ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the gradual constitution of the urban structures of Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam over the period 1900-1971. It focuses on the allocation of urban space across various income groups and attempts to explain the subdivision of the cities into socio-economically, ethnically and physically defined 'compartments'. The chapter provides an overview and a brief comparative analysis of developments in both cities. It addresses key-issues such as the role of the public and private sectors in the allocation of land and the various manifestations of low-income housing. The low-income settlements that came into existence in the 1920s and early 1930s were mainly concentrated in central areas. The high-income nature of these settlements is underscored by the outcomes of a socio-economic survey of the city conducted in the early 1970s. One of the larger, socio-economically mixed settlements was Chengalraopeta, situated in between the main road and the sea.
