India is one of the countries in which urban centers and urbanization flourished as early as 3000 B.C. The urban centers of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa may be cited as the examples of pre-historic urbanization in India. During the ancient and medieval periods of Indian history, numerous towns and cities developed mainly because of socio-economic, geo-political and cultural reasons. The arrival of English people and their occupancies of power through the East India Company led to the development of many cities and towns. Though some of the towns could develop as industrial centers during the British period, they established trading centers to export the raw materials from India and to sell their finished products in the huge market of the subcontinent. The British also established many cantonments at the strategic points to administer the country.
The growth and development of Ambala, Agra, Jhansi, Shimla, Mussoorie, Pathankot, Udhampur, Meerut, Roorkee, Mhow (Indore) and Jalandhar are some of such examples. Although the process of urbanization recorded a steady growth after 1921, it got a quantum jump after independence (1947). During the last 50 years, not only the old cities and towns expanded in terms of size of population, density and area, several hundred new towns have emerged and developed.
Image Source: waterandmegacities.org
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The cities of Chandigarh, Panchkula, Paper Nagar, Yamuna Nagar, Gajraula, Narora, Herbertpur, Itanagar, Kohima, Mokakchung, Viratnagar, Nongstoin, Mowphlang, Nongpoh, Williamnagar (Meghalaya), Pulwama, Sonmarg, Badgam, (Kashmir), Batala, Nangal, Barnala, Khanna, Kaithal (Punjab), Brauni (Bihar), New Bogaigaon (Assam), Gautamnagar, Modinagar, Dadri, Dankaur, NOIDA (UP), Lavassa (Maharashtra), etc., are some of the examples of newly developed towns and cities. The urban population of India (2001) far exceeded the total population of all the countries of the world excepting China, Russia, USA and Indonesia. Similarly, there were only three countries in the world, namely, China (438 million), USA (238 million) and Soviet Union (131 million) which had a comparable size of urban population with that of India. In the states of Kerala and West Bengal, as many as 91 more places each were declared as urban in 1991. Contrary to this, in Punjab, 22 urban places were de-recognized as urban. There was no change in the urban places of Meghalaya, Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar, Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu in 1981-1991.