Question

Examine any five factors which are responsible for population flow from rural to urban areas in India.

Answer 1

1. The natural increase in population: The rate of death and births characterizes the natural expansion of an area. In areas where births are more than the deaths, the population is bound to increase. People who migrate to town and cities tend to be young people who are in search of housing, jobs, or better education.

2. Migration: Immigration is a major contributor to the increase in the population of a place. Many people are forced to move to urban areas in search of jobs, education, and housing. Inadequate funding and social infrastructure have also driven people to urban areas.

   In other cases, political, racial, economic, or religious conflicts have forced people to move to neighbor urban areas.

3. Industrialization: The industrial revolution brought about new production techniques. By this, manufacturing has created more job opportunities by providing people with the opportunity to be employed in new sectors.

   With modern farm machinery, employment in the rural areas reduced, forcing workers to move in search of new jobs in tertiary and manufacturing industries.

4. Commercialization: Whereas industrialization has played an essential role in the growth of urban areas, commerce and trade have profoundly influenced the growth of cities. In ancient times, cities like Athens, Sparta, and Venice were great commercial centers.

5. Advancement of transport and communication: When factories were introduced, the local transportation was weak, forcing the factory laborers to reside near their place of work. The cities were partitioned into dwelling areas, market area, factory area, slums, and so on. Increased population led to congestion of housing and added to the already existing community by extension of boundaries.