Urban Heat Island Effect

 

Rapid Urban Development for AATMANIRBHAR BHARAT

Planned development in Urban Areas

As per 12th Schedule of the Constitution of India, urban planning is the function of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)/ Urban Development Authorities.Government of India supplements the efforts of the States through schematic interventions/ advisories. Itprovides financial and technical support to the States.

Considering the fast pace of urbanization, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India has taken several initiatives towards planned development in urban areas including the following:

• Urban and Regional Development Plan Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines, 2014
• Model Building Bye-laws (MBBL) – 2016

The Ministry, through schematic interventions facilitates increasing land-use efficiency, promoting sustainability, affordability, and revenue generation through land as a planning tool. The MoHUA has announced the following schemes:

Under AMRUT: Sub-Scheme on “Formulation of GIS based Master Plan for 500 AMRUT Cities” was launched to support States for preparation of master plans in AMRUT towns. Final GIS database has been created for 443 towns, draft GIS based Master Plan prepared for 330 towns and final GIS based Master Plans has been notified for 180 towns.

Under AMRUT 2.0, Scheme for Formulation of GIS based Master Plans of Class-II Towns with population of 50,000 - 99,999 has been launched by MoHUA to support States financially and technically for undertaking planning initiatives in smaller cities. It has been approved for 675 towns with total outlay of Rs. 631Cr and is in initial stage of implementation.

Local Area Plan and Town Planning Scheme (LAP/TPS): 

Pilot Sub-Scheme for preparation of Town Planning Scheme (TPS) and Local Area Plans was launched in 2018. The Scheme has been conceived to bring planned urban development by mobilizing urban land in the city center and in the urban peripheries by adjustment of land parcels. It covers 25 cities in the first phase of Smart City Mission with allocation of around 50 crores.

In order to incentivize States to undertake urban planning reforms, following schemes were launched by MoHUA under the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment ofDepartment of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance:

Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2022-23 – Part – VI (Urban Planning Reforms) with an allocation of Rs. 6000 Cr - The reform components include Modernization of Building Bylaws, Adoption of Transferrable Development Rights (TDR), Implementation of Local Area Plans (LAP) and Town Planning Schemes (TPS), Implementation of Transit-oriented Development (ToD), Creation of Sponge Cities, Removing Taxation for running the Buses for Public Transport. Funds amounting to Rs. 4093.16 Cr were released by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of finance to 12 States.

Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2023-24 – Part – III (Urban Planning Reforms) with an allocation of Rs. 15000 Cr - The reform components include Augmentation of human resources for strengthening urban planning ecosystem, Implementation of Town Planning Scheme (TPS)/ Land Pooling Scheme, Modernization of Building Bylaws, Promoting in-situ slum rehabilitation, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), Transferable Development Rights as planning tool, Strengthening natural ecosystems of urban areas through urban planning.

Types of Urban Settlements

Depending on the size and the services available and functions rendered, urban centres are designated as town, city, million city, conurbation, megalopolis. 

Town:

The concept of ‘town’ can best be understood with reference to ‘village’. Population size is not the only criterion. Functional contrasts between towns and villages may not always be clearcut, but specific functions such as, manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, and professional services exist in towns.

City:

A city may be regarded as a leading town, which has outstripped its local or regional rivals. In the words of Lewis Mumford, “ the city is in fact the physical form of the highest and most complex type of associative life”. Cities are much larger than towns and have a greater number of economic functions. They tend to have transport terminals, major financial institutions and regional administrative offices. When the population crosses the one million mark it is designated as a million city.

Conurbation: 

The term conurbation was coined by Patrick Geddes in 1915 and applied to a large area of urban development that resulted from the merging of originally separate towns or cities. Greater London, Manchester, Chicago and Tokyo are examples. 

Megalopolis:

This Greek word meaning “great city”, was popularised by Jean Gottman (1957) and signifies ‘super- metropolitan’ region extending, as union of conurbations. The urban landscape stretching from Boston in the north to south of Washington in U.S.A. is the best known example of a megalopolis.

Million City: 

The number of million cities in the world has been increasing as never before. London reached the million mark in 1800, followed by Paris in 1850, New York in 1860, and by 1950 there were around 80 such cities. The rate of increase in the number of million cities has been three-fold in every three decades – around 160 in 1975 to around 438 in 2005.

