URBAN SETTLEMENTS: In recent past urban settlements are growing rapidly. Urban population increased from 3% in 1800 to 52% in 2011. INDIA

According to the census of India urban areas are those which satisfy the conditions given below:

(a) All places with a municipality corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee etc.

(b) All other places which satisfy the following criteria:

(i) A minimum population of 5000.

(ii) At least 75 percent of male working population engaged in non-agricultural sector.

(iii) A density of population of at least 4,000 persons per square km.

Urban agglomeration may consist of any one of the three combinations given below:

(i) A town and its adjoining urban outgrowth.

(ii) Two or more contiguous towns with or without their outgrowths; and

(iii) A city and one or more adjoining towns with their outgrowths together forming contiguous stretch.

Examples of urban outgrowths are university campus, cantonment area, port area seaport and airport, railway colonies, etc.

But one should remember that these towns are not always permanent. In each census, towns are subjected to de-classification and re-classification based on the prevailing condition at that particular time.

TYPES OF URBAN SETTLEMENTS

Classification based on Population Size

• Town Places which have less than one lakh population
• City Urban centres having population between one lakh to one million.
• Metropolitan Cities having population in between one million to five million
• Mega cities having more than 5 million population