City Regions in India:

City region is not very different in concept than the area of urban dominance.

The primary difference is that the areas of dominance of a city may be many, but city
region is only one. M. Alam pointed out three levels of areas of dominance as:
(a) Areas of metropolitan dominance which is immediately around a metropolis. It is of the
lower order;

(b) Areas of metropolitan prominence which play their role in assigning a significant position
to the metropolis, being a complex of specialized services; and

(c) Areas of metropolitan association which is a higher area than the former two with respect
to dominance. It is the net hierarchical level of the city and known as city region.

The delimitation of city region must involve three concepts simultaneously, viz., dominance,
cluster of services and hierarchical level of the city including levels below it. It must be clear
in mind that city region cannot be an area of dominance delimited on the basis of a single
criterion. City region is a multifactor based area of dominance. It is not an isolated area, but
continuously remains under competing effects of centres surrounding it.

Therefore, it should also take into account of the influence of competing centres too.
Ramchandran suggested ‘proximal method’ for its delimitation. This is not an easy job and
cannot be done in case of India which is a vast country, without the aid of computer.

Moreover, it is not an empirical method and being theoretical cannot bring forth reality. Dutta
divided India into broad urban regions which cannot be treated as city regions. The zones as
suggested by Dutta are based on secondary data and are only generalizations indicating density
of urbanization.

India is a vast country. The four premier metropolitan cities have been governing her urban
status. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai have their profound impact on city regions of
what-so-order they are determined. They are situated in the four distinct parts of the country
and have around them areas of urbanity covering the entire country. But, recently, a significant
change has also taken place with regard to cities, besides the four old and recognized
metropolises.

Some new cities of million-cadre have been growing rapidly to challenge the urban life in India.
They are fairly distributed in various states of our country except in Jammu & Kashmir and
eastern states lying near the borderlands. They too have their significant role to play in the
delimitation of city regions in India. Similarly, number of lakh-cities has been increasing in
every state. They too affect city regions.

Two grades of city regions may be identified by merging roughly drawn areas of clusters
around million- and lakh-cities (see Figure 18.5).

Major city regions may be:

(1) Maharashtra – Gujarat sector,

(2) Delhi nucleus,

(3) Kolkata-Howrah node, and

(4) Chennai-Bangalore sector.

The minor level city regions may be around:

(1) Hyderabad-Vishakhapatnam,

(2) Kanpur-Lucknow,

(3) Jaipur,

(4) Nagpur,

(5) Patna,

(6) Kochi-Madurai sector,

(7) Coimbatore,

(8) Vijayawada,

(9) Ambala-Amritsar-Jullunder,

(10) Chandigarh, and

(11) Agra.
It must be followed here that city regions are not as entities independent of other centres of
various levels around them.

Distance and Nature of Transport Link:

The more the distance between a city and its dependent town the lesser will be
interaction.
Increment in distance - movement of consumers for utilizing services decreases or
becomes irregular.
Frequent centres of special services, departmental stores - distribute
commodities to the distant areas by means of automobiles.
Perishable products - accessible and quick from far and wide areas by special
trains and auto-vehicles.
Small towns and urban centers - main channels of Collecting the agricultural
produce from the entire region, distributing and directing and coordinating the sales
of imports and manufactured goods.
Nature of Influence of Town:
Urban influence varies on nature.
1. Agriculture
2. Industry
3. Administration
4. Services like medical, cultural, including educational, recreational,etc.
Towns and Agriculture
Age towns - people have owned rural properties.
Modern times - Rich people have lands and properties by villages of forefathers but
not living in the same town.
Town - depends on agricultural production. It acts as a market for rural products
based on local raw materials and for export
Town is a Shopping Center for Country People:
Large cities - goods collected from different parts of the world.
Importance of extent of market-lies in region’s sale regarding of its size.