Empowering Urban Evolution: The Smart Cities Vision in India

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has made a recent announcement regarding the India Smart Cities Award Contest (ISAC) 2022. This event is held as a part of the broader Smart Cities Mission (SCM). The contest has recognized and honored 66 winners across diverse categories.

Notably, Indore in Madhya Pradesh and Chandigarh have taken the lead in the ISAC 2022 awards. These cities have been acknowledged for their remarkable achievements in various aspects of urban development.

National Smart City Award:

Indore clinched the prestigious national smart city award, reflecting its remarkable strides in urban development strategies. Following closely were Surat and Agra. Indore's dedication to enhancing sanitation, water supply, and the urban environment earned it recognition as a front-runner in these critical domains.

State Award:

The state award was secured by Madhya Pradesh for its holistic approach in promoting smart city initiatives within its jurisdiction. Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan followed suit, demonstrating commendable efforts in this field.

Union Territory (UT) Award:

Chandigarh was bestowed with the UT award, acknowledging its relentless endeavors to shape itself into an exemplar of a smart city.

Other Categories:

• Coimbatore stood out in the built environment category.
• Ahmedabad excelled in the culture and Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) segment.
• Jabalpur showcased its prowess in the economy category.
• Chandigarh shone in governance and mobility.
• Indore led in sanitation, water, and urban environment domains.
• Vadodara was recognized for its achievements in social aspects.
• Hubbali Dharwad claimed the top spot in the innovative idea category.
• Surat's efforts in the Covid innovation category were highly appreciated.

What is ISAC:

The ISAC acknowledges and commends cities, projects, and innovative concepts that advance sustainable development within the 100 designated smart cities. It fosters cities that are not only driving inclusive, equitable, safe, healthy, and collaborative urban environments but also elevating the overall quality of life for their residents.

Having been held three times previously in 2018, 2019, and 2020, the fourth edition of ISAC was inaugurated in April 2022 during the 'Smart Cities-Smart Urbanization' event in Surat, Gujarat.

The ISAC 2022 awards incorporated a dual-phase submission process. The first phase, termed the 'Qualifying Stage,' encompassed a comprehensive evaluation of each city's overall performance. Subsequently, the 'Proposal Stage' required smart cities to nominate themselves for recognition in six distinct award categories.

These categories encompassed:

• Project Awards with ten diverse themes,
• Innovation Awards spanning two distinct themes,
• National/Zonal City Awards,
• State Awards,
• UT (Union Territory) Award, and
• Partners Awards with three varied themes.

Smart City Mission:

The Smart Cities Mission is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme that was launched in June 2015 with the objective of transforming 100 cities in India by providing essential core infrastructure and creating a clean and sustainable environment. This transformation is achieved through the implementation of "Smart Solutions" to ensure a decent quality of life for the citizens. The mission's primary focus is to fulfill the aspirations of India's urban population by undertaking various urban development projects.

Key Features:

• Area-Based Development: The mission's strategic components include area-based development, which involves retrofitting, redevelopment, and greenfield development to enhance cities. Additionally, a pan-city initiative is applied to cover larger parts of the city with smart solutions.
• Focus Areas: The scheme prioritizes the construction of amenities such as walkways, pedestrian crossings, cycling tracks, efficient waste management systems, integrated traffic management, and assessment mechanisms.
• Indices Tracking: The Smart Cities Mission evaluates multiple indices to monitor urban development progress. These indices include the Ease of Living Index, Municipal Performance Index, City GDP framework, and Climate Smart Cities assessment framework.

Achievements:

• Integrated Command and Control Centers (ICCC): One of the major achievements of the mission is the establishment of ICCC in all 100 smart cities. These centers act as operational hubs for urban management, utilizing technology to enhance various aspects of city operations. ICCCs have notably improved crime tracking, citizen safety, transport management, waste management, water supply, and disaster preparedness.
• Sectoral Progress: The Smart Cities Mission encompasses projects across various sectors, including mobility, energy, water, sanitation, public spaces, social infrastructure, and governance.
• Smart Mobility: Completion of 1,174 projects.
• Smart Energy: Successful completion of 573 projects.
• Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH): Over 1,162 projects completed.
• Public Spaces: Development of more than 1,063 public spaces.

