Urbanization Trend, Impact and Urbanization by Regions

Trend of Urbanization in Nepal

Nepal is an underdeveloped or developing country. The urbanization level of Nepal is very low. According to the State of World Population 2011, more than (50%) of people live in urban areas in the world. It is found that 45% of the population live in urban areas in less developed countries whereas only 29% of people live in urban areas in the least developed countries. Talking about Nepal, Nepal lies in the list of least developed countries or least urbanized countries. The urbanization level of SAARC countries according to the State of World Population 2011 is given below in table,

The above-given table shows that the SAARC countries with the least urbanization level are Sri- Lanka with 15.1% and highest urbanization level is Maldives with 41.2%. Similarly, the urbanization level of Bhutan and Bangladesh is 35% and 29% respectively. The countries with the highest urbanization level with 100% in the world are Singapore, Nauru, Monaco, Macau, Hongkong, Vatican City, Bermuda, Anguilla, Cayman Islands and Gibraltar.

In Nepal, about 29% of people lived in 130 designated urban areas or municipalities in 2014 AD. Currently, about 7.2 million live in such areas The annual growth rate of urban population is 8% though the urbanization level of Nepal is very low. It is due to the declaration of new municipalities areas during the intercensal periods. The population of Nepal is increasing day by day. The population of Nepal has increased from 8.3 million to 26.4 million in last three decades. From 1952\54 to 1971, the urban population has increased from 3 to 4.2 percent. Since the eighties, the growth has accelerated from 6.8% to 16.2%. Since from the 1950s, the population of urban areas has increased from 2.38 lakhs to 3.23 million. This is also due to the addition of 48 new municipalities since from the 1950s. The number of urban areas or municipalities as of October 2014 is 130. In 1952/54 there were only 10 municipalities but it has increased up to 217 in 2015 AD. The trend of urbanization in Nepal, since from 1952/54 to 2015 AD is given below in table,

Since from 2011 to 2014, there was the addition of 72 new municipalities. Here, the population has increased by 2, 675, 694. The urban population as a percentage of the total population of the country reached 17.2% in 2011 AD and with new declarations there has been an in- situ urbanization of (10%). Following a similar pattern, the urban population as a percentage reached (27.2%) in May 2014 AD. The growing urban areas indicate the positive growth or development of the country. Recently Nepal has made a decision to declare 72 new municipalities with adding 10% to the urban population. This indicates that Nepal is planning to make its urbanization level largely on par with other South Asian countries. The government of Nepal is planning to upgrade the nation's status from least developed country to a developing one by 2022 AD. The population in the developed country is less in the urban and the growth rate is higher that of their nation. From the census data since 1961 AD, it is unclear that the population growth rate of the urban place of the average growth rate nation.The average gap between the urban population growth rate and the national growth rate is 3.4 percentage points. It ranges from 1.11 percentage points in the 1971 AD to as high as 6.67 percentage point in 2014 AD. It was noticed that the higher gaps between national and urban growth rate are largely explained by the increase in the number of urban places compared with the census of 2011 AD. For example, On 1971 AD there were 16 urban places and 7 more were added to the list in 1981 AD. In the same time, some VDCs existed and municipalities were annexed in the respective municipalities . In 1991 AD there were 33 municipalities and by 2001 AD the number reaches 58. Furthermore, in 2014 AD, After the census results were published, and again added 72 municipalities were declared and in turn increasing the total number of urban place to 130.

Urbanization by Ecological and Development Regions

Urbanization is concerned with population concentration. There are more urban areas in plain and hilly areas than in mountain areas. There are less urban areas in mountain region because of the difficult land topography, fewer facilities, and many other things. Similarly, there are more urban areas in terai region because, the land topography is simple and easy, Here, facilities can be easily provided. Developmental activities can also be carried out easily. So, it is easy to establish urban areas in terai region than in mountain region. There are more urban areas in terai region, followed by hilly region and then mountain region.

The above table shows that there are 130 municipalities altogether in Nepal. The distribution of the population in different urban areas of different ecological areas are different. Only 8 municipalities are located in Mountain region whereas 70 municipalities are located in Terai region. Eastern region ranks first with 28.5% percent (37 municipalities), then central region with 27%. Western Development Region and Mid- Western Development Region has 32 and 12 municipalities respectively.

Impact of Urbanization on Population and Environment

Urbanization means conversion of the rural area into urban areas. In urban areas, there are various industries. There are also more commercial activities. There are more trade and business. In urban areas, there are all the facilities like transportation, health, education, communication etc. and they are in the process of further development. Due to this, people from rural areas migrate to urban areas in search of good facilities like health, communication etc. There are better employment opportunities in urban areas. But, unplanned urbanization results from adverse effects in health, communication, sanitation, food etc. In unplanned urbanization, there is rapid population growth. It also affects the natural environment.

Impact of Urbanization on Population

Positive Impact of Urbanization on Population

• It makes easy access to health and education.
• There are better employment opportunities.
• It uplifts living standard of the people.
• It helps to change occupation or profession
• It helps to improve status of female
• People get opportunity to develop their inherent strength and quality
• Increases the awareness level of the people.

Negative Impact of Urbanization on Population

• It creates a shortage of food, drinking water, and shelter.
• It increases pollution.
• It increases crowdedness and population density.
• It causes health problems.
• Fewer employment opportunities
• Increases criminal activities
• Increases pressure on school and health facilities.
• Less peace and security due to crowdedness and more population density.

Impact of Urbanization on Environment

Positive Impact of Urbanization on Environment

• Increases awareness about the importance and conservation of natural resources.
• It motivates people for the conservation of environment and ecology.
• Sustainable development

Negative Impact of Urbanization on Environment

• It causes environmental pollution.
• Improper management of solid and liquid waste.
• Causes deforestation.
• Degrades the strength and scope of natural resources.
• Increases negative interaction of man with the environment.
• It imbalances ecosystem.