Typology of Urban Settlements

Urban settlements are not all alike. Some are tiny towns with just a few thousand residents; others are sprawling urban regions with millions of people and complex infrastructure. So, based on size, services, and functions performed, urban centres are broadly classified as:

Towns
Cities
Million Cities
Planned Cities
Conurbations
Megalopolises
Megacities
Healthy Cities

Let’s now understand these one by one:

Town

The term ‘town’ refers to an urban area that is smaller than a city but still possesses distinct non-agricultural functions.

🟢 Important Point: Town ≠ Village

While the distinction between a town and a village may not always be crystal-clear — especially in rural-dominated regions — towns typically have:

Manufacturing units
Retail and wholesale trade
Professional services (like doctors, lawyers, banks, etc.)

So, a town is like a ‘functional upgrade’ from a village — a nucleus of basic urban amenities and occupations.

City

A city is simply a town that has grown both in population and complexity.

Cities are larger in size and population than towns.
They offer a wider range of economic activities — finance, administration, transportation, and often international trade.
They have critical infrastructure like transport terminals (e.g. airports, rail junctions), major financial institutions (banks, stock exchanges), and administrative offices.

So, a city is not just “bigger” — it is “functionally denser.”

Million City

When the population of a city crosses the 1 million marks, it is termed a “Million City.”

🕰 Historical Snapshot:

London was the first city to reach this milestone around 1800.
Paris followed in 1850.
New York reached this mark by 1860.
By 1950, there were about 80 such cities.
In 2016: 512 million-plus cities.
Projection for 2030: 662 million-plus cities.

This reflects the global trend of urban explosion, especially in developing countries.

Planned Cities

Now, let us introduce a qualitative classification — not based on size, but on how cities come into existence.

Planned cities are those that have been designed with a blueprint in mind — right from roads, drainage, and zoning, to public institutions.

Examples:

Chandigarh (India): Designed by Le Corbusier after Partition.
Canberra (Australia): Designed to be the capital, balancing Sydney and Melbourne.
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia): The name itself means “New Flower” — established in 1878 with a clear urban plan.

🟢 Contrast this with organically grown cities:

These are cities that have evolved over time — often from ancient forts or religious centres — and now have irregular layouts. Many Indian cities (Varanasi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, etc.) evolved this way.

So: planned city = designed from scratch; evolved city = shaped over time.

Conurbation

Now, let’s introduce a new concept.

The term conurbation was coined by Patrick Geddes, a pioneer in urban studies.

Definition: A conurbation is a large urban area formed when several towns and cities expand and merge into one continuous urban expanse.

Example: Think of Greater London or Tokyo — where once-distinct cities have now become one vast urban web.

Chicago and Manchester are other notable examples.

Key Feature: Though the original towns remain identifiable, the physical and economic boundaries between them blur.

Megalopolis

This is a notch higher than a conurbation.

Megalopolis literally means “great city” — but in geography, it refers to a super-metropolitan region created by the union of multiple conurbations.

Best example: The BosWash Corridor in the United States.

It stretches from Boston in the north, through New York and Philadelphia, down to Washington D.C. in the south.

🧠 Analogy: If towns are the “villages of the urban world,” and cities are its “capitals,” then megalopolises are “continents” — vast, powerful, interconnected urban regions.

Mega Cities

Let’s now come to a frequently used term in media and policy: Mega City.

Definition: A megacity is a metropolitan area with a population of over 10 million.

Key Points:

New York was the first to cross this threshold in 1950 (with about 12.5 million).
Today, there are around 31 such megacities worldwide.
Many of them are in Asia — including Tokyo, Delhi, Shanghai, and Mumbai.

🟢 Note: “Mega city” and “megalopolis” are often confused. But remember:

Megacity = Based on population (more than 10 million)
Megalopolis = Based on physical and functional integration of multiple conurbations

Healthy City

This category comes not from size or function, but from a normative idea of what a city “should” be.