The Smart Cities Mission is a significant initiative aimed at transforming urban areas in India into more efficient, livable, and sustainable environments through innovative technological interventions and holistic urban planning.

The India Smart Cities Award Contest (ISAC) 2022 stands as a testament to the remarkable strides made in urban development through the Smart Cities Mission. The recognition of cities, projects, and innovative ideas that foster sustainable growth is a vital step towards creating inclusive, equitable, and thriving urban environments. As we celebrate the accomplishments of Indore, Chandigarh, and other cities, we are reminded that the journey towards smart cities is a collective effort, rooted in the core principles of progress, innovation, and collaboration. With initiatives like ISAC and the broader Smart Cities Mission, India continues to pave the way towards a future where urban areas are not only technologically advanced but also enriched with quality of life for all its citizens. This positive trajectory promises to shape our cities into vibrant hubs of creativity, efficiency, and well-being.

Green Field Development V/S Brown Field Development

Greenfield Development :

Greenfield sites are often on the fringes & may have better access, with less traffic congestion, with a pleasant environment and extra space to sprawl. Large family houses with gardens are more likely to be able to be built on Greenfield sites. New sites are easier to construct on and is more attractive to retail parks, housing developers, etc. On the other side of the coin, using Greenfield sites is often not sustainable, as these sites take the core from towns and locate them on the fringes. In such sites new infrastructure has to be provided. Wildlife may suffer as many lose habitats, trees may have to be cut down, and history speaks that environmentalist protest to Greenfield developments.

Brownfield Redevelopment:

Brownfield redevelopment eases pressure on Greenfield sites and is more sustainable – it’s good to reuse land. House prices would increase in core city areas as people are encouraged back into the area. Infrastructure already exists in urban areas. New employment opportunities come up. New housing can lead to redevelopment (old housing – area becomes trendier & more affluent) so the neighbourhood will improve. Providing public transport networks is easier in central areas where the population densities are high – investment is focused in central areas. Towns & cities do not want their areas to decay – redevelopment results in more people coming to the area, which helps local businesses. Redeveloping Brownfield sites can bring a ‘dead’ area back to life. On the other side of the coin, increased house prices due to core city redevelopment might mean that local people cannot afford the houses, & the authority will have the problem of providing for them. Clearing rubbish from Brownfield areas is expensive. There may be an issue of contamination & making sites safe for development, given what the land may have been used for before. In cases of “Hyperlocal” neighbourhoods – all brownfield sites can have a usage in each locality for one or the other usage.

Role of E-Governance in Citizen Centric Services

Urban Local Bodies like Municipal Corporations, Municipalities or the Town Improvement Boards etc. are mandated to provide primary /basic services a city needs. Such bodies deliver services based on the needs of the people they serve. Urban Local Bodies  can increase public satisfaction and reduce costs in delivering the services. Tasks like Water Supply, Sanitation, Roads, Electricity, Parks and playgrounds, paying taxes and applying for benefits are the most tangible interactions citizens have with their government. Services are therefore critical in shaping trust in and perceptions of the public. Citizens today expect more transparent, accessible, and responsive services from the Govt. and the expectations are rising. 

Many ULBs have made efforts to improve service delivery through online portals like centralized call centers, but find they are still unable to meet the public’s expectations. Citizens complain and convey through several means including social media that they feel frustrated by cumber some procedures as well as confusing websites. They also resort to speak with multiple parties before their questions are answered or request is completed. As a result, governments/ ULBs face declining citizen satisfaction and lose the public trust. Conversely, the Government despite bearing increased costs fail to meet the public expectations. It is also a part of the problem is that despite their best intentions, many ULBs continue to design and deliver services based on their own requirements and conventional patterns instead of the needs of the people. Some local bodies have success fully implemented a customer-centric approach to service design and delivery.

