Urban Development and Rural - Urban Linkages in Six Towns in Bihar

The world is becoming increasingly urbanized. Globally 54 percent population lives in urban areas today (UN 2014). Although Asia is still relatively more rural than the Americas and the Europe, it is home to 53 per cent of the world’s urban population. What is more, just three countries—India, China and Nigeria— together are expected to account for 37 per cent of the projected growth in the global urban population between 2014 and 2050 (ibid). The urbanization was 31.1 percent for India according to Census 2011 data, although according to recent studies, South Asian countries may have ‘hidden urbanization’ and the actual urbanization rate would be much higher (Ellis and Roberts 2016). This is because the official statistics understate the share of population living in areas with urban characteristics.