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International Journal of Environment, Ecology, Family and Urban Studies(IJEEFUS) ISSN(P): 2250–0065; ISSN(E): 2321–0109 Vol. 9, Issue 6, Dec 2019, 1–14 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd. URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIO-SPATIAL DISPARITIES: A STUDY OF CUTTACK CITY, ODISHA SANTILATA ROUT 1 & KAPIL KUMAR GAVSKER 2 1Student, Department of Applied Geography, School of Regional Studies and Earth Science, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha, India 2Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Geography, School of Regional Studies and Earth Science, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha, India ABSTRACT Urban development in most of its aspects is associated with process and nature of urbanization. People concentrate in urban areas because of availability of choices and livelihood opportunities. Accelerated urbanization has lead to growth of cities and this is accompanied by urban poverty, infrastructural inadequacy, inequalities and degradation in quality of urban life. Odisha is one of the least urbanized states of the country and is emerging a promising state in the contemporary overall development process. However, only a few large cities in the state dominate the urban landscape and socio- Original Article Article Original economic space. Cuttack is the second largest city of Odisha with more than half-a million population. Historically, it has played a vital role in the different sectors of social life in this eastern state and it remains an important urban centre. City faces unprecedented challenges in terms of urban development. The present study focuses on quality of urban development analyzing living status, peoples’ access to basic amenities, nature of disparities and situation of marginalized groups in the Wards of Cuttack Municipal Corporation. KEYWORDS: Urban Development, Urbanization & Housing Development Received : Aug 10, 2019; Accepted : Sep 30, 2019; Published : Nov 14, 2019; Paper Id .: IJEEFUSDEC20191 INTRODUCTION Urban development, in most of its aspects is associated with process and nature of urbanization that influences quality of access to basic amenities and public facilities to the people. Urbanization is a process of social, cultural and economic transformation. This causes creation of urban society. This evolutionary change from rural to urban way of life with the increase in population and population density in a specific geographical area, the characteristics of urban way of life has evolved over time. According to Robert Redfield (1953) an “‘urban society’ is characterized by a large heterogeneous population, close contact with other societies (through trade, communication, etc.), a complex division of labour, a prevalence of secular over sacred concerns, and the desire to organize behaviour rationally toward given goals, as opposed to follow traditional standards and norms”(Cited in Agalgatti, 2008). In 1950, two-third of the population worldwide lived in rural settlements, and around one-third in urban settlements. The urban population of the world has grown rapidly since 1950 from 746 million to 3.9 billion in 2014. As per the 2018 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects, today, 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. Urbanization has a close link with the process of rural–urban migration and broadly defined as a process of shifting of rural population to urban centre. This process of people’s drift to and congregation in a particular www.tjprc.org [email protected] 2 Santilata Rout & Kapil Kumar Gavsker geographical space causes growth and expansion of city. This is also a multi-dimensional process of socio-cultural change and therefore difficult to give an all – encompassing and widely applicable definition of urbanization. Urbanization can be divided into three conceptual categories viz. Demographic, Economics and Socio-cultural. Demographic aspect relates to the concentration of population in a particular area leading to increase in its population density and in turn to the development of many other characteristics. The economic aspect refers to the movement of population from agricultural to non-agricultural sectors. Finally, socio-cultural aspect is behavioral and relates to the change in the way of life. Though urban development in India has a long history, urbanization has begun to accelerate since the dawn of twentieth century and particularly in the post-independence period. This might have been due to multiple factors like demographic, economic and political factors. The level of urbanization has grown up rapidly during the second half of the twentieth century. The State Annual Action Plan of Odisha under AMRUT heighted that “there has been a steady increase in the country’s urban population over the decades. The population has increased from 26 million in 1901 to 377 million in 2011 and from 10 percent to 31 percent during the same period. India’s urbanization presents a contrasting picture – a large urban population with low urbanization and showing a growth rate of 2.76% per annum