Change does not happen over night. Identifying which services citizens find most problematic and measuring the extent of dissatisfaction is one way the municipal organization can prioritize areas for improvement. Transforming service delivery begins with understanding citizens’ needs and priorities. We may draw an interactive and proresponsive approach to better understand the needs, as Let citizens tell matters need most, Asking people which aspects of service delivery are most and need improvement is the first requirement. Most people will say every aspect is equally important but it is not always correct to assume. It infers that rather than asking citizens to rank the importance of different aspects, it will be in the fitness to listen as to what they want across the services. This method may provide more reliable insights into users’ needs and priorities. The Govt. may accordingly work on such aspects to first, know the sentiments of people and concentrate on the basic needs of the citizens.

Identify areas for customer satisfaction:

Resources vis-a-vis the citizens’ need and measures to achieve a balance are most important. It is well known that the money lies under the authority of the legislature. Nothing can be met if adequate funds are not earmarked for an aspect. Municipal councillors and Peoples’ representatives in the Government can find a balance between delivering high quality, responsive services and managing resources effectively by using citizen-satisfaction services to determine acceptable service levels. One way to do that is by identifying break points—the point at which delays or service shortfalls cause customer satisfaction to drop significantly. Using this technique there may be optimal chance to identify the citizen satisfaction.

Urban Hierarchy in India: An Analysis of Size-Class Distribution of UAs/Towns

As per the Population Census of India 2011, there were 7,933 individual cities and towns in India. This included 4041 statutory towns and 3,892 census towns. There were 474 urban agglomerations (UAs) and 981 outgrowths. If urban agglomeration is taken as a unit, there were 6,173 cities/towns and UAs in India. Based on the size of the population, the Census of India groups cities and towns into six size classes from Class I to Class VI. The urban areas which have a population above one 100,000 (100,000) are termed as cities while those which have a population less than one 100,000 are termed as towns.

The analyses on size-class distribution have been carried out taking UAs and cities/towns as opposed to individual towns and cities as a unit. Therefore, in this chapter, the urban frame constitutes 6,173 UAs and cities/towns instead of 7,933 individual cities and towns. Class I cities have a population above 100,000 (0.1 million). Towns are the sum of Class II, Class III, Class IV, Class V and Class VI towns, i.e. all those urban centres with a population of less than 100,000.

While there was an increasing concentration of urban population living in the metropolitan UAs/cities of India in the decade 2001–11 the proportion of urban population in non-metropolitan India and towns of India declined during the same decade (Table 4). The percentage share of population in metropolitan cities increased from 37.8 to 42.3 per cent in 2001–11.

Urbanisation in India is top heavy with 70.19 per cent population living in Class I UAs/towns in 2011. The main reason for a higher concentration of urban population in Class I UAs/towns is the real expansion of these UAs/towns due to the addition of new census towns and expansion of municipal boundaries. The pattern of population distribution across size-classes remained the same over the Census years with a decline in the proportional share of population in all size-classes except Class I. The 2011 Population Census shows a slight reversal of this trend in Class V and Class VI towns. These classes reported an increment in their proportional share of urban population. This is again due to the emergence of new census towns in these size-classes.

Components of Urban Growth:

There are four main components of urban growth in India, namely: a) natural increase, b) net rural-urban migration i.e. difference of rural-urban and urban-rural migration, c) net rural-urban reclassification i.e. reclassification of villages in towns and declassification of towns in villages, and d) jurisdictional changes or changes in municipal boundaries. In the present study, the last two components are merged together. It has been discussed in studies (Visaria, 1997; Bhagat and Mohanty, 2009; Bhagat, 2012) that natural increase, which was the most important component of urban growth in India, has lost its dominance since the 1970s with a corresponding increase in net rural-urban migration and net rural-urban reclassification which includes jurisdictional changes and outgrowths. During 2001–11, net rural-urban reclassification including jurisdictional changes emerged as the most important factor in urban growth, because of the unprecedented increment in the number of census towns.

Use of Technology in Urban Planning

Urban planning is the process of both developing and designing open land, urban areas, and the built environment. Urban Planning dated back its history since the town and cities have existed. Early city planning revolved around some essential and significant elements like building structures and bastions with fortification, and has experienced a huge change throughout the centuries. Urban planning is a many-sided process involving infrastructure like physical and social, utility systems, communication networks, distribution chains, and more. Urban planners, also known as city planners, design cities and create plans for future improvements and growth. The plans are in the form of a land use plan. These plans comprise things in an urban environment like streets, parks, public spaces, and more.

