Volume : III, Issue : X, October - 2014

Levels of Urbanization in Western Himalaya Region

Dr. Gaurav Kalotra, Satish Kumar

Abstract :

Western Himalaya Region comprises of the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. This paper tries to describe the levels of urbanization in Western Himalaya Region on the basis of district and town level data of Census of India, 2011. It focuses on the urban landscape as it highlights the spatial structure of urban settlements and the irregular spread of towns and cities in the region. The urbanization of Western Himalayas has been influenced by its topography, international border and needs for efficient and effective local administration which helps in the development of the hill stations, cantonment towns and administrative headquarters towns respectively. Further, numbers of other towns have emerged due to modernization of means of transport and industrialization. The paper analyses the levels of urbanization and the spatial pattern of towns with their specific location and size. The three states comprising Western Himalayas present sharp contrasts in terms of levels of urbanization. The result shows that the Jammu & Kashmir is the most urbanized state (47.9 per cent) while Himachal Pradesh is the least urbanized state in the region. It has been observed that most of the urban population in the region is concentrated in valleys which provide better living conditions.

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Article: Download PDF   DOI : 10.36106/ijsr  

Cite This Article:

Dr. Gaurav Kalotra, Satish Kumar Levels of Urbanization in Western Himalaya Region International Journal of Scientific Research, Vol : 3, Issue : 10 October 2014

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