ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on urbanisation trends in India. It demonstrates how and why certain large cities in India have grown very much faster than smaller towns and cities, despite the fact that various urban policies have been implemented by a Five Year planning system in India which is committed to balanced development. The chapter examines the history of land tenure in India during the British Raj and in the post-independence period. The perception of land by some Indians has changed drastically in recent decades from the status of mother-land to a commodity-status. The use and ownership of land remained a privilege afforded to certain groups of people - the upper-most social and economic Stratums of Indian society. According to most economists, and the Government of India, urbanisation in India has been closely associated with the country’s economic development. Changes in the aforementioned demographic, economic and political circumstances of India have each affected the prospects for urban development in India.