It has never been easy to make plans that address various city challenges holistically. Nevertheless, in the modern era, the rapid boom of Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence has more significant potential to incorporate diverse issues of city planning into a general platform, as well as leading to a better way to deal with the challenges of complexity. The use of Information Technology has helped urban planners in many aspects, especially with softwares based on GIS (Geographic Information System).

There are various urban planning apps that can be used by urban planners, and that use contemporary technologies as well as open data to build up comprehensive and lively spaces for inhabitants and commercial businesses. There are various planning tools which help in the urban design process and assist to generate areas that the population of a city needs. GIS in urban planning is becoming gradually more helpful over time. Initially, it had a huge cost, but now in today's world with open source data, many open source Various GIS softwares have come up as a free and open-source cross-platform desktop GIS application that supports the viewing, editing, printing, and analysis of various data and is freely available for all to use. With the help of GIS improved mapping along with locational attributes, this has been possible, which was missing in the earlier drawing and mapping software. GIS is being used in all the Government offices for record keeping, such as property mapping, utility services like water supply and sewerage networks for seeing the coverage of water supply and sanitation system; it is also used in Municipal Solid Waste Management to identify the zones in order to manage the MSW Management system. GIS is also used in network fo analysis by transport planners in order to analyse the road network, to identify the conflict points at various junctions, to identify the various road hierarchies, T etc. Various predictive models, like 3D models can be  made with the help of GIS through its tools, where 3D analysts help in assessing the topography of the town or city by making virtual models. These points help the city planners to analyse the various situations in the city and identify the problems, thus GIS helps in decision-making and policymaking decisions.

Urban planners, decision-makers, policymakers and the general public now have the means to envisage unconventional futures for their cities and regions. In contemporary time, we have moved away from complex and complicated computer architecture, or less important memory or storage devices in the 1950s and 1960s, where huge processor computers were used to process data, with punched cards or magnetic tapes serving as input and output, and at that time, the primary concern was a lack of hard disks. There were no developed operating systems like we have today. In today's time, there are considerable developments in 3D visualisations software as well as the ongoing evolution of analytical capacity of GIS.

There has been a great development and expansion in the accessibility of data and information resources. The speedy development of an information system has fed on hardware and software developments. These topologically correct line files, first used in the 1990 US Census, have proven invaluable to planners and analysts, representing a broad depiction of communities from the viewpoint of their roads and railways. There has been an unbelievable development in satellite imaging, with resolution as fine as one meter now available, thereby meaning that individual vehicles can be counted in a parking lot. The internet has shown immense potential for group interactions. The new technology involves all the stakeholders, ranging from communities, local residents, shopkeepers and NGOs in the development of a town or city. The Information Technology will help in analysing the perception of each stakeholder and providing solutions accordingly through the analysis of databases and their decisions.

Various apps, open source as well, are handy for maps to be used offline, site design-level apps which allow creating and editing the drawings on the phone, presenting 3D models on mobile phone. There are certain apps that allow collecting data in the field, analysing various aspects of the problem. There are certain apps to perform these functions as well, like collecting and accessing data wherever you are through photographs, videos, location and is available to the network of other team easily. There are apps which help planners to provide specific templates like transportation, sustainability, as well as accessibility on mobile and helps to make field reports and punch lists for planners, engineers, and architects with the help of onsite inspections, checklists, and photos. Reports are available on the tap of your mobile phone.

Technology may be used by urban planners to enhance their processes and build better urban areas where people can live and work. Urban planners can establish a database to get information about specific metropolitan regions using cloud technologies. Cloud computing technologies can also aid in the planning of bigger infrastructure projects. Internet: Urban planners may use the internet to create cities that are accommodating to distant workers. As a result, urban designs have better transportation alternatives and reduced traffic congestion.

Source: Yojana Magazine May 2023

Challenges to Urbanization in India

 

Uneven urbanisation: 

The distribution of urban centres and the pace of urbanisation is not uniform across the country. States such as Bihar, Odisha, Assam, and Uttar Pradesh continue to be at a lower level of urbanisation than the national average of 31.1%. Over 75% of the urban population of the country is in 10 States: Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Kerala.

