Dealing with Urbanization in South Asia: Learning from Urban Spatial Configurations within Small TWCs

Locana Gunaratne

doi:10.4038/bhumi.v4i2.7

Abstract

There is a considered view that dealing with urbanization and its adverse impacts in South Asia has been ineffectual due to too great a reliance upon exogenous theory developed for different socio-economic circumstances. This paper expands on one of the theories that underpins the desired new theoretical base relating to some phenomena in their observable presence in many Third World Countries (TWCs). The spatial distortion that this phenomena represents in the city systems of these countries, particularly 'urban primacy', is directly attributable to the prolonged imposition of colonial economies on these countries. The obvious question that arises concerns the relevance of these deformed city systems to the post-colonial economies and social objectives pursued in these countries, especially if they are differently oriented from those of the colonial era. The study is based upon urban statistics gathered from eight TWCs selected from three continents.

Highlights

The view has already been published that the major efforts to deal with urbanization in South Asia have relied generally upon exogenous theory and practice developed more than a century ago for very different socio-economic circumstances (Gunaratna, 2014)
Linsky (1965: 506-513) systematically pursued Jefferson's work that had been done three decades earlier. He surmised that the condition of 'primacy' is characteristic especially of smaller "underdeveloped" countries in a transitional phase of social and economic development, having a colonial past, agricultural economies, low per capita incomes, high rates of population growth and being dependent upon exports
Nepal was never subjected to European colonial occupation and Bangladesh was not a separate country during the pre-1947 period when it was part of British India. These two countries are clearly impacted by rapid urbanization and the two capital cities, Kathmandu and Dhaka, experience high rural-urban migration and they clearly are 'primate' cities. This present paper focused and expanded on one of the theories considered as being of fundamental relevance to the desired new spatial planning approach to deal with the multifarious problems arising from the rapid urbanization taking place in a large set of Third World Countries (TWCs)

Summary

Introduction

The view has already been published that the major efforts to deal with urbanization in South Asia have relied generally upon exogenous theory and practice developed more than a century ago for very different socio-economic circumstances (Gunaratna, 2014). That study brought to light that the main biodiversity 'hotspots' likely to be affected by these trends are in theThird World with many being in South Asia.' (Gunaratna, 2014) This present paper focuses and expands on one of the theories considered as being of fundamental relevance to the desired new approach. Of the TWCs, India, South Africa, Brazil and Argentina were excluded from the examination on the grounds that they were too large to conform to the size specification in the theory The countries wherein their boundaries had been altered substantially in the post-colonial period were excluded in the process of selection. British colonial rule continued thereafter under a new constitution which was by no means

Sri Lanka

Discussion

Conclusions