Comparison of peripheral metropolitanisation in Haryana and Rajasthan, India

Abstract

While this growth is important in terms of absolute numbers, India’s urban growth rate is not very high. Some consider that the urbanisation process is not rapid enough despite continuous economic growth, especially since 1991, when new liberal policies based on foreign investments, free trade zones and special economic zones, to ensure integration in global value chains, were adopted. Others, on the contrary, argue that there is no absolute correlation between size and growth. What is obvious from the last census is the role Census Towns have played in this growth. There are, in fact, multiple urbanisation processes with their distinctive characteristics, which go well beyond the simple agglomeration model, and it is imperative to understand the location and emergence of these new CTs and further, to understand their location in different states. The emergence of new urban settlements in Haryana is located around second tier cities; thanks to better connectivity, clustering of enterprises and a strong inclusion within the larger economy of the National Capital Region (Delhi). On the contrary, in Rajasthan, the emergence of new towns is not necessarily related to their proximity to million plus or class I towns. The comparison indicates that there are diverse processes at work and that regional and historical paths matter in the development trajectories of small towns.