Statutory Towns Growing Without ‘Master Plans’:

Master plans are critical for managing urbanisation. They are statutory instruments to guide and regulate the present and future urbanization (like utilisation of land, expansion, and zoning of cities for 20–25 years). According to the NITI Aayog Report, ~50% of India’s statutory towns are expanding without any master plan to guide their growth and infrastructure. Urban economic activity is growing rapidly in these towns but there is no local government responsible and accountable for infrastructure development or service delivery. They continue to be governed as villages and do not have an urban local body. Haphazard growth, unplanned construction, and ad-hoc provisioning of infrastructure, over a long period of time, will put them at major risks of urbanisation.

Even when master plans exist, there are several challenges during their implementation like delays, disputes in courts etc. Some master plans also get amended more than a thousand times during their implementation.

Sub-Optimal Utilisation of Urban Land: 

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) noted that paradoxically congested land parcels of high population densities co-exist with vast parcels of under-utilized lands. A major reason for this is the fragmented and poorly recorded ownership of urban land. Moreover, multiple public sector organizations/agencies (ports, railways, ULBs, etc.) own land under their jurisdictions. This hinders holistic planning and development. Non-optimal utilization creates scarcity of land which raises land price and reduces space for affordable housing.

Magnitude of Population Living in Slums: 

According to Census 2011, 17.3% of the total urban population was under slums in India and about 70% of this slum population was concentrated in 6 States: Maharashtra (18.1%), Andhra Pradesh (15.6%), West Bengal (9.8%), Uttar Pradesh (9.5%), Tamil Nadu (8.9%) and Madhya Pradesh (8.7%). The proportion of slum population is rapidly rising. Lack of affordable housing is contributing to creation and expansion of slums.

Increasing Risk of Water Scarcity in Cities: 

The World Wide Fund for Nature India (2020) has found that Indian cities dominate current and future lists of global cities with the highest overall water risk. This situation is further exacerbated by the lack of adequate infrastructure in cities and towns to handle their own wastewater and solid waste. NITI Aayog in its Composite Water Management Index noted that hunt for additional water resources to sustain Indian cities will lead to “serious harm to the country’s biodiversity, environment, and ecological balance” (2019).

City Planning for Disaster Mitigation: 

The aspect of disaster mitigation is missing in growth of Indian cities. NITI Aayog notes that the way urban areas are planned, developed, and managed; can create long lasting impacts on the local water availability and vulnerability to disasters. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs in its report observed that the encroachment of lakes and riverbeds had played a major role in urban flooding in Chennai.

Pressures on Coastal Habitations: 

The coastal cities are home to 14% of the population in India and are vulnerable to floods due to multiple causes, that include faulty urban design and planning, dynamic coastline, flash floods, storm surges, cyclones, and tsunamis. Coastal habitations and infrastructural investments are vulnerable to rise in sea levels due to climate change and cyclones.

Definition of Urban Area

In the Census of India 2011, the definition of urban area adopted is as follows:

a) All statutory places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee, etc.;

b) A place satisfying the following criteria:

> Population is more than 5000.

> 75% of the male population engaged in non-agricultural occupations.

> A density of population of at least 400 per sq. km.

    Keeping the above criterion of 'urban area' in mind, urbanisation, in general, can be defined as the sM from a rural society to an urban society. It involves an increase in the number of people in urban areas during a particular year or period. It is the outcome of social, economic and political developments that lead to urban concentration and growth of large cities, changes in land use and transformation from rural to metropolitan pattern of organisation and governance.

    It has been viewed as an important factor in the areas of economic transformation, orchestrating the breakdown of the feudal order and talung societies to higher levels of social formation. Urbanisation is intrinsically connected and irrevocably enlaced with the development process, as an essential strand in the contemporary economic system.

    Urbanisation implies a cultural, social and psychological pmss whereby people acquire the material and non-material culture, including behavioural patterns, forms of organization, and ideas that originated in or are distinctive of the city. Although the flow of cultural influences takes place in both the directions towards and away from the city -there is substantial agreement that the cultural influences exerted by the city on non-urban people are probably more pervasive than the reverse.