Changing land use and environmental degradation as a result of the growing urban population: a study of the metropolitan cities of India

Ajay Kumar Singh, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

In this paper population growth and environmental degradation has been discussed in the context of growing migration and urbanization in India with a special focus on the metropolitan cities by exploring the data from various sources like Census, CPBC, NFHS-2 and also from different government organizations. Trend and pattern of urbanization and migration in metropolitan cities has been discussed. The process of migration from rural to urban areas and specifically to the metropolis has created several socioeconomic problems. The study also focuses about the slum situation in the metropolitan cities as a result of rapid urbanization. The study further explores the environmental quality of the metro cities in India in the context of growing urbanization as well as the housing characteristics of the metropolitan cities. Rapid urbanization is affecting air and water quality and appropriate waste disposal is inadequate.