during 2001–2011” (see AMRUT Odisha, SAAP 2015-16). Table 1 shows that around 17.3% population of the country lived in urban areas by 1951 which grew to 18.0% in 1961. It further increased to 19.9% by 1971. The urbanization reached to 25.7% by 1991 and 27.8% by 2001. At present, level of urbanization reached to 31.16% as per the Census of India 2011. Estimations of the UN state of the world population 2007, the report notes that by 2030, about 40.76% of country’s population is expected to reside in urban areas. There has been a steady increase in the country’s urban population over the decades. The population has been increased in absolute figures from 26 million in 1901 to 377 million in 2011 and from a 10% to 31% level of urbanization. Indian’s urbanization presents a contrasting picture as growth rate is lower – a large urban population with low urbanization with a showing growth rate. The under-developed states – Bihar, Rajasthan, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh have low levels of urbanization but they registered high rates of urban growth. Dhote and Singh states that “India needs to work on several areas to manage its urbanization. The followings are perhaps the most important ones: Inclusive cities, urban governance, funding, planning, capacity building and low-income housing India also needs to start a political process where the urban issues are debated with evolution of meaningful solutions” (2016: 93). BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY In the context of urban development in India, a consistent shortfall in the access to the services and their delivery is not an uncommon problem. A report of India Ratings and Research on Public Finance highlights the challenges in providing basic services such as “WATER SUPPLY: As per 2011 Census, 70.6% of urban population is covered by individual connection, compared with 91% in China, 86% in South Africa and 80% in Brazil. SANITATION: Even a partial sewerage network is absent in 4861 cities and towns in India. Almost 50% of household in cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad do not have sewerage connections. As per 2011 Census, about 13% of household don’t have access to any form of latrine facility and defecate in the open. PUBLIC TRANSPORT: It accounts for only 27% of urban transport in India’s share of the public transport fleet. AFFORDABLE HOUSING: The Technical Group on the Estimation of Housing Shortage projects the total shortage of dwelling units in urban area in 2012 was estimated to be 18.78% million units” (2015: 4). The urban development faces multi-dimensional crisis. Urban poor and those living in slums face severe crisis and shortages in urban India. Wiebe (1973) in his book on ‘Social Life in an Indian Slum’ describes that the problems of slums in the country are severe. Marked by substandard incomes at best, relatively low rates of literacy, bad housing, insufficient Impact Factor (JCC): 5.4083 NAAS Rating: 3.58 Urban Development and Socio-Spatial Disparities: A Study of Cuttack City, Odisha 3 medical care, inadequate sanitation often extremely poor access to publics utilities and malnutrition, slum population often found in appalling physical situations. According to him, a general review of slums characteristics of Madras (now Chennai) immediately reveals that in most respects slums dwellers are considerably worse off than non-slums dwellers. Mohapatra and Singh (2011) in their study entitled “Urban Development and Squatter Eviction in Orissa – A Study of Bhubaneswar City” highlighted that people’s migration from rural areas to urban ones has resulted into propagation of slums in the capital city Bhubaneswar. This also affects socio-cultural and political dimensions of urban community. Nasir and Jamshed (2012) in his study on ‘Development of Health Infrastructure and Disease: A Case Study of Jaipur City, Rajasthan’ observe that social and economic inequalities give birth to inequalities in health. Good health depends on three aspects (i) the outer environment, (ii) the style of living and (iii) health care. Human health is a multifaceted concept. It does not rest merely on the absence of disease but the fulfilment of the entire range of personal, psychological, mental, social and even moral goals. Singh and Abbas (2013) in their article “Assessing the Need for Public Utility Services in the Residential Suburbs: A case study of Aligarh City” analyse how suburban areas are witnessing a spatial transformation. This paper aims to assess whether the development of public utility services (education, health, commercial, social, recreational services etc) in Aligarh city is keeping pace with growth and expansion. The fact is that city faces challenges in providing equal access to basic amenities. Kumar and Rao (2015) in their study on “Sky Booming Urban Slum in Metro Cities of India (Special Reference to Characteristics of Vizag Slum)” tries to analyse that in the last four decades, industrialization attracted a sizable number of people from rural area in search of livelihood settled in a vacant place with lack of civic amenities.

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