As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), a healthy city is one that promotes public well-being.

It must:

Provide a Clean and Safe environment.
Meet the Basic Needs of all its residents — housing, water, food, education, employment.
Involve the Community in local governance — participatory planning.
Ensure easy access to Health Services — especially for the vulnerable.

🟢 So, a healthy city is not just about high GDP or skyscrapers — it is about human-centred, inclusive urban living.

Conclusion

Understanding types of urban settlements helps us appreciate how cities differ not just in size, but in shape, function, and quality of life. Whether it is a town or a megalopolis, the urban form is a reflection of socio-economic, political, and environmental dynamics.

Why Do Urban Problems Arise?

Let’s begin by asking a fundamental question — why are cities, which are supposed to be centres of opportunity, also becoming hotspots of distress?

Answer: It’s a problem of mismatch — between population growth and infrastructural capacity.

Cities, especially in developing countries, are often unprepared for the rapid pace of migration. This leads to three broad categories of problems:

Economic
Socio-cultural
Environmental

We will now examine each of these one by one.

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

🔹 Root Cause: Rural-to-urban migration due to lack of employment in villages and small towns.

Let’s understand this with a basic model:

Rural areas = shrinking opportunities due to land degradation, disguised unemployment.
Urban areas = magnet for jobs, education, and modern life.

So, people migrate in large numbers. But here’s the irony — cities themselves don’t have unlimited jobs to offer.

⚠️ Consequence:

Urban labour markets become overcrowded.
Most new migrants are unskilled or semi-skilled.
This creates a “surplus labour force” — too many workers, too few jobs.
Result: Unemployment, underemployment, informal sector dependency, and exploitation.

SOCIO-CULTURAL PROBLEMS

These are often less visible than economic issues, but they are deeply impactful.

🔹 Inadequate Social Infrastructure

Cities fail to provide basic services — like schools, hospitals, sanitation — especially to the poor.
Financial limitations, poor governance, and informal settlements worsen the issue.

🔹 Unequal Access

Even when facilities exist, they’re often inaccessible to the urban poor.
Private hospitals and schools are unaffordable, and public systems are overburdened.

🔹 Rising Crime

Unemployment + lack of education + frustration = fertile ground for crime.
Petty thefts, gang violence, drug trade, and gender-based violence become common in slums.

🔹 Skewed Sex Ratio

Many migrants are men seeking employment.
This results in male-selective migration, causing an imbalance in the sex ratio.
It weakens social cohesion and affects family structures in both urban and rural areas.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

Now let’s explore the most visible but often ignored dimension: the environmental impact of unplanned urban growth.

🔹 Waste Management Crisis

Huge population = massive waste generation — solid waste, sewage, plastic, biomedical waste, etc.
Poor or absent sewage systems lead to health hazards like waterborne diseases.
Dumping without treatment pollutes land and groundwater.

🔹 Air Pollution

Domestic and industrial units in developing countries still rely heavily on traditional fuels — like wood, coal, kerosene.
Add to those vehicular emissions, dust from construction, and lack of green cover.
Result: Cities become gas chambers — respiratory problems, eye irritation, smog, etc.

🔹 Urban Heat Island Effect

Cities are covered with concrete, asphalt, and glass — materials that absorb and retain heat.
Vegetation and water bodies are replaced with buildings.
This creates “heat islands” — pockets of abnormally high temperatures in urban areas compared to surrounding rural regions.

🟦 Concluding Thoughts

So, what’s the essence of the problem?

Urbanization in itself is not the issue — it is unplanned, unregulated, and unequal urbanization that creates chaos.

🧭 As future administrators, policy experts, or scholars, we must understand that urban problems are interconnected. Solving them requires:

Long-term planning (Master Plans)
Strong local governance (Urban Local Bodies)
Inclusive development (focus on slums, sanitation, housing)
Environment-sensitive urban design (green infrastructure, public transport)

“A city should not just be a machine for living; it should also be a home for thriving.”

Town

City