Question

Industrialisation and urbanisation are linked processes. Discuss.

Answer 1

• Industrialisation refers to the emergence of machine production, based on the use of inanimate power resources like steam or electricity.
• A prime feature of industrial societies is that a large number of people are employed in factories, offices or shops rather than agriculture.
• Over 90% people are living in cities and towns where most jobs are to be found and new job opportunities are created e.g. in Britain the first society to undergo industrialisation was also the earliest to move from being rural to an urban community.
• During British period industrialisation in some regions had led to decline of old urban centres.
• The process of urbanisation during the colonial period caused decline of earlier urban centres and the emergence of new colonial cities e.g. cities like Surat and Masulipatnam lost their charm and Bombay and Madras emerged as important cities.
• When manufacturing units boomed in Britain, traditional export of cotton and silk manufactures of India declined because they could not compete to Manchester.
• At the end of 19th century, with the development of mechanised factory industrialisation, few towns became heavily populated.
• Other than eastern India where British penetration was earliest and deepest, survived much more longer e.g. village crafts in the interior could survive. They were affected only with the spread of railways.
• The government of India after Independence played significant role in protecting and promoting industrialisation.
• Because of recent policies related to liberalisation and globalisation led to vast expansion of cities.