contemporary times agriculture, and in turn agrarian societies, would hope for a better deal in sustenance, both of occupation, as well as culture.
Agricultural land (Fig. 1) is now being considered less important in the wake of the IT industry and other economic avenues, like outsourcing etc, as an effect of globalization on smaller towns in their transit to urbanization. Some economists have been justifying this transformation and are suggesting ways and means of providing better economic deal for farmers and also shifting them to different locations. The four issues that have been discussed by Lavesh Bhandari1 are 1. The fear that has to do with (losing) ‘prime agricultural land’. 2. Productivity of the agricultural land 3. Conversion of agricultural land to industrial/commercial land, and, 4. Agriculture as a major contributor to air/water pollution.
The author has argued that all cities were always located on the banks of rivers (Fig. 2), which naturally were a prime land. The yield of the agricultural land being very low it was possible to enhance productivity in future. Thirdly, the author argues that the percentage of industrial/commercial land in big cities is only 5–10% and the ‘big ticket items really are housing and transport which occupy 50–70% of land’. Adequate compensation to farmers, shifting them to different locations, is the only answer, according to him. The entire argument is more of a narration as to what is happening now rather than any pointers to sustain agrarian communities. This factor is alarming because it appears that either agriculture is a waste of time and a lost cause, or that it must be replaced by other occupations which are economically more promising. Sadly, there is no pointer suggested to know how in contemporary times agriculture, and in turn agrarian societies, would hope for a better deal in sustenance, both of occupation, as well as culture.