Reimagining the urban­ – rural dichotomy

Source- The post is based on the article “Reimagining the urban­rural dichotomy” published in “The Hindu” on 13th March 2023.

Syllabus: GS1- Urbanisation and remedies. GS2- Government policies and interventions

Relevance– Changing from of urbanisation

News– The rural urban continuum or urban rural continuum has drawn wide attention in recent years.

What is the urban-rural continuum?

It is an intermediate settlement formation that lies between rural and urban areas. Here, rural and urban functions coexist without distinguishable boundaries.

Such formations evolve due to interactions of a complex set of geographical, cultural, economic and historical processes.

What is the status of urban-rural continuum in India?

Kerala is well known for the rural­-urban continuum in the coastal plain. Geographical factors and affirmative public policy promoting distributive justice and decentralisation have increased rural­-urban linkages.

In recent years, the rural-­urban continuum has developed in various parts of the country. The urban industrial interaction fields in India are spreading by linking rural areas and small towns around megacities and urban corridors.

What are the reasons behind the phenomena of urban-rural continuum?

In 30 years, technology and economic globalisationhave increased the mobility of resources and people and enhanced inter-and intra-country connectivity.

The extension of transport and communication systems,improved access to energy, increased affordability of private and public transport and penetration of economic networks into remote areas promote a rural­-urban continuum.

Rural hinterlands are connected to multiple urban centres. The movement of goods, people, information and finance between sites of production and consumption has strengthened linkages between production and labour markets.

What are impacts associated with urban-rural continuum?

As the pull factors grow, push factors driving populations out from both rural areas and urban areas are also intensifying.

In the process, a mixed economy zone of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors has evolved.

The rural-­urban continuum areas also witness changing ecosystems. Agriculturally productive lands are being given for other uses. Food security zones are being reconfigured.

Areas for pollutant filtering are declining. There is an increase in waste dump, enhanced disaster risk, and elevated vulnerability.

The access of local people to water, food, fuel, fodder and fibre from ecosystems is reducing. Intermediary market institutions are emerging to provide these goods. It has significant implications for the local people.

There is also an escalation of the market value of land. It further marginalizes them.

Why is it important to recognize urban-rural continuum?

Social, economic development and environmental issues cannot be addressedwithout acknowledging the rural­-urban continuum.

Acknowledging the rural­-urban continuum will help identify challenges for improving both urban and rural governance and opportunities for enhanced access to employment, services, institutional resources and environmental management.

A 2021 World Bank Policy Research Working Paper advocated adopting the notion of urban catchment areas delineated along an urban rural continuum.

Identification of such areas would help understand urban rural interconnections. It is important for making policy decisions across development sectors and for addressing issues related to environment and natural resources management.

A 2008 report of the Study Team on rural-urban continuum was based on studies in eight countries around the world including India.

It emphasised understanding the changing relationship between ecosystems and livelihoods under diversified economic systems across the rural-urban continuum.

What is the way forward to ensure the proper growth of the urban-rural continuum?

The institutional connections between rural and urban areas operate at different levels forvarious development sectors.

The key challenge of decision making is to build rural­-urban partnership. To achieve this, asystems approach is recommended. Here, the city and the surroundings form a city region.

A perspective plan is prepared for this city region by integrating rural and urban plans within a common frame.

It is important that the rural urban linkages are better mapped.Satellite based settlement data and its integration with Census data may be useful for it.